Ensoniq TS-12 User Manual

Performance/Composition Synthesizer

Musician’s Manual

Version 3.0

T S - 1 2 M u s i c i a n ’ s M a n u a l :

Written, Designed,
and Illustrated by: Tom Tracy, Bill Whipple

Copyright © 1994
ENSONIQ® Corp
155 Great Valley Parkway
Box 3035
Malvern PA 19355-0735
USA

Printed in U.S.A.
All Rights Reserved

Please record the following information:
Your Authorized ENSONIQ Dealer:___________________________ Phone:_______________
Your Dealer Sales Representative:_________________________________________________
Serial Number of Unit:___________________________ Date of Purchase:_________________

Your Authorized ENSONIQ Dealer is your primary source for service and support. The above
information will be helpful in communicating with your Authorized ENSONIQ Dealer, and provide
necessary information should you need to contact ENSONIQ Customer Service. If you have any
questions concerning the use of this unit, please contact your Authorized ENSONIQ Dealer first. For
additional technical support, or to find the name of the nearest Authorized ENSONIQ Repair Station,
call ENSONIQ Customer Service at [phone] Monday through Friday 9:30 AM to 12:15 PM and
1:15 PM to 6:30 PM Eastern Time. Between 1:15 PM and 5:00 PM we experience our heaviest call load.
During these times, there may be delays in answering your call.

This Manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved by ENSONIQ Corp. This document may not in
whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or
machine readable form without prior written consent from ENSONIQ Corp. The TS-12
software/firmware is copyrighted and all rights are reserved by ENSONIQ Corp.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the text and illustrations in this Manual,
no guarantee is made or implied in this regard.

IMPORTANT:

“This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and if not installed and used properly, that
is, in strict accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, may cause interference to radio and
television reception. It has been designed to comply with the limits for a Class B computing device in
accordance with the specifications in Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC rules, which are designed to provide
reasonable protection against such interference in a residential installation. However, there is no
guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause
interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and
on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures.”

* reorient the receiving antenna
* relocate the instrument with respect to the receiver
* move the instrument away from the receiver
* plug the instrument into a different outlet so that the instrument and receiver are on
different branch circuits

"If necessary, the user should consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for
additional suggestions. The user may find the following booklet prepared by the Federal
Communications Commission helpful: 'How to Identify and Resolve Radio-TV Interference Problems.'
This booklet is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock No.
004-000-00345-4."

In order to fulfill warranty requirements the TS-12 should be serviced only by an Authorized ENSONIQ
Repair Station.

The ENSONIQ serial number label must appear on the outside of the Unit or the ENSONIQ warranty
is void.

• ENSONIQ, TS-12, TS-10, TransWave, Hyper-Wave, SoundFinder, EPS, EPS–16 PLUS, ASR-10,
Poly-Key, DP/4, SQ–R PLUS 32 Voice, and KS–32 are trademarks of ENSONIQ Corp.

Part # 9310 0157 01 - C Model # MM-113

T S - 1 2 M u s i c i a n ’ s M a n u a l :

Written, Designed,
and Illustrated by: Tom Tracy, Bill Whipple

Copyright © 1994
ENSONIQ® Corp
155 Great Valley Parkway
Box 3035
Malvern PA 19355-0735
USA

Printed in Taiwan
All Rights Reserved

Please record the following information:
Your Authorized ENSONIQ Dealer:___________________________ Phone:_______________
Your Dealer Sales Representative:_________________________________________________
Serial Number of Unit:___________________________ Date of Purchase:_________________

Your Authorized ENSONIQ Dealer is your primary source for service and support. The above
information will be helpful in communicating with your Authorized ENSONIQ Dealer, and provide
necessary information should you need to contact ENSONIQ Customer Service. If you have any
questions concerning the use of this unit, please contact your Authorized ENSONIQ Dealer first. For
additional technical support, or to find the name of the nearest Authorized ENSONIQ Repair Station,
call ENSONIQ Customer Service at [phone] Monday through Friday 9:30 AM to 12:15 PM and
1:15 PM to 6:30 PM Eastern Time. Between 1:15 PM and 5:00 PM we experience our heaviest call load.
During these times, there may be delays in answering your call.

This Manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved by ENSONIQ Corp. This document may not in
whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or
machine readable form without prior written consent from ENSONIQ Corp. The TS-12
software/firmware is copyrighted and all rights are reserved by ENSONIQ Corp.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the text and illustrations in this Manual,
no guarantee is made or implied in this regard.

IMPORTANT:

“This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and if not installed and used properly, that
is, in strict accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, may cause interference to radio and
television reception. It has been designed to comply with the limits for a Class B computing device in
accordance with the specifications in Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC rules, which are designed to provide
reasonable protection against such interference in a residential installation. However, there is no
guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause
interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and
on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures.”

* reorient the receiving antenna
* relocate the instrument with respect to the receiver
* move the instrument away from the receiver
* plug the instrument into a different outlet so that the instrument and receiver are on
different branch circuits

"If necessary, the user should consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for
additional suggestions. The user may find the following booklet prepared by the Federal
Communications Commission helpful: 'How to Identify and Resolve Radio-TV Interference Problems.'
This booklet is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock No.
004-000-00345-4."

In order to fulfill warranty requirements the TS-12 should be serviced only by an Authorized ENSONIQ
Repair Station.

The ENSONIQ serial number label must appear on the outside of the Unit or the ENSONIQ warranty
is void.

• ENSONIQ, TS-12, TS-10, TransWave, Hyper-Wave, SoundFinder, EPS, EPS–16 PLUS, ASR-10,
Poly-Key, DP/4, SQ–R PLUS 32 Voice, and KS–32 are trademarks of ENSONIQ Corp.

Part # 9310 0157 01 - C Model # MM-113

TS-12 Musician’s Manual List of Tips

List Of Tips

Direct Dialing Between BankSets

........................................................................................................................

3
Getting to the Bank that Contains the Selected Sound

........................................................................................................................

4
Direct Dialing Between BankSets

........................................................................................................................

9
Using SoundFinder to Replace Sounds with their Effects

........................................................................................................................

10
Using CUSTOM Settings to Define Your Own Sound Types

........................................................................................................................

10
Latching Pressure with the Sustain pedal

........................................................................................................................

19
Changing Pitch-Tables while the Sequencer is Playing

........................................................................................................................

21
Quick Way to get to the Disk Load Page

........................................................................................................................

25
Using Presets with MIDI loops

........................................................................................................................

31
Double-clicking the Presets button to locate the currently selected preset

........................................................................................................................

35
Finding the BankSet, Bank, and Display Location for Sounds on Preset Tracks

........................................................................................................................

41
Extending the Transposition Range

........................................................................................................................

50
Bypassing the Track Effect

........................................................................................................................

60
Returning to the Effects Select Page Quickly

........................................................................................................................

62
Parallel Effect Algorithm Identification

........................................................................................................................

List of Tips 1

List of Tips TS-12 Musician’s Manual

62
Changing Effect Types Quickly

........................................................................................................................

64
Bypassing the Track Effect

........................................................................................................................

64
Latching Patch Selects

........................................................................................................................

142
Suggestions for Naming Programs

........................................................................................................................

143
A Quick Way to De-select a Modulator

........................................................................................................................

146
Setting the Modulation Amount to Zero

........................................................................................................................

146
Using the LFO as a Gated Modulator

........................................................................................................................

173
Using SoundFinder to Find Sounds Defined with the Same Type Classification

........................................................................................................................

198
Setting the Restrike Time to Eliminate Clicking Sounds

........................................................................................................................

199
Playing any ROM Wave with a Drum-map

........................................................................................................................

208
Auditioning Different Track Sounds

........................................................................................................................

216
Manually Changing Program Types with SoundFinder

........................................................................................................................

218
To Copy a Preset along with its Effect onto three Sequencer Tracks

........................................................................................................................

221
Finding the BankSet, Bank, and Display Location for Sequencer Tracks

........................................................................................................................

226
Using Controllers On/Off as Filters for Sequence Playback

........................................................................................................................

2 List of Tips

TS-12 Musician’s Manual List of Tips

229
To change the sound and install its effect as the current sequence or song effect

........................................................................................................................

230
Using the Bank buttons to Select Song Steps

........................................................................................................................

235
Toggling between Song and Sequence Tracks

........................................................................................................................

238
Creating a Fade-in in Song Mode

........................................................................................................................

239
Recording Volume Changes using a CV Pedal

........................................................................................................................

239
Creating a Template for Multi-track recording

........................................................................................................................

243
Temporary Record Bypass while in Step Entry Mode

........................................................................................................................

246
A Quick Way to Save Changes to a Sequence or Song

........................................................................................................................

247
Switching between Song and Sequence Tracks

........................................................................................................................

274
Using the Foot Switch to Advance Steps in Step Entry Mode

........................................................................................................................

275
Using Modulators in Real-Time to Create Poly-Rhythms

........................................................................................................................

289
Using Headphones with General MIDI

........................................................................................................................

295
Creating Music Minus One Applications in General MIDI Mode

........................................................................................................................

297
Getting to the Load File Display Quickly

........................................................................................................................

313
Displaying the Contents of the Last Viewed Directory

........................................................................................................................

List of Tips 3

List of Tips TS-12 Musician’s Manual

316
To Quickly Return to the Root Directory

........................................................................................................................

318
Deleting Sampled Sounds to Prevent Auto-Loading Them

........................................................................................................................

334
Viewing WaveSample Parameter Values by Playing the Keyboard

........................................................................................................................

339
Toggling between Edit pages and the Edit Context page for Sampled Sounds

........................................................................................................................

340
To Determine which Sampled Sound Bank has been assigned to a Track

........................................................................................................................

341
A Quick Way to Audition the Surrogate Program

........................................................................................................................

342
Copying Edited Parameters between Similar Sampled Sounds

........................................................................................................................

347
Setting a Modulator OFF

........................................................................................................................

349

4 List of Tips

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Preface

Welcome!

Congratulations, and thank-you for your purchase of the ENSONIQ TS-12
Performance/Composition Synthesizer. The TS-12 offers the most complete set of features for the
performing and recording musician ever offered. From the great feeling 76-note weighted-action
keyboard to the great sounding 300 Programs and 300 Performance Presets, you’ll find the TS-12
a wonderful instrument to play. The intuitive and musical sequencer design in the TS-12 will
help you go from initial inspiration to a completely mixed song without getting in your way.

To expand your sound palette the TS-12 comes with 2 Megabytes of Sample RAM, expandable to
8 Megabytes with industry-standard SIMMs. This RAM can be used to load in any Sample
Sounds created for ENSONIQ’s EPS/EPS-16 PLUS, and ASR-10 samplers, giving you access to
the largest library of sampled sounds anywhere! And with the SP-4 SCSI kit option installed, you
can read Sampled Sound files stored on CD-ROM libraries and other SCSI devices. In addition to
having access to this versatile library of sounds (from ENSONIQ and many third-party
companies from around the world), you can incorporate vocals, drum loops, and any sound
imaginable into your music. Just use an ENSONIQ sampler, or your friend’s ENSONIQ sampler,
to make new sounds to use in your music. No expandable waveform synthesizer offers you this
much versatility at such an affordable price.

The Sounds

The sound of the TS-12 is based on 254 waveforms encompassing all the possible instrument
groups; acoustic, electric, digital and analog synthesis, sound effects and more. The acoustic
instrument waves have been carefully crafted from ENSONIQ’s huge library of source
recordings, including many sounds from our ground-breaking Signature Series. For the more
imaginative possibilities the unique TransWaves™ give you the moving, dynamic sound of
swept wavetables. The new Hyper-Wave™ voice architecture breaks open new sonic ground
with the ability to create wave-lists that can sound like evocative, ever-changing pads to “jam­loop” drum and percussive grooves that can change pitch without ever changing tempo.

Each Program in the TS-12 is actually six independent sound sources each with their own
parameters and programming. Now you can combine sampled sounds with analog synthetic
sounds, and exotic digital textures at the push of a button -- no MIDI cables needed! And with
32-note polyphony you can layer sounds or sequence freely, without worrying about losing
voices while you play.

Up to three sounds can be combined into a preset, which contains its own effects set-up and
special performance parameters. Presets can be thought of as handy “performance memories”
which allow you to create and save sound combinations, splits, layers, patch select variations, etc.

The TS-12’s 24-bit dynamic effects are incorporated as an integral component of each sound, and
any effects parameter can be modulated by any of 13 modulation sources. Programs of similar
types can be selected using ENSONIQ’s SoundFinder feature, and the TS-12 has Patch Select
buttons, giving you expressive control over your sounds and unparalleled flexibility as a MIDI
controller.

i

Preface TS-12 Musician’s Manual

The Sequencer

To capture and expand on a creative idea, the TS-12 has an over 30,000 note, 24-track sequencer
with extensive editing control. And with the addition of the optional SQX-70, the TS-12 can have
over 97,000 notes of sequencer memory. Record in real-time or step entry, looped or linear mode,
even transfer sequences from external MIDI devices with Multi-Track record. Sequence internal
and/or external sound sources with a clock resolution of 96 PPQ for accurate timing resolution.

A variety of editing options gives you control over your sequenced parts: scale volume or
controllers, edit specific notes or events, transpose, quantize, shift clocks, and more. Edits can be
performed over ranges that can be specified by bar, beat, clock and/or note range for utmost
accuracy, and every edit can be auditioned against the original part so you can decide which one
to keep. During mixdown you can pan sounds in stereo to any of four individual outputs. MIDI
Automated Mixdown remembers all volume and panning information, and the TS-12’s disk drive
allows you to store your sounds, sequence data, even MIDI Sys-Ex data on inexpensive floppy
disks.

MIDI Control

As a MIDI controller the TS-12 can use Song/Sequence “headers” to become a 24-zone controller
with different MIDI channels, status, key zones, volume, transposition, and other performance
parameters defined for each region. Stacking sounds is as easy as “double-clicking” a button,
and the large display on the TS-12 gives you information in a clear, uncrowded layout.

The power of a complete MIDI production facility coupled with the benefits of a single integrated
keyboard environment. It’s the latest refinement from the company that pioneered the concept of
the synthesizer-based workstation. The TS-12 Performance/Composition Synthesizer… from
ENSONIQ.

Clean Up and Maintenance

Only clean the exterior of your TS-12 with a soft, lint-free, dry (or slightly damp) cloth. You can
use a slightly dampened cloth (with a mild neutral detergent) to remove stubborn dirt, but make
sure that the TS-12 is thoroughly dry before turning on the power. Never use alcohol, benzene,
volatile cleaners, solvents, abrasives, polish or rubbing compounds.

Center Supported Stands

With the TS-12, or any weighted-action keyboard, we highly recommend that you do not use
center-supported column-type keyboard stands. Weighted keyboards are too heavy, too long,
and usually require greater playing force to be exerted on them. They will be unstable on center­supported column-type stands.

The Manual

This manual is your guide to unlocking the full power of the TS-12. At this point, you’re
probably anxious to plug your TS-12 in and get playing. After the initial “I just gotta hear it”
phase has passed and you’re ready to utilize the full potential of the TS-12, please take the time to
read the sections on programming, sequencing, and storage. They’ll provide valuable
information and tips, as well as speed up the learning process and enjoyment of the instrument.

Thank you again for choosing ENSONIQ. Enjoy the music!

ii

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Preface

Power

1 2

Insert the line cord into the line receptacle on the back of the TS-12 (2), next to the power switch
(1). Plug the other end of the cable into a grounded AC outlet. The proper voltage for your TS-12
is listed on the Serial Number label on the rear panel. Turn the TS-12 power on and make sure
the display lights up. If not, check your connections and power source. The first thing the TS-12
does when it starts up is calibrate the keyboard. Be sure not to touch the keyboard while the
display reads CALIBRATING KEYBOARD - DO NOT TOUCH.

Note: Because the TS-12 can automatically load Sampled Sounds previously loaded from a connected

SCSI Storage Device, we recommend powering on the SCSI Storage Device(s) first before
powering on the TS-12.

Power — Polarization and Grounding

Like many modern electrical devices, your ENSONIQ product has a three-prong power cord with
earth ground to ensure safe operation. Some products have power cords with only two prongs
and no earth ground. To ensure safe operation, modern products with two-prong power cords
have polarized plugs which can only be inserted into an outlet the proper way.

Some products, such as older guitar amplifiers, do not have polarized plugs and can be
connected to an outlet incorrectly. This may result in dangerous high voltages on the audio
connections that could cause you physical harm or damage any properly grounded equipment to
which they are connected, such as your ENSONIQ product.

To avoid shock hazards or equipment damage, we recommend the following precautions:

• If you own equipment with two pronged power cords, check to see if they are polarized or
non-polarized. You might consider having an authorized repair station change any non­polarized plugs on your equipment to polarized plugs to avoid future problems.

• Exercise caution when using extension cords or plug adapters. Proper polarization should
always be maintained from the outlet to the plug. The use of polarized extension cords and
adapters is the easiest way to maintain proper polarity.

• Whenever possible, connect all products with grounded power cords to the same outlet
ground. This will ensure a common ground level to prevent equipment damage and
minimize hum in the audio output.

AC outlet testers are available from many electronic supply and hardware stores. These can be
used to check for proper polarity of outlets and cords.

iii

Preface TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Ground Loops

Sometimes currents flowing through the ground line generate a signal seen by another part of the
circuit sharing the same ground. In other words, if there are two identical signal paths within a
circuit, they can form a loop which can result in hum and/or noise. If you are using equipment
that has 3-prong “grounded” AC power cords, you may suffer from a ground loop resulting from
the interconnection of this equipment. The following diagram shows how cascading or
“chaining” the output of one 3-prong grounded system into the input of another 3-prong
grounded system with a standard unbalanced 2 conductor cord (like a 1/4” guitar cable) can
result in a ground loop.

Unbalanced Output to Unbalanced Input.
Single conductor shielded cable

3-Prong
"Grounded"
System

SIGNAL PATH

+

(circuit ground)

Earth Ground

Fig. 1 depicts a system interconnection where a ground loop can exist. Fig. 2 depicts a system
interconnection where a ground loop does NOT exist. When interconnecting 3-prong grounded
systems, you can use signal isolation transformers to prevent ground loops. This coupling
transformer effectively isolates two interconnected system signal grounds, while still allowing
the signal to pass through.

AC Line Conditioning

As with any computer device, the TS-12 is sensitive to sharp peaks and drops in the AC line
voltage. Lightning strikes, power drops or sudden and erratic surges in the AC line voltage can
scramble the internal memory and, in some cases, damage the unit’s hardware. Here are a few
suggestions to help guard against such occurrences:

• A Surge/Spike Suppressor. The cheaper of the options, a surge/spike suppressor absorbs
surges and protects your gear from all but the most severe over-voltage conditions. You can
get multi-outlet power strips with built-in surge/spike suppressors for little more than the
cost of unprotected power strips, so using one is a good investment for all your electronic
equipment.

>

Ground Loop

<

FIG. 1

3-Prong
"Grounded"

+

System

Unbalanced Output to Unbalanced Input.
Single conductor shielded cable

3-Prong
"Grounded"
System

SIGNAL PATH

+

(circuit ground)

Earth Ground

2-Prong
"UNGrounded"

+

System

FIG. 2

iv

• A Line Conditioner. This is the best, but by far the more expensive, way to protect your gear.
In addition to protecting against surges and spikes, a line conditioner guards the equipment
against excessively high or low line voltages. If you use the TS-12 in lots of different locations
with varying or unknown AC line conditions, you might consider investing in a line
conditioner.

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Preface

Temperature Guidelines

The inner workings of the TS-12 contain a substantial amount of computerized and electronic
circuitry that can be susceptible to damage when exposed to extreme temperature changes.
When the TS-12 is brought inside after sitting in a cold climate (i.e. the back seat of your car),
condensation builds up on the internal circuitry in much the same way a pair of glasses fogs up
when you come inside on a cold day. If the unit is powered up as this condensation occurs,
components can short out or be damaged. Excessively high temperatures also pose a threat to the
unit, stressing both the internal circuits as well as the case. With this in mind, it is highly
advisable to follow these precautions when storing and setting up your TS-12:

• Avoid leaving the TS-12 in temperatures of less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit or more than 100
degrees Fahrenheit.

• When bringing the TS-12 indoors after travel, allow the unit at least twenty minutes to reach
room temperature before powering up. In the case of excessive outdoor temperatures (below
50 degrees Fahrenheit or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit), allow an hour or more before power
up.

• Avoid leaving the TS-12 inside a vehicle exposed to direct sunlight.

Amplification

Connect the Main Audio Outputs of the TS-12 to the line level inputs of a mixer, instrument
amplifier, stereo, or any other sound system, using 1/4 inch audio cables. For an additional set of
dry outputs, connect the AUX Outputs to two more mixer channels. If your system is stereo,
connect the Left and Right Main Outputs to two channels of your mixer, stereo, etc. If it’s mono,
use either of the Audio Outputs, but make sure nothing is plugged into the other output. For
listening through headphones, plug the phones into the rear-panel jack marked Phones. If you’re
running the TS-12 through a mixer, in stereo, be sure to pan the left mixer input fully left, and the
right input fully right.

Amp

AC Power

Phones

It is a good idea to make sure your audio system is turned off (or down) when making
connections, to avoid damaging speakers or other components.

Mixer

Main Audio Outputs

TS▼12

Power

Switch

v

Preface TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Be Careful!

The TS-12 outputs are line-level, and are intended to be connected only to line-level inputs, such
as those on a mixer, stereo pre-amp, keyboard amp, etc. Connecting the TS-12 audio outputs to a
mic-level input, such as a guitar amp or the microphone jacks on a tape deck, is not
recommended, and might result in damage to the device input.

Move the Volume Slider all the way up. As with any digital musical instrument, the TS-12 will
give the best results if you keep the volume slider full on, and use the volume control on your
mixer or amp to adjust its level.

Switch the audio system on, and adjust the amplifier volume for normal listening levels. If you
hear no sound while playing the keyboard, switch the audio system off and check your
connections.

Amplifying Your TS-12 Through a Home Stereo System

If you are thinking about amplifying your TS-12 through your home stereo, a word of caution. A
home stereo is great for playing CDs, albums, tapes — the dynamic range of these media is
limited, and your speakers aren’t usually subjected to extreme volume changes and frequency
transients. While the dynamic range of CDs is significantly greater than albums or tapes, the
output of a CD player is still conservative compared to the uncompressed, unlimited line-level
output of a pro-level keyboard. Running your TS-12, or any pro-level keyboard through a home
stereo at high volume levels can damage your speakers, not to mention the impedance mismatch
this can create. If your only means of amplification is your home stereo, then try to keep your
levels on the conservative side.

Powering Up Your TS-12 In a MIDI Configuration

Just as you would power up the individual components before turning on the amplifier in your
home stereo system, you should first turn on the MIDI data transmitting source (keyboards,
modules, etc.) before you power up the receiving MIDI source. This will prevent any unwanted
MIDI information from being “spit” out of the transmitting source during power up, which could
confuse the MIDI receivers, thereby disabling them. If this should occur, turn off the receiving
module, and then turn it back on.

About the Auto-Load Feature

The Auto-Load feature allows you to automatically load Sampled Sounds back into the same
Bank location(s). If you have loaded any Sampled Sounds or Sample Edits into the TS-12 and
then powered down, the display shows the following prompt:

If you answer *NO * to the Auto-Load prompt, the TS-12 will display the last Sounds or Preset
Bank page, and no Sampled Sounds will be automatically loaded.

If you answer *YES* to the Auto-Load prompt, “WORKING…” is momentarily displayed when
the TS-12 is preparing to load Sampled Sound files, then it will automatically load any needed
files from the current disk in the disk drive, and from any connected SCSI Storage Devices.

vi

For more information about the Auto-Load feature, see Section 14 — Understanding Sampled
Sounds.

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Preface

Care and Feeding of the Disk Drive

The TS-12’s built-in disk drive is used to store all your Programs, Sampled Sounds, Presets,
System set-up, and Sequencer data, as well as System Exclusive messages from other MIDI
devices. The TS-12 uses a Quad-density disk drive that can store 1600 Kilobytes of data on a
Double-Sided High-Density (DSHD) 3.5” micro-floppy disk and 800 Kilobytes of data on a
Double-Sided Double-Density (DSDD) 3.5” micro-floppy disk. The disks are enclosed in a
protective plastic carrier with an automatic shutter to protect the diskette from physical damage.
It is important not to alter this carrier in any way.

Do’s:

The 3.5” disks have a sliding write­protection tab so that you can
protect your sounds and sequences
against accidental erasure. Sliding
the write-protection tab in the lower
left corner of the disk so that the
window is closed will allow you to
store information on the disk.
Sliding the tab so that the window is
open will protect the disk against
being accidentally reformatted or
having files deleted. Double-Sided
High Density disks can be easily
identified because they have an
additional window (with no write­protection tab) located on the lower
right corner of the disk.

Floppy disks are a magnetic storage medium, and should be treated with the same care you’d
give important audio tapes. Just as you would use high quality audio tapes for your important
recording needs, we recommend using high quality floppy disks for your TS-12. Here are a few
Do’s and Don’t’s concerning disks and the disk drive.

• Use either Double-Sided High-Density (DSHD) or Double-Sided Double-Density (DSDD) 3.5
inch Micro-floppy disks. Both types are available from almost any computer store and many
music stores carry them as well.

• Keep your disks and the disk drive clean and free of dust, dirt, liquids, etc.

• Label your disks and keep a record of what is saved on each.

• Only transport your unit with nothing in the drive.

Double-Sided High-Density (DSHD)

Disk
Window

Write Protect Tab

Double-Sided Double-Density (DSDD)

No Disk
Window

Write Protect Tab

Don’t’s:

• Don’t use Single-Sided (SSDD or SSSD) disks. These disks have not passed testing on both
sides. While a single-sided disk might work successfully with the TS-12, it is possible that you
will eventually lose important data to a disk error if you try using Single-Sided disks.

• Don’t put anything other than a disk or the plastic sheet in the disk drive.

• Don’t transport the unit with a disk in the drive.

• Don’t expose disks to extremes of temperature. Temperatures below 50˚ F and above 140˚ F
can damage the plastic outer shell.

• Don’t expose your disks to moisture.

• Don’t dry your disks in a microwave oven.

• Don’t subject disks to strong magnetic fields. Exposure to magnetic energy can permanently
damage the information on the disk. Keep disks away from speaker cabinets, tape decks,
power cables, airline x-ray equipment, power amplifiers, TV sets, and any other sources of
magnetic energy.

• Don’t eject the disk while the drive is operating (i.e. when the disk drive light is on).

vii

Preface TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Reinitializing the TS-12

The great power and flexibility of the TS-12 lies in the fact that it is really a computer disguised as
a keyboard instrument, but a computer nonetheless. The software that operates the TS-12 is very
sophisticated. If you have ever used a computer, you should be familiar with the need to
occasionally re-boot your system when you get an error message, etc. Reinitializing the TS-12 is
the equivalent of re-booting your computer.

There are a number of things that can happen to the TS-12 (or any computer system) which might
scramble the system software — voltage surges, power failures, static electricity, etc. As with any
computer, very infrequently some unforeseeable event or combination of events can cause the
software to become confused, with strange and unpredictable results. Sometimes, computers
that appear to be broken have no hardware problem, just corrupted data in the internal RAM
(Random Access Memory). In some cases, simply turning the TS-12 power off and then on again
will cure the problem. If that doesn’t work, perhaps what is needed is to reinitialize the unit.

When to Reinitialize

If your TS-12 begins to behave in peculiar ways; if the display shows words or lines that
shouldn’t be there; if you start getting unexplained System Error messages; if the sequencer and
edit functions start doing unpredictable things; try reinitializing the TS-12 before you seek factory
service.

Be Careful!

When you reinitialize your TS-12, all your custom sounds, presets, and sequences in RAM will be
lost. Therefore good backup habits should be an important part of your routine. Save any
important data to disk before reinitializing the TS-12.

To Reinitialize the TS-12:

• While holding down the Presets button, press the “soft” button in the top left corner above the
fluorescent display.

• The following message appears on the display: “ERASE MEMORY AND REINITIALIZE”

• Select *YES*. After selecting *YES*, the TS-12 erases its internal memory and then starts up
just as it does when you turn the power on, and initialization is complete.

If reinitializing your TS-12 does not correct the problem, then contact an Authorized ENSONIQ
Repair Station.

Low Battery Voltage — When to Replace the Battery

The reason that the TS-12 “remembers” programs, presets and other parameters, even when the
power is off, is that all of its internal RAM is “battery-backed-up.” The battery that keeps the TS­12 memory intact is located inside the TS-12, and when it becomes discharged, it must be
replaced by an Authorized ENSONIQ Repair Station.

The battery that came in your TS-12 is good for up to five years of life. You will know when it
needs replacing, because the TS-12 will tell you so. One day you will switch the power on, and
instead of its usual wake-up message, the display will read:

viii

WARNING -- LOW BATTERY VOLTAGE

SAVE DATA - SEE USER MANUAL *CONTINUE*

Press *CONTINUE* (or any button) to commence normal operation. Then, make sure that all
presets, programs, and sequences are saved to disk, and take the TS-12 to an Authorized
ENSONIQ Repair Station as soon as possible to have the battery replaced.

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Preface

Available Options for your TS-12

These optional accessories are available from your Authorized ENSONIQ Dealer:

• ENSONIQ Model SW-10 Dual Foot Switch — For voice sustain, sostenuto, hands-free patch
select control, preset advance, effect modulation control, or starting, stopping, and continuing
the internal sequencer. For ultimate foot control, we recommend using two SW-10 Dual Foot
Switches.

• Model CVP-1 CV PEDAL — A Control Voltage Foot Pedal which can be assigned as a
modulator within the voice section of the ASR–10 or used as a volume pedal.

• AS –Series Sound Libraries — The AS Sound Library sounds can be loaded and edited by the
TS-12, provided on five High Density disks.

• SL, SLT, and ESS Sound Libraries — The TS-12 can read all of the sound files on the disks
designed for the EPS Series. These disks offer the largest, most accurate, responsive, and
musical sampled sounds available anywhere. These sounds are divided into three separate
libraries: SL, a series of five-disk sets featuring sounds specifically designed for the EPS–16
PLUS, compatible with the TS-12; SLT, a series of ten-disk packs originally designed by top
sound programmers for the EPS, also compatible with the TS-12; and ESS, three-disk
“Signature Series” sets designed by renowned industry performers and producers like Joey
DeFrancesco, Jason Miles, Maurice White, The System, Nile Rodgers, David Hentschel, and
others.

• SP-4 SCSI Kit — This SCSI (Small Computer Serial Interface) allows the TS-12 to read
Sampled Sound files from a hard drive, CD ROM player, or computer. The SP-4 must be
installed by an Authorized ENSONIQ Repair Station.

• CDR Series — These CD ROMs offer a vast array of Sampled Sounds arranged in directories
by file types. The CDR Series also features Direct Macros, which allows instant access (direct­dial) to any Sampled Sound file (the TS-12 can only read Sampled Sound files, and not
ASR/EPS banks and sequence/song files).

• SQX-70 — Sequence Expander. Increases the capacity of the TS-12 sequencer to over 97,000
notes. Contact your Authorized ENSONIQ Repair Station for installation details.

Need More Help?

Whether you’re an aspiring programmer looking for additional information about basic
synthesizer techniques and MIDI theory, or a professional sound designer working with
advanced applications, you may want more detailed information that is beyond the scope of this
manual. The following books can help enhance your understanding of sampling, synthesis,
MIDI, and related topics. These, in addition to the numerous monthly magazines, provide a
wealth of information. While we don’t endorse any one of these publications, we offer this
partial list as a resource for you to draw on.

The Mix Bookshelf

For prices and more information call: 1-800-233-9604

MIDI

MIDI FOR MUSICIANS, Craig Anderton
THE MIDI MANUAL, David Huber
THE MIDI HOME STUDIO, Howard Massey
THE NEXT MIDI BOOK, Rychner & Walker
THE MIDI BOOK, Steve De Furia, Joe Scacciaferro
THE MIDI RESOURCE BOOK, Steve De Furia, Joe Scacciaferro
HOW MIDI WORKS, Dan Walker
MIDI SYSTEMS & CONTROL, Francis Rumsey
USING MIDI, Helen Casabona, David Frederick

ix

Preface TS-12 Musician’s Manual

MIDI, THE INS, OUTS AND THRUS, Jeff Rona

SAMPLING

THE SAMPLING BOOK, Steve De Furia, Joe Scacciaferro
SAMPLING BASICS, Bobby Maestas

SYNTHESIZERS

GUITAR SYNTH & MIDI, Guitar Player Magazine
SECRETS OF ANALOG AND DIGITAL SYNTHESIS, Steve De Furia
SYNTHESIZER PERFORMANCE & REAL TIME TECHNIQUES, Jeff Pressing
SYNTHESIZER BASICS, Dean Friedman
MUSIC & TECHNOLOGY, H.P. Newquist
A SYNTHESIST'S GUIDE TO ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS, Howard Massey

Alfred Publishing Company

For prices and more information call 1-818-891-5999

MIDI

ADVANCED MIDI APPLICATIONS, GPI
BASIC MIDI APPLICATIONS, GPI
WHAT IS MIDI?, GPI

SYNTHESIZERS

BEGINNING SYNTHESIZER, GPI
PLAYING SYNTHESIZERS, GPI
SYNTHESIZER PROGRAMMING, GPI

Hal Leonard Publishing

For prices and more information call 1-414-774-3630

MIND OVER MIDI, GPI
SYNTHESIZER TECHNIQUE (REVISED), GPI

Monthly Magazines

The following magazines offer many specific articles and columns that can provide a plethora of
useful information.

THE TRANSONIQ HACKER

For prices and more information about this independent news magazine for ENSONIQ
Users, call 1-503-227-6848

KEYBOARD

For subscription rates and more information call 1-800-289-9919

ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN

For subscription rates and more information call 1-800-888-5139

HOME & STUDIO RECORDING

For subscription rates and more information call 1-818-407-0744

MIX

For subscription rates and more information call 1-800-888-5139

EQ

For subscription rates and more information call 1-212-213-3444

x

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

Table of Contents
List of Tips
Preface

Welcome!

...........................................................................................................................

i

The Sounds

...........................................................................................................................

i

The Sequencer

...........................................................................................................................

ii

MIDI Control

...........................................................................................................................

ii

Clean Up and Maintenance

...........................................................................................................................

ii

Center Supported Stands

...........................................................................................................................

ii

The Manual

...........................................................................................................................

ii

Power

...........................................................................................................................

iii

Ground Loops

.....................................................................................................................

iv

AC Line Conditioning

.....................................................................................................................

iv

Temperature Guidelines

...........................................................................................................................

v

Amplification

...........................................................................................................................

v

Be Careful!

...........................................................................................................................

vi

Amplifying Your TS-12 Through a Home Stereo System

...........................................................................................................................

vi

Table of Contents - 1

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Powering Up Your TS-12 In a MIDI Configuration

...........................................................................................................................

vi

About the Auto-Load Feature

...........................................................................................................................

vi

Care and Feeding of the Disk Drive

...........................................................................................................................

vii

Reinitializing the TS-12

...........................................................................................................................

viii

When to Reinitialize

...........................................................................................................................

viii

Low Battery Voltage — When to Replace the Battery

...........................................................................................................................

viii

Available Options for your TS-12

...........................................................................................................................

ix

Need More Help?

...........................................................................................................................

ix

Section 1 — Controls & Basic Functions

Rear Panel Connections

...........................................................................................................................

1

Front Panel Controls

...........................................................................................................................

3

Parametric Programming

...........................................................................................................................

5

Changing a Parameter

...........................................................................................................................

5

Performance Controllers

...........................................................................................................................

6

Playing Sounds and Presets

...........................................................................................................................

8

Sound Memory

.....................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 2

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

8

Using the BankSet Button

...........................................................................................................................

9

Layering (Stacking) a Sound

...........................................................................................................................

10

The SoundFinder™ Feature

...........................................................................................................................

10

Using SoundFinder in Sounds Mode

.....................................................................................................................

11

Understanding Tracks

...........................................................................................................................

12

Sampled Sounds and SIMMs

...........................................................................................................................

13

How Many SIMMs?

...........................................................................................................................

13

Table of Contents - 3

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Section 2 — System Page Parameters

TUNE

.....................................................................................................................

14

TOUCH

.....................................................................................................................

14

Velocity Curve Diagram

...........................................................................................................................

15

VEL-MAX

.....................................................................................................................

18

PRESS

.....................................................................................................................

18

PEDAL

.....................................................................................................................

19

SLIDER

.....................................................................................................................

19

VOICE-MUTING

.....................................................................................................................

20

MIDI-TRK-NAMES

.....................................................................................................................

20

KBD-NAMING

.....................................................................................................................

20

Various ROM System Pitch-Tables...........................................22

Selecting ROM Pitch-Tables

.....................................................................................................................

24

Using the U1-Programs Pitch-Tables

.....................................................................................................................

25

PRESS-MODE ..................................................................26

WAKE-UP-MODE .............................................................26

Section 3 — MIDI Control Page Parameters

BASE-CHAN

...........................................................................................................................

27

GMIDI

Table of Contents - 4

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

...........................................................................................................................

27

SEND

...........................................................................................................................

27

MODE

...........................................................................................................................

28

About Mono Mode

.....................................................................................................................

28

Global Controllers in Mono Mode

...........................................................................................................................

29

VELS/XPOS

...........................................................................................................................

29

XCTRL - External Controller

...........................................................................................................................

29

LOOP

...........................................................................................................................

30

Working with MIDI Loops

.....................................................................................................................

31

Using Presets with MIDI Loops

.....................................................................................................................

31

CNTRLS — Controllers

...........................................................................................................................

31

SONG-SEL — Song Select

...........................................................................................................................

31

ALL-OFF

...........................................................................................................................

31

START/STOP

...........................................................................................................................

31

PROG-CHG — Program Changes

...........................................................................................................................

32

Receiving MIDI Program Changes

.....................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 5

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

32

SYS-EX

...........................................................................................................................

33

DEVICE-ID

...........................................................................................................................

33

SEND-PARAMS

...........................................................................................................................

33

Section 4 — Understanding Presets

What is a Preset?

...........................................................................................................................

34

What is the Difference between Preset Mode and Sequencer Mode?

...........................................................................................................................

34

Selecting Presets

...........................................................................................................................

34

How Many Presets are in the TS-12?

...........................................................................................................................

35

Editing a Preset

...........................................................................................................................

36

What are Preset/Track Parameters?

...........................................................................................................................

37

Saving a Preset

...........................................................................................................................

37

Avoiding Confusion when using Presets

...........................................................................................................................

39

Using the Replace Track Sound Function in Presets Mode

...........................................................................................................................

39

Replacing a Sound in a Preset

...........................................................................................................................

39

Using SoundFinder in Presets Mode

.....................................................................................................................

40

Replacing a Sound and the Effect in a Preset

Table of Contents - 6

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

...........................................................................................................................

41

Display Location

...........................................................................................................................

41

Finding the BankSet, Bank, and Display Location for Sounds on Preset

Tracks

...........................................................................................................................

41

Performance Tip — Creating Keyboard Splits

...........................................................................................................................

42

Using Effects With Performance Presets

...........................................................................................................................

43

Section 5 — Preset/Track Parameters

Mix Page

.....................................................................................................................

44

Pan Page

.....................................................................................................................

44

Attack Page

.....................................................................................................................

45

Release Page

.....................................................................................................................

45

Brightness Page

.....................................................................................................................

46

Timbre Page

.....................................................................................................................

47

External Control Page

.....................................................................................................................

47

Key Zone Page

.....................................................................................................................

48

Velocity Range Page

.....................................................................................................................

49

Velocity Sensitivity Page

.....................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 7

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

49

Transpose Page

.....................................................................................................................

50

Detune Page

.....................................................................................................................

50

Rate Page

.....................................................................................................................

51

Sustain Page

.....................................................................................................................

51

Sostenuto Page

.....................................................................................................................

52

Pitch Bend Page

.....................................................................................................................

52

Mod Wheel Page

.....................................................................................................................

53

All-Notes-Off Page

.....................................................................................................................

53

Reset Controllers

.....................................................................................................................

53

Patch Select Page

.....................................................................................................................

54

Latching Patch Selects..........................................................54

Pressure Page

.....................................................................................................................

55

Pedal Page

.....................................................................................................................

56

MIDI Status Page

.....................................................................................................................

56

MIDI Channel Page

.....................................................................................................................

57

MIDI Program Number Page

.....................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 8

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

58

Entering Program Change Numbers Directly............................... 58

MIDI Bank Select Page

.....................................................................................................................

58

Program Changes and Bank Selects in the TS-12

...........................................................................................................................

59

Effects Controller Page

.....................................................................................................................

60

Table of Contents - 9

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Section 6 — Understanding Effects

Understanding TS-12 Effects

...........................................................................................................................

61

Program and Sampled Sound Effects

...........................................................................................................................

61

Preset Effects

...........................................................................................................................

61

Sequencer Effect

...........................................................................................................................

62

Selecting Effects

...........................................................................................................................

62

What is an Algorithm?

...........................................................................................................................

63

Signal Routing Between Effects

...........................................................................................................................

63

Sounds and Presets

...........................................................................................................................

63

When are New Algorithms loaded into the ESP Chip?

...........................................................................................................................

63

Performance Control of Tracks in Preset or Sequencer Mode

...........................................................................................................................

63

Programming Effects

...........................................................................................................................

64

The Effects Busses

.....................................................................................................................

64

Effects Mixing

...........................................................................................................................

65

Single Function Effect Mixer

.....................................................................................................................

65

Multiple Function Effect Mixer

.....................................................................................................................

65

Table of Contents - 10

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

Parallel Effect Mixer

.....................................................................................................................

66

Selectable Effect Modulation Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

66

MOD-1 SRC — Modulation Source 1

.....................................................................................................................

66

MOD-2 SRC — Modulation Source 2

.....................................................................................................................

66

DEST — Mod1 Destination Parameter

.....................................................................................................................

67

DEST — Mod2 Destination Parameter

.....................................................................................................................

67

MIN — Mod 1 Param Range Minimum

.....................................................................................................................

67

MAX — Mod 1 Param Range Maximum

.....................................................................................................................

67

MIN — Mod 2 Param Range Minimum

.....................................................................................................................

67

MAX — Mod 2 Param Range Maximum

.....................................................................................................................

67

Section 7 — Effect Parameters

About Effect Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

68

Effect Modulation Parameters

.....................................................................................................................

68

00 DRY/BYPASSED

.....................................................................................................................

68

Parallel Effects

...........................................................................................................................

68

01 DDL+CHORUS+REV

.....................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 11

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

68

02 EQ- -DDL+CHORUS+REV

.....................................................................................................................

71

03 DELAYLFO+CHORUS+REV

.....................................................................................................................

72

04 ROTOSPKR+CHORUS+REV

.....................................................................................................................

73

05 DISTORT+CHORUS+REV

.....................................................................................................................

74

06 PARAM EQ+CHORUS+REV

.....................................................................................................................

75

07 ENV VCF+CHORUS+REV

.....................................................................................................................

75

08 DDL+PHLANGR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

76

09 EQ- -DDL+PHLANGR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

78

10 DELAYLFO+PHLANGR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

78

11 ROTOSPKR+PHLANGR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

79

12 DISTORT+PHLANGR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

79

13 PARAM EQ+PHLANGR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

79

14 ENV VCF+PHLANGR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

80

15 DDL+ROTOSPKR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

80

16 EQ- -DDL+ROTOSPKR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

82

Table of Contents - 12

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

17 DELAYLFO+ROTOSPKR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

82

18 ROTOSPKR+ROTOSPKR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

83

19 DISTORT+ROTOSPKR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

83

20 PARAM EQ+ROTOSPKR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

83

21 ENV VCF+ROTOSPKR+REV

.....................................................................................................................

84

Dual Effects

...........................................................................................................................

84

22 PLATE + PLATE REVERBS

.....................................................................................................................

84

23 PARAMETRIC EQ + PLATE

.....................................................................................................................

85

24 SMALL PLATE REVERB

.....................................................................................................................

87

25 LARGE PLATE REVERB 1

.....................................................................................................................

87

26 LARGE PLATE REVERB 2

.....................................................................................................................

89

27 HALL REVERB 1

.....................................................................................................................

89

28 HALL REVERB 2

.....................................................................................................................

90

29 HALL REVERB 3

.....................................................................................................................

92

30 SMALL ROOM REVERB

.....................................................................................................................

93

31 MEDIUM ROOM REVERB

Table of Contents - 13

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

.....................................................................................................................

93

32 LARGE ROOM REVERB

.....................................................................................................................

93

33 TIGHT AMBIENCE

.....................................................................................................................

95

34 WIDE AMBIENCE

.....................................................................................................................

95

35 NONLINEAR REVERB 1

.....................................................................................................................

97

36 NONLINEAR REVERB 2

.....................................................................................................................

97

37 NONLINEAR REVERB 3

.....................................................................................................................

97

38 GATED REVERB

.....................................................................................................................

99

39 REVERSE REVERB 1

.....................................................................................................................

101

40 REVERSE REVERB 2

.....................................................................................................................

102

41 STEREO DELAY + DELAY

.....................................................................................................................

103

42 MULTITAP DELAY

.....................................................................................................................

103

43 EQ- -STEREO DELAYLFO

.....................................................................................................................

104

44 EIGHT VOICE CHORUS

.....................................................................................................................

105

45 CHORUS + REVERB 1

.....................................................................................................................

106

46 CHORUS + REVERB 2

.....................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 14

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

107

47 DDL- -CHORUS + REVRB 1

.....................................................................................................................

109

48 DDL- -CHORUS + REVRB 2

.....................................................................................................................

111

49 EQ- -CHORUS + REVERB

.....................................................................................................................

112

50 EQ- -CHORUS + EQ- -DDL

.....................................................................................................................

113

51 FLANGER + REVERB

.....................................................................................................................

114

52 EQ- -FLANGER + DELAY

.....................................................................................................................

115

53 PHASER + REVERB

.....................................................................................................................

117

54 PHASER + DELAY

.....................................................................................................................

118

55 EQ- -TREMOLO + DELAY

.....................................................................................................................

119

56 EQ- -VIBRATO + DELAY

.....................................................................................................................

121

57 PITCH SHIFTER

.....................................................................................................................

122

58 FAST PITCH SHIFTER

.....................................................................................................................

123

59 PITCH SHIFTER + DELAY

.....................................................................................................................

124

60 ROTARY SPEAKER + REV

.....................................................................................................................

125

61 SPEAKER CABINET

.....................................................................................................................

126

Table of Contents - 15

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

62 TUNABLE SPEAKER

.....................................................................................................................

127

63 GUITAR AMP 1

.....................................................................................................................

127

64 GUITAR AMP 2

.....................................................................................................................

127

65 GUITAR AMP 3

.....................................................................................................................

129

66 VCF- -DISTORTION- -VCF

.....................................................................................................................

130

67 WAH- -DISTORTION + REV

.....................................................................................................................

132

68 FLNG- -CMP- -DIST + REV

.....................................................................................................................

133

69 DISTORT + CHORUS- -REV

.....................................................................................................................

134

70 PARAMETRIC EQ

.....................................................................................................................

135

71 EQ- -COMPRESSOR

.....................................................................................................................

135

72 RUMBLE FILTER

.....................................................................................................................

137

73 VAN DER POL FILTER

.....................................................................................................................

137

Section 8 — Understanding Programs

What is a Program?

...........................................................................................................................

138

Understanding Voices and Polyphony

...........................................................................................................................

138

Using the Patch Select Buttons

...........................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 16

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

139

Compare — Using the Compare Button

...........................................................................................................................

139

Using the Edit Buffer

...........................................................................................................................

139

Abandoning Your Edits

...........................................................................................................................

140

Using the Select Voice Page

...........................................................................................................................

140

Using the soft buttons as a shortcut

...........................................................................................................................

141

Selecting more than one voice at a time (Group Edit Mode)

...........................................................................................................................

141

Using the Group Edit feature

...........................................................................................................................

142

Programming the Patch Selects

...........................................................................................................................

142

Write Page — Saving a New Program Into Memory

...........................................................................................................................

143

Copying an Existing Program to Another Location

...........................................................................................................................

144

Voice Programming

...........................................................................................................................

144

TS-12 Voice Configuration

...........................................................................................................................

144

Modulators

...........................................................................................................................

146

About Modulation

.....................................................................................................................

146

Selecting a Modulator

.....................................................................................................................

146

Table of Contents - 17

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

MODAMT — Modulation Amount

.....................................................................................................................

146

Modulation Sources

...........................................................................................................................

147

Wave Page

...........................................................................................................................

151

Wave Class

.....................................................................................................................

151

Complete TS-12 ROM Wave Catalog

.....................................................................................................................

152

Using the Copy Functions

...........................................................................................................................

153

About the Copy Functions

.....................................................................................................................

153

MAKE COPY

...........................................................................................................................

154

RECALL

...........................................................................................................................

154

Special Recall Functions

...........................................................................................................................

155

Special Copy Operations

...........................................................................................................................

156

DEFAULT

...........................................................................................................................

156

SYSTEM

...........................................................................................................................

157

Some Useful Applications of the Copy Functions

...........................................................................................................................

157

Copying an effect from one program to another

...........................................................................................................................

157

Copying all parameters from one voice to another

Table of Contents - 18

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

...........................................................................................................................

157

Copying a complete program to a new location

...........................................................................................................................

158

Making a copy of the compare buffer

...........................................................................................................................

158

Collecting parts from several sources into the copy buffer

...........................................................................................................................

158

About Pitch-Tables

...........................................................................................................................

159

How to Create a Custom Pitch-Table

.....................................................................................................................

159

Editing a Custom Pitch-Table

.....................................................................................................................

160

Removing a Custom Pitch-Table

.....................................................................................................................

161

Creating and Extrapolating a Custom Pitch-Table

.....................................................................................................................

162

Creating and Interpolating a Custom Pitch-Table

.....................................................................................................................

163

Using the Copy page with Pitch-Tables

.....................................................................................................................

164

Dynamic Pitch-Table Selection

...........................................................................................................................

165

About Wave-Lists

...........................................................................................................................

165

How to Create a Wave-List

.....................................................................................................................

165

Editing a Wave-List

.....................................................................................................................

166

Removing a Wave-List

.....................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 19

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

167

Using the Copy page with Wave-Lists

.....................................................................................................................

167

About Drum-Maps

...........................................................................................................................

168

How to Create a Drum-Map

.....................................................................................................................

169

Editing a Drum-Map

.....................................................................................................................

170

Removing a Drum-Map

.....................................................................................................................

171

Using the Copy page with Drum-Maps

.....................................................................................................................

171

Section 9 — Program Parameters

LFO Page

...........................................................................................................................

172

ENV1, ENV2, ENV3 — TS-12 Envelopes

...........................................................................................................................

175

ENV1, ENV2 and ENV3 Pages

...........................................................................................................................

175

Pitch Page

...........................................................................................................................

180

Pitch Mods Page

...........................................................................................................................

182

Filters Page

...........................................................................................................................

183

Low-pass/High-pass

.....................................................................................................................

183

Poles — Rolloff Curves

.....................................................................................................................

183

Cutoff Frequency

Table of Contents - 20

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

.....................................................................................................................

183

Filter Configurations

.....................................................................................................................

184

FILTER 1 Page

...........................................................................................................................

185

FILTER 2 Page

...........................................................................................................................

186

Output Page

...........................................................................................................................

186

Wave Page

...........................................................................................................................

190

Class-Specific Wave Parameters

.....................................................................................................................

191

TRANSWAVE -Specific Wave Parameters

.....................................................................................................................

192

Hyper-Wave™ -Specific Wave Parameters

.....................................................................................................................

193

Drum-Map Specific Wave Parameters

.....................................................................................................................

194

Mod Mixer Page

...........................................................................................................................

195

Program Control Page

...........................................................................................................................

198

Pitch-Table Editor Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

201

Copy Pitch-Table Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

203

Wave-List Editor Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

204

Copy Wave-List Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 21

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

206

Drum-Map Editor Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

206

Copy Drum-Map Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

209

Program Effects Page

...........................................................................................................................

210

Select Voice Page

...........................................................................................................................

210

Copy Page

...........................................................................................................................

210

Write Program Page

...........................................................................................................................

210

Compare Function

...........................................................................................................................

210

Section 10 — Understanding the Sequencer

Introduction

...........................................................................................................................

211

Digital Sequencing

...........................................................................................................................

211

What is a Sequence?

...........................................................................................................................

211

What is a Song?

...........................................................................................................................

212

Sequencer “Transport Controls”

...........................................................................................................................

212

Sequencer Status

...........................................................................................................................

213

Sequencer Banks

...........................................................................................................................

213

Selecting a Sequence or Song

Table of Contents - 22

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

...........................................................................................................................

214

Playing Sequences and Songs

...........................................................................................................................

214

Sequencer Tracks

...........................................................................................................................

215

Replacing the Sound on a Sequence or Song Track

...........................................................................................................................

216

Using SoundFinder in Sequencer Mode

.....................................................................................................................

216

Layering Sounds on The Tracks Pages

...........................................................................................................................

218

Sequencer Tracks and the Track Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

218

The Tempo Track and the Track Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

220

Copying a Preset into 3 Sequencer Tracks

...........................................................................................................................

220

Copying a Preset Along With its Effect into 3 Sequencer Tracks

...........................................................................................................................

221

Creating a New Sequence

...........................................................................................................................

221

Creating a New Song

...........................................................................................................................

222

Erasing All Sequencer Memory

...........................................................................................................................

222

Recording a Sequence

...........................................................................................................................

222

About the Audition Play/Keep Page

...........................................................................................................................

224

Playing Tracks in Audition Mode

...........................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 23

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

224

“Punching In” on a Track

...........................................................................................................................

225

Finding the BankSet, Bank, and Display Location for Sounds on

Sequencer Tracks

...........................................................................................................................

226

Edit Sequence Page — Sequence Edit Functions

...........................................................................................................................

227

The MIDI Connection

...........................................................................................................................

227

MIDI Sequencing on the TS-12 — MIDI Connections

...........................................................................................................................

227

MIDI Mode and Channel — Remote MIDI Device

...........................................................................................................................

228

MIDI Track Configuration

...........................................................................................................................

228

Recording MIDI Tracks

...........................................................................................................................

229

Additional Sequencer Functions

...........................................................................................................................

229

Recording Controllers into Sequencer Tracks

...........................................................................................................................

229

Changing a Sound within a Sequence or Song Track (Recording

Program Changes

...........................................................................................................................

230

Defining Track Pressure in Sequencer Mode

.....................................................................................................................

231

Assigning a Track to the AUX Outputs

...........................................................................................................................

232

Using the AUX Outputs as Separate Mono Outs

...........................................................................................................................

232

Edit Track Page — Track Edit Functions

Table of Contents - 24

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

...........................................................................................................................

233

Track Mix Functions — Mixing, Muting and Soloing Tracks

...........................................................................................................................

233

Song Mode

...........................................................................................................................

234

Switching Effects in Song Mode

...........................................................................................................................

234

Edit Song Page — Song Edit Functions

...........................................................................................................................

235

Editing Song Steps — Using the Song Step Editor

...........................................................................................................................

235

Song Tracks

...........................................................................................................................

236

Viewing Sequence Tracks in Song Mode

...........................................................................................................................

238

Mixing Down Sequence and Song Tracks in Song Mode

...........................................................................................................................

238

To Record Mix or Pan Changes to Sequence Tracks in a Song

...........................................................................................................................

238

To Record Mix or Pan Changes to a Song Track

...........................................................................................................................

239

A Few Notes About Mixdown Mode

...........................................................................................................................

239

Sequencer Tempo Track

...........................................................................................................................

240

Removing the Song Tempo Track

...........................................................................................................................

240

Tempo Track Edit Functions

...........................................................................................................................

241

Thinning Out Tempo Changes Using the Event Editor

.....................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 25

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

241

Using Multi-Track Record

...........................................................................................................................

243

Suggestion for Advanced Users

...........................................................................................................................

243

Basic Multi-track Recording from an External Sequencer

...........................................................................................................................

244

Recording into the Sequencer in a MIDI Loop

...........................................................................................................................

245

Using the Step Entry Recorder

...........................................................................................................................

246

Access to Other Pages while in Step Entry

...........................................................................................................................

246

Entering Audition Mode from Step Entry

...........................................................................................................................

246

Entering Step Entry Record after Locating or from Play

...........................................................................................................................

246

About the SAVE CHANGES... Page

.....................................................................................................................

246

Section 11 — Sequencer Parameters

Sequencer Editing Functions

...........................................................................................................................

248

Edit Song Page Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

248

INFO Sub-Page

.....................................................................................................................

249

ERASE

.....................................................................................................................

249

COPY

.....................................................................................................................

249

EDIT STEPS Page

Table of Contents - 26

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

.....................................................................................................................

250

TRACKS

.....................................................................................................................

251

Edit Sequence Page Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

252

APPEND

.....................................................................................................................

252

INFO

.....................................................................................................................

252

ERASE

.....................................................................................................................

253

COPY

.....................................................................................................................

253

LENGTH — Add and Delete Bars from a Sequence

.....................................................................................................................

253

ADD BARS

.....................................................................................................................

254

DELETE BARS

.....................................................................................................................

254

Sequence Bank Utilities

.....................................................................................................................

255

Edit Track Page Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

255

Range Sub-Page — Setting the Time and Key Range

.....................................................................................................................

255

Track Edit Functions

.....................................................................................................................

256

SHIFT

.....................................................................................................................

256

QUANTIZE

.....................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 27

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

256

Using the Quantize Options

.....................................................................................................................

260

ERASE

.....................................................................................................................

261

COPY

.....................................................................................................................

261

*MORE* — Additional Track Edit functions

.....................................................................................................................

262

TRANSPOSE

.....................................................................................................................

263

SCALE

.....................................................................................................................

263

EVENT-LIST

.....................................................................................................................

264

Auditioning Event Edit Changes

.....................................................................................................................

268

FILTER

.....................................................................................................................

268

MERGE

.....................................................................................................................

270

Click Page

...........................................................................................................................

270

Sequencer Control Page

...........................................................................................................................

271

SAVE CHANGES

.....................................................................................................................

274

Locate Page

...........................................................................................................................

277

Sequence Locate Page

.....................................................................................................................

277

Table of Contents - 28

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

Setting the GOTO Locate Time While the Sequence Plays...............278

Song Locate Page

.....................................................................................................................

278

Setting the GOTO Locate Time While the Song Plays.................... 280

Edit Times in Song Mode

.....................................................................................................................

281

Setting the Edit Times in Real Time

.....................................................................................................................

281

Section 12 Sequencing/MIDI Applications

Using the TS-12 with a Drum Machine

...........................................................................................................................

282

To Sync a Drum Machine to the TS-12

.....................................................................................................................

282

To Sync the TS-12 to a Drum Machine

.....................................................................................................................

282

To Sequence a Drum Machine from a Track of the TS-12

.....................................................................................................................

282

Song Position Pointers

...........................................................................................................................

283

MIDI Song Selects

...........................................................................................................................

283

MIDI Controller Tricks — Creating MIDI Track Templates

...........................................................................................................................

283

MULTI Mode — Receiving on up to 12 MIDI channels

...........................................................................................................................

284

A Few Important Points About MULTI Mode

...........................................................................................................................

285

Using the TS-12 with an External MIDI Sequencer

...........................................................................................................................

286

Using The TS-12 with a MIDI Guitar Controller

...........................................................................................................................

286

Table of Contents - 29

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Delay Times/Tempo BPM Chart

...........................................................................................................................

288

What is General MIDI?

...........................................................................................................................

290

Sound Map

.....................................................................................................................

290

Percussion

.....................................................................................................................

290

GS/MT-32 Compatibility

.....................................................................................................................

290

Other General MIDI Requirements

.....................................................................................................................

290

Why use General MIDI?

...........................................................................................................................

291

General MIDI Sound Map

...........................................................................................................................

292

GM and GS Percussion Key Maps (Channel 10)

...........................................................................................................................

293

Using General MIDI in the Real World

...........................................................................................................................

295

Using TS-12 General MIDI Sounds with an External GM Sequencer

...........................................................................................................................

295

Connecting the TS-12 keyboard to a computer (or other General

MIDI sequencer)

.....................................................................................................................

295

To Enable General MIDI on the TS-12

...........................................................................................................................

295

MIDI Out in General MIDI Mode

...........................................................................................................................

296

TS-12 General MIDI Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

297

Table of Contents - 30

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

RECV (MIDI Reception)

.....................................................................................................................

297

GM-CHAN

.....................................................................................................................

297

GM-PROG

.....................................................................................................................

297

Manually Assigning GM Sounds to Each MIDI Channel

...........................................................................................................................

298

General MIDI “Panic” button

...........................................................................................................................

298

System and MIDI Control Settings in GM Mode

...........................................................................................................................

298

Disabling General MIDI

...........................................................................................................................

299

To Disable General MIDI

.....................................................................................................................

299

Enabling/Disabling General MIDI with System Exclusive Messages

...........................................................................................................................

299

Turning General MIDI On using SysEx Messages

.....................................................................................................................

299

Turning General MIDI Off using SysEx Messages

.....................................................................................................................

299

More about SysEx Messages

.....................................................................................................................

299

Sound Canvas MT-32 Mode Program Change Map

...........................................................................................................................

300

MIDI Controller Implementation in General MIDI Mode

...........................................................................................................................

300

General MIDI Mode Controller Implementation Chart

...........................................................................................................................

301

Table of Contents - 31

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Section 13 — Storage

Disk Storage — Using the Disk Drive to Save and Load Data

...........................................................................................................................

302

TS-12 Disk File Types

...........................................................................................................................

304

Programs

.....................................................................................................................

304

Presets

.....................................................................................................................

304

Sequence/Song

.....................................................................................................................

304
MIDI System Exclusive data
System File

.....................................................................................................................

304
Sampled Sounds

.....................................................................................................................

304

Disk Capacity — Bytes, Blocks, and Files

...........................................................................................................................

305

File Banks

...........................................................................................................................

305

TS-12 Disk Functions

...........................................................................................................................

305

FORMAT — Formatting a Blank Disk

.....................................................................................................................

306
COPY — Making a Backup Copy of a Disk

.....................................................................................................................

307
RENAME — Changing a Disk's Name

.....................................................................................................................

308
SAVE — Saving Data to Disk

.....................................................................................................................

309

Naming with the Keyboard

...........................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 32

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

310

Saving Programs along with a 30-SEQ/SONGS File

...........................................................................................................................

310

Saving Sample-Banks along with a 60 SEQ/SONGS File

...........................................................................................................................

311

Specifying a File Bank Location when Saving a File

...........................................................................................................................

311

LOAD — Loading Data from Disk

...........................................................................................................................

312

Loading 60 SEQ/SONGS Files that Contain Programs and/or Sample

Banks

...........................................................................................................................

313

Using File Banks to Locate Files for Loading

...........................................................................................................................

314

DELETE — Deleting (Erasing) Files from Disk

...........................................................................................................................

315

SCSI Option (read-only)

...........................................................................................................................

315

Directories

...........................................................................................................................

317

What is a Directory?

.....................................................................................................................

317

Navigating in Directories

.....................................................................................................................

317

File Paths

.....................................................................................................................

317

To Enter or Move Down into a Directory ................................... 318

To Exit from or move back up from a Directory

Direct-Macros™

...........................................................................................................................

318

What Is a Direct-Macro?

.....................................................................................................................

318

Table of Contents - 33

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Direct-Dialing Macros on Sampled Sound CD ROMs

.....................................................................................................................

318

MIDI SYS-EX

...........................................................................................................................

319

PROGRAMS

.....................................................................................................................

320
PRESETS

.....................................................................................................................

320
SEQUENCER DATA

.....................................................................................................................

321
ALL

.....................................................................................................................

321

Receiving MIDI Sys-Ex Messages

...........................................................................................................................

321

MIDI System Exclusive Recorder

...........................................................................................................................

322

What are System Exclusives?

.....................................................................................................................

322
“Generic” System Exclusive Storage

.....................................................................................................................

322
Saving Sys-Ex data uses the Sequencer Memory

.....................................................................................................................

322
LOADING System Exclusive Data from Disk to an External Device

.....................................................................................................................

324
Additional Sys-Ex Recorder Notes

.....................................................................................................................

325

TS-12 Disk Messages

...........................................................................................................................

326

Fatal Error Messages

...........................................................................................................................

326

Table of Contents - 34

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

Section 14 — Understanding Sampled Sounds

What is a Sampled Sound?

...........................................................................................................................

328

What is a SIMM?

...........................................................................................................................

328

Warning!

...........................................................................................................................

328

Purchasing SIMMs

...........................................................................................................................

329

How Many SIMMs?

...........................................................................................................................

329

An Important Note About Electrostatic Discharge

...........................................................................................................................

329

Sampled Sound Configuration

...........................................................................................................................

329

About WaveSamples

...........................................................................................................................

330

Loading a Sampled Sound

...........................................................................................................................

330

About Directories

...........................................................................................................................

331

What is a Directory?

...........................................................................................................................

331

Loading (Changing) a Directory

...........................................................................................................................

331

Multi-Disk Sampled Sound Display Messages

...........................................................................................................................

332

Selecting and Playing a Sampled Sound

...........................................................................................................................

332

Sampled Sound OPTIONS page

...........................................................................................................................

334

Table of Contents - 35

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Lack of Memory Message

...........................................................................................................................

335

About the Auto-Load Feature

...........................................................................................................................

335

Loading Sample-Edits with the Auto-Load Feature

.....................................................................................................................

338

When Does Auto-Load Delete All Sampled Sounds?

...........................................................................................................................

338

Selecting a WaveSample or Layer for Editing — the Edit Context page

(Select Voice button)

...........................................................................................................................

339

LAYERS-IN-PATCH (Layer Enable/Disable)

...........................................................................................................................

340

Using the Patch Select Buttons

.....................................................................................................................

340

TS-12 Sampled Sound Messages

...........................................................................................................................

341

Programming Patches

.....................................................................................................................

341

What is a Surrogate Program

...........................................................................................................................

341

Assigning a Surrogate Program to a Track

.....................................................................................................................

342

Erasing All Sampled Sound Data From Memory

...........................................................................................................................

342

Saving Sampled Sound Information

...........................................................................................................................

343

What is a Sample-Banks File

...........................................................................................................................

343

Saving a Sample-Banks File

...........................................................................................................................

343

Table of Contents - 36

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

Updating Sample-Banks Files Saved with Software Earlier than

Version 2.0

...........................................................................................................................

345

Loading a Sampled Sound into an Occupied Sampled Sound Bank

...........................................................................................................................

346

Loading Sample-Edits

...........................................................................................................................

347

Lack of Memory Message

...........................................................................................................................

348

Modulators

...........................................................................................................................

349

About Modulation

.....................................................................................................................

349

Selecting a Modulator

.....................................................................................................................

349

Modulation Amount

.....................................................................................................................

349

Section 15 — Sampled Sound Parameters

Edit KEY-DOWN/KEY-UP LAYERS Page (Copy button)

...........................................................................................................................

350

TRK Defaults Page (Write Program button)

...........................................................................................................................

351

LFO Page

...........................................................................................................................

352

WaveSample Envelopes

...........................................................................................................................

355

About ENV 3

.....................................................................................................................

355

Typical WaveSample Envelope

.....................................................................................................................

355

ENV1, ENV2, ENV3 Pages

Table of Contents - 37

Table of Contents TS-12 Musician’s Manual

...........................................................................................................................

356

Pitch Page

...........................................................................................................................

359

Pitch Mods Page

...........................................................................................................................

360

TS-12 Filters

...........................................................................................................................

361

Low-Pass and High-Pass

.....................................................................................................................

361
Poles — Rolloff Curves

.....................................................................................................................

361
Cutoff Frequency

.....................................................................................................................

361

Edit/Filters Page

...........................................................................................................................

361

MODE (Filter Mode)

.....................................................................................................................

361

FILTER 1 Page

...........................................................................................................................

363

FILTER 2 Page

...........................................................................................................................

363

Output Page

...........................................................................................................................

364

Wave Page

...........................................................................................................................

366

Volume Mod Source Shaper Page

...........................................................................................................................

369

Layer Page

...........................................................................................................................

370

Sampled Sound Effects Page (Program Effects button)

...........................................................................................................................

Table of Contents - 38

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Table of Contents

373

Appendix

TS-12 MIDI Implementation

...........................................................................................................................

I

Registered Parameters

...........................................................................................................................

I

TS-10 Index

Table of Contents - 39

Section 1 — Controls & Basic Functions

This section provides an introduction to the TS-12’s many controls and rear panel connections, a
conceptual overview of the system, and a discussion of editing various types of parameters. We
suggest you read this section carefully — it will help you get the most out of your TS-12.

Rear Panel Connections

MIDI

Out

2

1

1) MIDI Thru

“Passes on” all MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) information received by the TS-12 to
other MIDI devices. Information generated by the TS-12 itself does not go to this jack — the Thru
jack merely echoes what comes into the MIDI In jack.

2) MIDI Out

Sends out MIDI information generated by the TS-12 keyboard and/or sequencer to other
instruments and computers.

3) MIDI In

This jack receives MIDI information from other MIDI instruments or computers.

4) Foot Switch 2

5) Foot Switch 1

These two independent foot switch jacks support either a single (mono) or dual (stereo) foot
switch, and can be assigned to a number of different functions, allowing a total of four
independent foot switch controllers (when two optional SW-10 Dual Foot Switches are
connected).

In

Foot Switch 2

Foot Switch 1

Pedal•CVThru

3

Right/Mono

7

Aux Outputs

Left/Mono

86

Main Out

Right/Mono

Left/Mono

9 11

104 5

Phones

When either type of foot switch is plugged into the Foot Switch 1 or 2 jack, it is completely
programmable (on the System page), and can be used for sustain, sostenuto, Patch Select control,
preset up/down, effect modulation, or sequencer control.

When the SW-2 is connected

to either Foot Switch jack:

It functions as the right foot switch

and is completely programmable.

When the SW-10 is connected to

either Foot Switch jack:

Both the left and right Foot Switches are

completely and independently programmable.

There are four parameters on the System page that let you assign the foot switches to a variety of
functions. When a single foot switch is connected, set the left foot switch to *UNUSED* on the

1

Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Control Voltage Foot Pedal

System sub-page. For more information about assigning the foot switches, refer to Section 2 —
System Page Parameters.

Note: If you are using a single foot switch (SW-2 or SW-6) in either of the Foot Switch
jacks, the FOOT-SW1-L and/or SW2-L values on the System page should always be set
to *UNUSED*. This will prevent note drones. Remember that the Foot Switch jacks
are optimized for use with a stereo Foot Switch (SW-10), and when a single foot switch
is connected, it behaves like the right foot switch.

6) Pedal•CV

This jack is for connecting an optional ENSONIQ Model CVP-1 Control
Voltage Foot Pedal, which is assignable as a modulator to various
parameters within the TS-12. The pedal gives you a handy alternative
modulation source when, for example, you would want to use the Mod
Wheel but both hands are busy.

A CV pedal plugged into this jack can also act a volume pedal,
controlling the volume of the currently selected sound(s). A parameter
on the System page (press System twice, then underline
PEDAL=VOL/MOD) determines whether the CV pedal will act as a
modulator or as a volume pedal. Set to PEDAL=VOL to use the CV
pedal to control volume.

ENSONIQ

CVP-1

Pedal/CV Specs: 3-conductor (Tip= control voltage input, Ring=510
ohm resistor to +5 Volts, Sleeve= ground). 36 KOhm input impedance, DC coupled. Input
voltage range=0 to 3 volts DC. Scan rate=32mS (maximum recommended modulation input= 15
Hz). For use with an external control voltage, use a 2-conductor cable with the voltage on the tip
and the sleeve grounded.

7) AUX Out Right/Mono

8) AUX Out Left/Mono

The AUX Outputs provide an additional stereo output for use in mixing down sequences, etc.
The AUX Outputs contain the dry (no effects) signal only, allowing you to process and mix
certain sounds separately. TS-12 sounds can be routed to the AUX Outputs from the Track
Effects page, or individual voices can be set to the AUX Outputs from the Output page. When
using the AUX Outputs in stereo, connect these outputs to two separate channels of your mixer
and pan them left and right. If you want to have a mono AUX Output, make sure that only one
of the AUX Out jacks is connected.

9) Main Out — Right/Mono

10) Main Out — Left/Mono

The Main Out jacks contain the wet (effected) output of the TS-12’s effects processor. Any sounds
or individual voices routed to FX1, FX2, or DRY will be routed to the Main Outs. To operate the
TS-12 in stereo, connect these outputs to two discrete channels of your mixer and pan them left
and right. Note that either of the Main Outs can be used as a mono output. If you want to listen
to the main output in mono, make sure that only one of the Main Out jacks is connected.

11) Phones

2

To listen to the TS-12 in stereo through headphones, plug the phones into this jack. The Phones
output contains a mix of the signal from the Main Outputs and the AUX Outputs. Headphone
volume is controlled by the Volume Slider on the front panel. Note that plugging headphones
into this jack does not automatically turn off the audio in the Main or AUX Outputs.

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions

Front Panel Controls

Almost everything you do on the TS-12, whether it’s selecting a sound, editing that sound,
adjusting the tuning, etc., is controlled from the front panel using the following controls:

6

5

1

2

1) Volume Slider

This controls the overall volume of the TS-12 audio outputs.

2) Data Entry Controls

The Data Entry Slider and the Up and Down Arrow buttons to the left of the display are
primarily used to select and modify things — sounds, parameters, keyboard touch, MIDI Control
functions, etc. — all depending on which front panel button you press.

3) Mode Buttons

These 3 buttons are used to select the current mode; you will always be in one of these modes:

• Sequencer Mode — The Seqs/Songs button is used to put the TS-12 into Sequencer mode. The
ten Bank buttons (labeled 0-9) will select Sequencer banks. Each bank contains six sequencer
locations, any of which can contain a sequence or a song, or may be blank. When the TS-12 is in
Sequencer mode, the LED above the Seqs/Songs Button will light. Note that when the
sequencer is playing, you cannot enter either Sounds or Presets mode.

• Presets Mode — The Presets button is used to put the TS-12 into Presets mode. The BankSet
button will scroll through the five different Preset BankSets. The ten Bank buttons will select
Preset Banks within each BankSet. Each Preset Bank contains six different presets. Add all this
up, and you get a total of 300 different presets (120 User-programmable and 180 ROM)! Each
Preset contains three sound locations called “Tracks”, any of which can contain a User RAM
Program, ROM Program, or Sampled Sound. When the TS-12 is in Presets mode, the LED above
the Presets Button will light, and the bottom left-hand corner of the display will show PSET.

• Sounds Mode — The Sounds button is used to put the TS-12 into Sounds mode. The BankSet
button will scroll through the different Sound BankSets. The ten Bank buttons will select Sound
Banks within each BankSet. Each User RAM and ROM Program Bank contains six different
programs. Sampled Sound Banks contain one Sampled Sound per Bank. When the TS-12 is in
Sounds mode, the LED above the Sounds button will light.

0 1

3

2

3 4 5

74

6

7 8 9

4) BankSet Button

A BankSet is a collection (or “set”) of 10 Banks of Sounds or Presets. The BankSet button is used
to select different BankSets in Sound and Preset Modes. Repeated presses of the BankSet button
will scroll through all of the available BankSets.

Tip: There is a quick way to “direct-dial” between different BankSets in both Sounds and Preset

modes. Simply press the BankSet button and while holding it down, press the appropriate Bank
button. Bank buttons 0 and 1 select User RAM BankSets, and Bank buttons 2, 3, and 4 select
ROM BankSets. Bank button 8 (and if expansion SIMMs are installed, Bank button 9) selects the
Sampled Sound BankSet (in Sounds mode only). This enables you to “call up” the BankSets
rapidly, in any order.

3

Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Tip: Because you can use the BankSet button and the ten Bank buttons to “shop around” in various

banks before selecting a sound or preset, it is possible to lose track of where the currently selected
sound or preset (the one you are hearing) is located. There is a shortcut for getting back to the
BankSet and Bank that contains the currently selected sound or preset: rapidly double-click the
Sounds button or the Presets button to instantly go to the Bank that contains the currently
selected sound or preset.

5) Display

The 80-character fluorescent display makes it possible to show information in Pages. Each time you
press one of the front panel buttons, you are in effect “turning to” that function’s page. Once you
have turned to the page you want, the display shows you which parameters are controlled from
that page. Try pressing a few of the buttons — System, Mix/Pan, LFO, or Filters, for example, and
watch the display. Notice that for each button you press, the display changes to show you
information relating to that function. Each of these different display configurations is called a Page.

6) Soft Buttons

The six soft buttons above and below the display have a new function each time you select a new
page — that is, each time you press one of the dedicated front panel buttons. Each of the six soft
buttons is used to select whatever is directly above or below it on the display. Because their
function varies depending on what is displayed, we refer to these buttons as Soft Buttons, to
distinguish them from buttons which have fixed “hard” functions, such as the Track Parameter
buttons to the right of the display.

7) Bank Buttons

In Sequencer mode, the ten Bank buttons (labeled 0-9) will select Sequencer banks. Each bank
contains six sequencer locations, any of which can contain a sequence or a song, or may be blank.

In Presets Mode, the ten Bank buttons (labeled 0-9) will select Preset banks within the current
BankSet. Each bank contains six preset locations. Pressing the BankSet button will change the
current BankSet, and the Bank buttons will now select Preset banks within the newly selected
BankSet. There are five different BankSets of Preset Banks (two in User RAM, three in ROM), for
a total of 300 different presets.

In Sounds Mode, the ten Bank buttons (labeled 0-9) will select Sound banks within the current
BankSet. There are three different kinds of sound banks within the TS-12. Each User RAM
program bank contains six sound locations. Each ROM program bank contains six sound
locations. Each Sampled Sound bank contains one sound location. We call these Sound Bank
pages. Pressing the BankSet button will change the current BankSet, and the Bank buttons will
now select Sound banks within the newly selected BankSet.

Double-Click Symbol

This symbol appears in several places on the front panel , and helps to identify buttons that
offer a special "double-click" (pressing two times rapidly) feature. These are:

• Rapidly double-click the Sounds button or the Presets button to instantly go to the BankSet
and Bank that contains the currently selected sound or preset.

• Rapidly double-click the Track Effects button to bypass the effect for all sounds in a song,
sequence or preset.

• Rapidly double-click the Replace Track Sound button to replace the sound on a track with
another sound, and install the new sound’s effect settings.

• Rapidly double-click the Select Voice button to edit all of the unmuted voices within a Program.

• When a song is selected, rapidly double-click the Seq/Song Track 1-6 and/or 7-12 to toggle
between the sequence and song tracks.

4

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions

Parametric Programming

The method used to modify or edit sounds, presets and system parameters is called Page-driven
Parametric Programming, which sounds like a mouthful, but don’t worry. Once you’ve grasped a

few basic concepts, you’ll find that operating the TS-12 is quite simple, given its many
capabilities.

It is likely that you have already encountered some form of parametric programming on other
synthesizers. What this means is that instead of having a separate knob or slider for each
function, you have one master Data Entry Slider, and two Arrow buttons, which adjust the value
of whichever parameter you select. This approach has many advantages, the most obvious is that
it greatly reduces the amount of hardware — knobs, switches, faders, etc. — needed to control a
wide variety of functions. (If the TS-12 had a separate control for each function, it would literally
have hundreds of knobs.)

Sub-pages

Some of the TS-12 pages contain more that one screen of information. Repeatedly pressing the
same page button will cycle through the sub-pages.

Changing a Parameter

Suppose you want to adjust the master tuning of the TS-12. Press the front panel button labeled
System. The display now shows the System page:

In the top left-hand corner of the display you will always find the name of the page that
corresponds to the button you pressed. To the right and below the page name are various
parameters and commands that can be selected and modified from this page.

To raise or lower the tuning of the TS-12, press the soft button directly above where it says
TUNE=+00. This segment of the display will now be

selected, and can be modified.

The currently selected parameter on a page is always underlined.

Once you have selected a parameter to be modified, use the Data Entry Slider and the Up/Down
Arrow buttons to the left of the display to adjust its value:

• Moving the slider will scroll the entire range of available values. If you move the slider
slowly, it will edit the parameter relative to its current value. Moving it quickly will cause the
parameter to jump to the absolute value that corresponds to the position of the slider.

• Pressing the Up/Down Arrow buttons will increase or decrease the value one step at a time.
Continuing to hold down either button will cause it to accelerate and run quickly through the
values.

Tip: There is a quick way to center or “zero out” the value of any parameter which has a center value,

as the ATTACK parameter does. Press the Down Arrow button, and while holding it down, press
the Up Arrow button, then quickly release both buttons. This automatically sets the parameter
value to +00.

underlined

, telling you that it has been

5

Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions TS-12 Musician’s Manual

To select and modify another parameter on the same page, press the soft button above or below
its name. That parameter will now be
the Data Entry Slider and the Up/Down Arrow buttons.

underlined, and its value can be adjusted as before, with

If you select another page, change some parameter on that page, and then return to the System
page, the parameter you had last selected will still be underlined. The TS-12 always
“remembers” which parameter was last selected on a given page (including each sub-page).

Be sure that the parameter you want to edit is selected before moving the Data Entry Slider
and/or the Up/Down Arrow buttons. There is always a parameter selected on any given
programming page.

Sometimes the soft buttons are used to select values in “multi-field” parameters. For instance, in
Sounds or Presets mode, press the Tuning button. Press the soft button beneath the Transpose
parameter for any sound. Notice that the first field of the Transpose parameter (the Octave field)
is selected. Press the same soft button again. This selects the Semitone field of the parameter.
Successive presses of the soft button closest to the values moves the cursor from one field to
another.

Performance Controllers

The TS-12 features a number of real-time performance controllers which are used to modify
sounds as you play for maximum expressiveness. Three of the most important controllers are
located to the left of the keyboard:

Patch Select

Buttons

Pitch Bend

Wheel

• PATCH SELECT BUTTONS — These two buttons are used to select alternate groups of voices
within a sound. The TS-12 can be programmed so that the sound changes (sometimes in
subtle ways, sometimes radically) when you play notes with one or both Patch Select buttons
held down As you play the sounds in the TS-12, make sure you explore what these buttons do
to each sound.

• PITCH BEND WHEEL — This wheel bends the pitch of a note up or down. The wheel is
normally centered, where it has no effect on the pitch — moving the wheel up or down will
bend the note by the amount specified in the BEND parameters contained on the System page
(for global bend range) and on the Pitch Mods page (for setting each individual voice’s bend
range separately).

Modulation

Wheel

6

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions

• MODULATION WHEEL — Perhaps the most common use of the Mod Wheel is to add
vibrato, but it can also be assigned as a modulator anywhere within the TS-12 voice
architecture to alter the pitch, brightness, volume, effect parameters, and a great many other
aspects of the sound.

Pressure (After-touch)

Another important controller is Pressure. Pressure (often called after-touch) is a modulator that
allows you to change the sound in various ways by pressing down harder on a key or keys after
the initial keystrike. The TS-12 keyboard is capable of generating Channel Pressure and can
receive Poly-Key™ Pressure via incoming MIDI.

Like the mod wheel or foot pedal, pressure is a modulator, and can be chosen wherever a
modulator is selected in the Programming section of the TS-12. Pressure can be assigned to alter
the pitch or volume of voices, the filter cutoff frequency, LFO rate or depth, pan location, etc.

There are two types of Pressure:

• Channel Pressure, also called Mono pressure, affects all notes that are playing when you exert
pressure on any of the keys. For example, if you play a three-note chord, pressing down
harder on any of the three notes of the chord will modulate all three notes. This type of
pressure is the more common of the two types.

• Poly-Key Pressure, also referred to as polyphonic pressure, affects each key independently.
For example, if you play a three-note chord, pressing down harder on any of the three notes of
the chord will modulate only that note. The other two notes will remain unaffected. Although
the TS-12 keyboard will not generate Poly-key pressure, it will receive it via incoming MIDI.

Each preset or sequencer track can be programmed to receive Poly-Key pressure, channel
pressure or none at all. If you wish to change the pressure type for a given track, you can do
so on the second sub-page of the Performance Options page in the Track Parameters section of
the TS-12.

Note that pressure generates a tremendous amount of data, and will consume sequencer memory
much faster than other types of events, such as notes and program changes. You should turn
pressure off when sequencing instruments which do not respond to pressure, such as piano and
drum sounds.

7

Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Playing Sounds and Presets

Sound Memory

Each TS-12 internal sound (ROM and User RAM) is a complex structure consisting of up to six
voices per key and a programmable effects setup. We refer to these internal sounds as Programs.
Sounds that were created with a sampling keyboard (and are not internal—i.e.: must be loaded
from disk after power-on) are referred to as Sampled Sounds. In this manual, we will use the word
sound to describe both Programs (ROM and User RAM), as well as Sampled Sounds.

As it comes from the factory, the standard TS-12 has 300 different sounds:

• User RAM — 2 BankSets of 60 programs each are stored in Static RAM.

• ROM (Read Only Memory)— 3 BankSets of 60 programs each are permanently stored in ROM.
Like the User RAM programs, the ROM programs are contained within the TS-12; but unlike
the User programs, they cannot be modified or replaced.

Sampled Sound Options:

• Sampled Sounds — 1 BankSet of 10 Sampled Sounds each are stored in Dynamic RAM.
Sampled Sounds are not internal sounds. This means that when the TS-12 power is turned off,
any Sampled Sounds will need to be reloaded. Note that when Sampled Sounds are selected,
polyphony is reduced to 31 voices.

• Expanded Sampled Sounds — When optional expansion SIMMs are installed (by an
Authorized ENSONIQ Repair Station), 2 BankSets of 10 Sampled Sounds each are stored in
Dynamic RAM.

User RAM:

BankSet U0:

60 Programs

60 Presets

BankSet U1:

60 Programs

60 Presets

Sounds and Presets stored
in User RAM Memory can be
played, edited, and replaced
with other sounds or presets.

ROM:

BankSet R2:

60 Programs

60 Presets

BankSet R3:

60 Programs

60 Presets

BankSet R4:

60 Programs

60 Presets

Sounds and Presets stored in
the ROM Memory locations
can be played and edited, but
cannot be erased. Edited
versions can be stored in
User RAM.

Sampled Sounds:

BankSet S8:

10 Sampled Sound Banks

(from the factory)

BankSet S9:

10 Sampled Sound Banks

(requires expansion SIMMs)

Sampled Sounds are stored in
Dynamic RAM, and will not be
saved internally when the TS-12
is turned off.

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TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions

Using the BankSet Button

Shows the currently selected BankSet type
and location. Pressing the BankSet button
will change these values.

The BankSet button is used to scroll through the available BankSets. The display will change
with each press, showing the currently selected BankSet. In the top left corner of the display, you
will find the BankSet type and location, and the currently selected bank page.

Tip: There is a quick way to “direct-dial” between different BankSets in both Sounds and Preset

modes. Simply press the BankSet button and while holding it down, press the appropriate Bank
button. Bank buttons 0 and 1 select User RAM BankSets, Bank buttons 2, 3, and 4 select ROM
BankSets, and Bank button 8 selects the Sampled Sound BankSet. If SIMMs are installed, Bank
buttons 8 and 9 select Sampled Sound BankSets (in Sounds mode only). This enables you to “call
up” the BankSets rapidly, in any order.

Once you have selected a User RAM, ROM, or Sampled Sound BankSet, select a sound using the
ten Bank buttons and the soft button closest to the sound name as shown previously.

Shows the currently selected Bank
page. Pressing the Bank 0-9
buttons will change this value.

Selecting a Preset

To select a TS-12 preset:

• If you are in any mode other than Presets mode, press Presets (the Presets LED should be lit).

• Press one of the 10 Bank buttons below the display (numbered 0-9) to select a bank of six
sounds. The display shows you the names of the six presets in each bank.

• Press the soft button above or below any of the six preset names to select that preset. Try
selecting and playing a few different presets. Notice that when you select a preset, its name is
underlined

. The currently selected preset is always underlined.

Selecting a Sound

To select a TS-12 sound:

• Press Sounds.

• Press one of the 10 Bank buttons below the display (numbered 0-9) to select a bank of six
programs. The display shows you the names of the six programs in each bank.

• Press the soft button above or below any of the six program names to select that program as
the current sound. Try selecting and playing a few different programs. Notice that when you
select a program, its name is
underlined.

underlined

. The name of the currently selected sound is always

9

Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Layering (Stacking) a Sound with the Selected Sound

To layer (or stack) any sound with the currently selected sound, double-click the soft button
corresponding to the sound name on the display. The underline beneath the name of the layered
sound will flash and you will hear both sounds playing together.

Up to three sounds (one selected and two layered with it) can be active at once. To de-select a
layered sound, press its soft button again and the flashing underline will disappear. If you
already have two sounds layered with the primary sound, and you double-click on a fourth
sound, that sound will replace the most recently layered sound in the stack.

If two tracks are layered, selecting a new primary track that has a KEY ZONE that does not
overlap the layered track will not de-select the layered track. You can layer any combination of
User RAM, ROM, or Sampled Sounds. Also, the sounds that are layered do not have to be in the
same BankSet or bank.

Primary Sound vs. Layered Sounds

We refer to the sound which is currently selected (solidly underlined on the display) as the
primary sound. Any other sounds that you double-click are considered to be layered with the
primary sound. Only one sound is ever selected at a time. Whenever you select a new sound it
becomes the primary sound.

This is an important concept, because the primary sound determines which Effects set-up will be
used for layers and presets. Whenever you select a new primary sound in Sounds mode, a new
effects algorithm is loaded along with it (unless the new sound has the same effect and settings as
the previous one). Note however that layering a sound or selecting a different sound in Presets
mode does not change the current effects set-up.

The SoundFinder™ Feature

When you press the Replace Track Sound button (its LED is lit), you can press the Up or Down
Arrow buttons to scroll through Programs that have the same defined Program Type (as defined

on the Program Control page). This is a great way to hear all available variations of a particular
type of sound, and it is very useful in auditioning similar sounds for a sequence or song track.
Note that you can audition the sounds as the sequencer plays, but to make the changes
permanent, you must first stop the sequencer.

Note: Because a Sampled Sound cannot be assigned a Program Type, the SoundFinder feature will not

work with Sampled Sounds or Sample Edits.

Note: You must load the 120-PROGRAMS file called USERBNKS V2 from the TSD-200 disk in order for

this feature to work properly with the User RAM Programs.

Tip: By double-clicking the Replace Track Sound button (LED flashing), you can use the Up/Down

Arrow buttons to select Programs by type along with their effect settings, just as you would in

Sounds mode.

Tip: On the Program Control page, the TYPE=CUSTOM setting can be used to define your own

special purpose sound type to help you quickly find your own sounds with SoundFinder.
ENSONIQ sounds will never be released with TYPE=CUSTOM. For more information about the
Program TYPE parameter, see Section 9 — Program Parameters.

10

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions

Using SoundFinder in Sounds Mode

Here’s how to select Programs that have the same defined Program Type in Sounds mode. For
this example, load the 120-PROGRAMS file called USERBNKS V2 from the TSD-200 disk that
came with your TS-12 before continuing with the following steps:

• Press the Sounds button.

• While holding down the BankSet button, press the Bank 0 button. This selects User RAM
BankSet U0.

• Press the Bank 0 button to select the first Bank in User RAM BankSet U0. The display shows:

• Press the upper middle soft button above GRAND-PIANO (it should now be underlined).
We’ll be listening to some of the TS-12 sounds that are assigned the same Program Type as
GRAND-PIANO.

• If you want to see which Program Type is assigned to a particular Program, press the Program
Control button. For GRAND-PIANO, the display shows:

• This display shows the PROGRAM TYPE assigned to the currently selected Program. The
Program Type assigned to GRAND-PIANO is ACPIANOS, which denotes acoustic pianos.
See Section 9 — Program Parameters for a complete listing of Program Types.

When GRAND-PIANO is selected, SoundFinder will allow us to view all Programs assigned
to the AC PIANOS Program Type.

• Press the Bank 0 button. GRAND-PIANO should still be selected (underlined). If it is not,
select it at this time.

• Double-click the Replace Track Sound button. Its LED should be lit.

• Press the Up Arrow button. The display now shows:

• BABY-GRAND (now underlined) is the next Program in the TS-12 assigned to the AC PIANOS
Program Type. You can play it if you wish.

11

Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions TS-12 Musician’s Manual

• Press the Up Arrow button again. The display now shows:

• FULL-BODY (now underlined) is the next Program in the TS-12 assigned to the AC PIANOS
Program Type. Continued presses of the Up or Down Arrow buttons will scroll through all of
the Programs within the TS-12 assigned to the ACPIANOS Program Type.

• When you’ve found the Program that you want, press Sounds to exit the SoundFinder feature.
The Replace Track Sound LED will no longer be lit.

Understanding Tracks

There are two main performance modes in the TS-12; Preset mode, which has 3 tracks, and
Sequencer mode, which has 12 tracks. In the TS-12, the term track refers to a “channel” that

contains a sound and a complete set of track performance parameters, including mix, pan,
controller settings, MIDI channel, keyboard zone, and others. The 3 tracks in a preset, and 12 in a
sequence, give you access to 15 internal tracks, each one independent of the others. Song mode
offers 24 tracks (combined with the presets mode, you can have a total of 27 tracks). The
difference between sequence and preset tracks is that you can record data on sequencer tracks
and not on preset tracks.

Multi-channel audio tape recorders have numerous physical tape tracks onto which you can
magnetically record complex polyphonic information. Sequencers simulate this by recording
events which describe a performance onto similar tracks in computer memory. When these
sequence tracks are played back, the recorded information can either play local sounds or can be
sent to remote MIDI devices to recreate the performance. Multi-timbral MIDI instruments can
respond to inbound information from such sequencers on multiple channels, with each channel
responding independently to a track from the sequencer.

When the TS-12 is used as a multi-timbral sound generator, played from its own sequencer, the
various tracks of the sequencer control the sounds played by the TS-12. Similarly, the sequencer
and/or the keyboard of the TS-12 can be used to transmit on MIDI channels to which external
MIDI devices are connected.

When the TS-12 is controlled from an external MIDI sequencer, the various tracks of the
sequencer can be assigned to different MIDI channels, which in turn control the programs played
by the TS-12. Each MIDI channel that the TS-12 responds to can be thought of as an extension of
the sequencer’s track.

Whether it is playing locally, sending MIDI to a remote device, or receiving MIDI from an
external sequencer, we describe this logical construct, comprised of a sound, a MIDI channel, and
various performance parameters, as a track.

12

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 1 — Controls and Basic Functions

Sampled Sounds and SIMMs

The TS-12 has the ability to read and edit sample sound files created for the EPS, EPS–16 PLUS,
and the ASR-10 samplers. Sampled Sounds (as they are called in the TS-12) are stored in Dynamic
RAM, and are not saved when the TS-12 power is turned off. From the factory, the TS-12 has two
internal SIMMs, and provide 2 Megabytes of 16-bit sample RAM.

For more information about loading, selecting, and using Sampled Sounds in Presets, Sequences
and Songs, see Section 14 — Understanding Sampled Sounds.

How Many SIMMs?

The TS-12 offers two SIMM options:

• With two 1m x 8 non-parity SIMMs (as it ships from the factory) — 1 BankSet (S8) is available
(1 BankSet consists of 10 Sampled Sound Banks). The BankSet will hold 1MWord of Sampled
Sound information, equivalent to 4018 blocks of memory.

• With two expansion 4m x 8 non-parity SIMMs — 2 BankSets (S8 and S9) of 10 Sampled Sound
Banks each are available. Each BankSet will hold 2MWords of Sampled Sound information,
for a total of 4 MWords, offering 8114 blocks of memory for BankSet S8, and 8191 blocks for
BankSet S9.

Warning!

Because adding expansion SIMMs requires opening the TS-12 casing (which voids the ENSONIQ
Warranty), SIMMs are not user-installable, and must be installed by an Authorized ENSONIQ Repair
Station. To prevent damaging your TS-12, and/or causing bodily injury, do not attempt to install the
SIMMs yourself.

13

Section 2 — System Page Parameters

These parameters control instrument-wide system functions. The settings of these parameters
will remain in effect at all times and are preserved while the power is off. You can back-up the
settings of the System Page parameters for quick recall by saving the System Set-up on the
Storage page (see Section 13 - Storage for more information). The System Page has three sub­pages. Press the System button to display the first sub-page:

TUNE Range: -99 to +99 cents

Adjusts the overall master tuning of the keyboard up or down as much as one semitone. A value
of +00 will set the TS-12 to concert A= 440 tuning.

PITCH-BEND Range: 00 to 12 semitones

Held Range: 00H to 12H semitones
Adjusts the system pitch bend range, which is the maximum amount of pitch bend that can be
applied with the pitch wheel. Each increment represents a semitone.

The bend range will apply to all programs except those which have been programmed to override
the system bend range. If you adjust the system bend range, and a program does not seem to
pitch-bend the correct amount, check the setting of the BEND parameter on the Pitch Mods page
for each voice in that particular program. If BEND=SYS, then the program uses the system bend
range. Otherwise, the program has its own bend range and will ignore the system bend range.

The “H” suffix on the semitone value indicates that Held Pitch Bend mode is active. In this
mode, only keys that are actually being held down will be affected by the pitch bend wheel.

TOUCH Range: (described below)

Allows you to adjust the velocity response of the keyboard to match your playing style and
technique. All velocity curves affect both internal dynamic response and the velocity values
transmitted via MIDI. There are 14 velocity response (Touch) settings:

• PNO-VEL1 • SYN-VEL1 • FIXED-64

• PNO-VEL2 • SYN-VEL2 • FIXED127

• PNO-VEL3 • SYN-VEL3

• PNO-VEL4 • SYN-VEL4

• PNO-VEL5 • SYN-VEL5

• PNO-VEL6 • SYN-VEL6

Note: When using a Piano velocity curve (PNO), pressing a key down very slowly and softly will yield

no sound. This is exactly how a real piano key would respond. When using a Synth velocity
curve (SYN), pressing a key down very slowly and softly will always yield a sound. This is the
only difference between a PIANO velocity curve and a SYNTH velocity curve.

1

Section 2 — System Page Parameters TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Velocity Curve Diagram

127

96

MIDI

Note On

Velocity

64

32

0

0 127

6432 96

Keyboard Velocity

The Velocity Response Curves (Touch) offer a lot of control for a wide range of playing styles, as
detailed in the following pages:

VEL1

127

96

64

32

0

0 127

6432 96

• PNO/SYN-VEL1 — This is for someone with a light touch. On this setting, it is easier to reach

the maximum level of any velocity controlled parameter.

VEL2

127

96

64

32

0

0 127

• PNO/SYN-VEL2 — Slightly harder key strikes are required for average playing, but this still

allows a softer touch to reach maximum velocity levels.

6432 96

2

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 2 — System Page Parameters

VEL3

127

96

64

32

0

0 127

6432 96

• PNO/SYN-VEL3 — This default setting represents average velocity sensitivity. This setting

should be right for most players.

VEL4

127

96

64

32

0

0 127

6432 96

• PNO/SYN-VEL4 — This velocity best represents the “classically-trained” player with strong

fingers, and offers the widest dynamic range for skilled pianists.

VEL5

127

96

64

32

0

0 127

• PNO/SYN-VEL5 — This setting offers a smooth curve for players with strong fingers who

desire a softer sound. It requires strong playing to reach the top velocity levels.

6432 96

3

Section 2 — System Page Parameters TS-12 Musician’s Manual

VEL6

127

96

64

32

0

0 127

6432 96

• PNO/SYN-VEL6 — This velocity setting is for the player who wants a lot of control over their

softer playing. The curve dedicates most of its range to a gradual increase in volume, with a
quick “spike” at the end to still allow full volume accents.

FIXED-64

127

96

64

32

0

0 127

6432 96

• FIXED-64 — With this setting the velocity curve always generates a fixed value, set at the

halfway point. This may be useful in simulating old synth sounds that originally had no
velocity control.

FIXED127

127

96

64

32

0

0 127

• FIXED127 — This setting is also a fixed velocity curve, with full volume. This is good for

playing drum/percussion parts when you want a part without dynamic changes.

6432 96

Note: We recommend starting with the default setting (SYN-VEL3), then going up or down to find your

optimal setting.

4

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 2 — System Page Parameters

VEL-MAX Range: 001 to 127

This parameter determines the maximum keyboard velocity value that will be recognized and
transmitted by the TS-12. The default setting is 127, which allows for the normal full range of
velocity values. Lower settings limit the maximum value that will be used internally and sent out
via MIDI. This can be useful when controlling devices which do not respond to the full range of
velocity values, or can be used in conjunction with the TOUCH parameter to control just the top
part of the velocity response curve. When TOUCH=FIXED-64 or 127, this parameter can be used
to set the fixed velocity to any value.

PRESS Range: SOFT, MED, FIRM, and HARD

Allows you to adjust the pressure threshold of the keyboard to match your playing style and
technique. PRESS affects both internal pressure response and the pressure values transmitted via
MIDI. When set to SOFT, the least amount of pressure is required to generate channel pressure.
Similarly, HARD requires the greatest amount of pressure to generate channel pressure.

Press the System button again to display the second sub-page:

FOOT-SW1-L— Foot Switch 1, Left Pedal

R— Foot Switch 1, Right Pedal

SW2-L— Foot Switch 2, Left Pedal

R— Foot Switch 2, Right Pedal

When the optional SW-10 Dual Foot Switch is plugged into either Foot Switch jack, the settings of
these parameters will control the function of the pedals. You can even use two SW-10 Dual Foot
Switches plugged into both Foot Switch jacks, and have four completely independent controllers.

If you are using the single SW-2 Foot Switch which came with the TS-12, you should keep both
left foot switch parameters set to *UNUSED*, and assign the right foot switch parameters to the
desired function. The list of available parameters are:

• *UNUSED* — makes the TS-12 ignore the Foot Switch.

• SUSTAIN — holding the Foot Switch down will cause notes to sustain after a key has been

released, much like the sustain pedal on a piano. Transmitted via MIDI as Controller #64.

• SOSTENUTO — makes the Foot Switch act similar to the sostenuto pedal on a piano. Any

keys that are held down when you press the Foot Switch are sustained until you release the
Foot Switch, but subsequent keys are not affected. Transmitted via MIDI as Controller #66.

• PATCH R — makes the Foot Switch act like the right patch select button.

• PATCH L — makes the Foot Switch act like the left patch select button.

• FX-SW-MOD — makes the Foot Switch into an assignable effect modulator. Setting SRC=FX-

SW on any Effect MOD page allows you to use the Foot Switch to modulate the assigned
parameter. Transmitted via MIDI as Controller #12.

• PRESET-UP — each time the Foot Switch is pressed, the TS-12 advances to the next Preset.

When the next preset is in a different BankSet and/or bank, the preset BankSet and/or bank
will also be switched. For example, at preset #59 of User RAM Bank U0-9, it jumps to preset
#00 of User RAM Bank U1-0. At preset #59 of User RAM Bank U1-9, it jumps to preset #00 of
ROM Bank R2-0. At the end of the ROM banks, it jumps back to User RAM Bank U0-0.

• PRESET-DN — each time the Foot Switch is pressed, the TS-12 selects the previous Preset

(functioning just the opposite to PRESET-UP).

• PLAY/STOP — the Foot Switch will play and stop the sequencer, exactly reproducing the

5

Section 2 — System Page Parameters TS-12 Musician’s Manual

actions of the Play and Stop buttons on the front panel.

• STOP/CONT — the Foot Switch will stop and continue the sequencer, exactly reproducing the

actions of the Stop/Continue button on the front panel.

• STEP-REC — this setting allows the Foot Switch to be used in Sequencer Step Entry record

mode to advance the track location by the amount set in the step size parameter on the Step
Entry page. This is the same as using the *STEP* command on that page.

• SONG-STEP — if a song step has been programmed with REPS=FS, each time you press the

Foot Switch, the TS-12 will select the sequence that is the next step in the song.

Tip: Both the Sustain and Sostenuto pedals can be used to dynamically “latch” the current amount of

pressure being exerted on the keyboard. Here’s how:

1) Select a sound that responds to pressure. Ideally choose a sustaining sound like an oboe.

2) Play a key and press into the keyboard until you can hear the pressure modulation affect the

sound of the note.

3) Press and hold the Sustain or Sostenuto pedal.

4) Release the key. You will hear that the sound continues to be modulated by pressure at the

depth to which you were pressing.

5) Play a different key. Notice that the new note is not modulated. You can now press into the

keyboard and modulate the new note independent of the note that is sustained. When the
current pressure output exceeds the latched level, pressure on the new note will modulate
both notes.

6) To release the “latched” pressure value on the sustained note, either press the “latched” key

again, or release the Sustain or Sostenuto pedal.

PEDAL Range: VOL or MOD

Determines whether the optional CVP-1 foot pedal will act as a volume pedal or a modulator:

• VOL — will control the volume of the currently selected or stacked Track(s). Transmitted via

MIDI as Controller #7.

• MOD — will affect any modulation destination that has PEDAL assigned as a modulation

source. Transmitted via MIDI as Controller #4.

Press the System button again to show the third sub-page:

SLIDER Range: NORMAL, TIMBRE, or XCTRL

Determines whether the Data Entry Slider will act as the Timbre or XCTRL modulator while on
any Sounds or Presets bank page. This allows you to vary the Track Timbre or Track XCTRL
setting of the primary selected sound without having to switch to the Timbre or XCTRL Track
Parameter pages. Refer to Section 5 — Preset/Track Parameters for more information about the
Timbre modulator.

• NORMAL — the Data Entry Slider will act normally, and will be disabled while on any

Sounds or Presets bank page.

• TIMBRE — the Data Entry Slider will control the Track Timbre setting of the primary selected

sound while any Sounds or Presets bank page is displayed. As a performance controller, the
slider will only affect the primary sound.

• XCTRL — the Data Entry Slider will control the Track XCTRL setting of the primary selected

6

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 2 — System Page Parameters

sound while any Sounds or Presets bank page is displayed. As a performance controller, the
slider will only affect the primary sound.

Note: If you play and hold a note, modulate the sound with the Timbre or XCTRL Slider, and then

select another sound, the Timbre slider will no longer affect the sound of the held note.

VOICE-MUTING Range: OFF or ON

This parameter controls whether or not all voices currently playing will shut off when a new
program or preset is selected. This lets you avoid any audible “glitch” or discontinuity as the
new sound’s effect is loaded, but at the expense of being able to sustain a note from one sound
while selecting and playing another.

• ON — Whenever you select a new sound or preset, any voices that might be sustaining from

the previous sound will be stopped.

• OFF — When you select a new sound or preset, voices that are sustaining from previous

sounds will continue to play as long as the key(s) are held down. The old voices will go
through the effect of the new sound or preset, so they might sound different, especially if the
new sound uses a radically different effect.

MIDI-TRK-NAMES Range: OFF or ON

This parameter determines whether preset and sequencer tracks will show the sound name or
show *MIDI-CHAN-# instead of the sound name.

• OFF — When a track’s MIDI STATUS is set to VOICE-OFF,LOCAL-OFF or MIDI-LOOP on the

Track MIDI page, any displays that would normally show the track’s sound name (the Tracks
1-6 and 7-12 pages in sequence mode, and all Track Parameter pages in Presets mode) will
show *MIDI-CHAN-# instead of the name. This is helpful when using the TS-12 as a MIDI
controller, or when sequencing remote MIDI devices, as it shows you at a glance which tracks
will play only over MIDI, and on which MIDI channels.

• ON — The track’s sound name will always appear on the Tracks 1-6 and 7–12 pages (in

Sequencer Mode), and the Track Parameter pages (in Presets mode), no matter what the
track’s MIDI STATUS is set to.

KBD-NAMING Range: OFF or ON

When this switch is ON, the keyboard can be used for name data entry. Whenever a naming field
is active, pressing a key on the keyboard will enter the character assigned to that key, or move the
cursor. The 36 white keys are the digits 0..9 and letters A..Z, while the black keys provide a
repeating set consisting of cursor left, cursor right, and 3 punctuation marks (space, dash, and
plus). Period, slash and star are only available using the Data Entry Slider or the Up/Down
Arrow buttons

Each octave of black keys repeats the same 5

characters found on the bottom octave.

Left

Cursor

SpaceCursor

Right

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Dash Plus

When KBD-NAMING=OFF, the characters on naming pages will be affected only by the Data
Entry Controls and the Cursor Left/Right soft buttons.

7

Section 2 — System Page Parameters TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Press the System button again to show the third sub-page:

PITCH-TABLE Range: NORMAL, CUSTOM, U1-PROGRAMS, ROM

This parameter allows you to set the system pitch-table to either a NORMAL (western 12-tone
equal-temperament) or a CUSTOM (user-definable) pitch-table and affects all voices that have
been programmed to use the SYSTEM pitch-table. For more information on pitch-tables, please
refer to Section 8 — Understanding Programs.

• NORMAL — the TS-12 will use the western 12-tone equal-temperament tuning instead of the

custom system pitch-table. Setting the System pitch-table to NORMAL does not affect the
custom pitch-table.

• CUSTOM — the system pitch-table is set to a user-definable tuning. This is installed by

creating a pitch-table in a program, and using the Copy function to copy it into the System.
This is useful when you have one alternate tuning scheme that you want to use for many
sounds.

• U1-PROGRAMS — This setting enables dynamic Pitch-Table Selection, allowing you to easily

switch between different system pitch-tables in performance situations. When PITCH­TABLE=U1-PROGRAMS you can instantly load new CUSTOM system pitch-tables without
affecting the sound you are playing by selecting pitch-table programs loaded into BankSet U1.
This allows you to change the tuning while playing, without having to select a different
sound.

In order for this feature to work correctly, you must set the system pitch-table switch to
PITCH-TABLE=U1-PROGRAMS on the System page before “selecting” a new pitch-table
program. If the program you indicate contains a valid pitch-table, it will be installed into the
CUSTOM System pitch-table, and you will immediately hear the new tuning. If it does not,
nothing will happen. In either case there will be no visible indication of your action. The
program name will not be underlined when you “select” it, which is a good indication that
you are using a pitch-table from a program in BankSet U1.

You may save programs (with or without pitch-tables) onto BankSet U1 in the normal way. It
is suggested that you name programs that are to be used to install pitch-tables with names that
describe the pitch-table they contain. For example, naming a program PT-PYTHA-F describes
it as follows: PT for pitch-table program; PYTHA for Pythagorean tuning; and F for the tone
center. This naming scheme is useful in making pitch-table programs easily recognizable.

In MIDI reception modes OMNI, POLY, and MONO A, incoming MIDI program changes 0 to
59 will select pitch-tables from BankSet U1, if PITCH-TABLE=U1-PROGRAMS on the System
page. For more information about the MIDI MODE parameter, see Section 3 — MIDI Control

Page Parameters.

Tip: When this parameter is selected (underlined), you can move the Data Entry Controls in real-time

to change the pitch -tables while the sequencer is playing. This can create some interesting and
fun effects.

8

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 2 — System Page Parameters

Various ROM System Pitch-Tables

By using the data entry controls, you can select from a large assortment of traditional, modern,
ethnic, and exotic pitch-tables for use as the System pitch-table. These ROM pitch-tables are:

• PYTHAGRN-C — Early tuning derived by calculating 12 perfect fifths and adjusting the

octaves downward as necessary. Leaves all fifths except the one between G# and D# very
pure. The entire mathematical anomaly encountered by tuning up 12 perfect fifths (called the
Pythagorean comma) is accounted for in the interval between G# and D#.

• JUST INT-C — Designed so that the major intervals in any scale are very pure, especially the

third and fifth.

• MEANTONE-C — One of the earliest attempts to derive a tuning which would accommodate

music played in a variety of keys. The major third interval is very pure.

• WRKMEISTR-C — Derived by Andreas Werkmeister, a contemporary of Bach, this is a further

attempt to create a temperament which would accommodate music played in any key.

• VALLOTTI-C — A variation of Pythagorean tuning in which the first 6 fifths in the circle of

fifths are flat by 1/6 of the Pythagorean Comma. This is probably close to the tuning used by
Bach for his Well-Tempered Clavier.

• GRK-DIATONC — The basic building block of ancient Greek music (in which most modern

western music has its roots) was the tetra chord - four notes and three intervals spanning a
perfect fourth. The placement of the two inner notes of the tetra chord determined its genus ­diatonic, chromatic or enharmonic. This pitch-table is derived from two diatonic tetra chords,
combined to form a seven-note scale similar to the modern diatonic scale. It is to be played
only on the white keys. Tone center is E.

• GRK-CHROMAT — This pitch-table is derived from two chromatic tetra chords (the intervals

are, roughly, quarter-tone, half-step, major third), combined to form a seven-note scale. It is
meant to be played on the white keys. Tone center is E.

• GRK-ENHARM — This pitch-table is derived from two enharmonic tetra chords (the intervals

are, more or less, two quarter-tones followed by a major third), combined to form a seven-note
scale. It is meant to be played on the white keys. Tone center is E.

• TURKISH-A — This is a typical Turkish octave-based scale using only one quarter tone. The

second note in the scale is tuned 40 cents flat from the equal-tempered equivalent; in this
tuning B is 40 cents flatter from B natural. The scale rises from A.

• ARABIC-1 — The intervals in this table form the basis for much Middle Eastern music. Here

the octave is divided into 17 intervals, corresponding to the fret intervals of some stringed
instruments used in this area. The scale rises from the base pitch of C4 in a series of three
repeating intervals (in cents) of 90, 90, 24; and so on. From C4 to F5 represents an octave.

• ARABIC-2 — Similar to Arabic 1, except that here the octave is divided into 24 intervals. This

makes one pitch octave cover two keyboard octaves, meaning that the fingering will be the
same in any octave. This scale rises from the base pitch of C4 in a series of four repeating
intervals (in cents) of 24, 66, 24, 90; and so on.

• ARABIC-3 — This is a 12-tone scale using quarter tones (notes tuned sharp or flat by 50 cents

from their equal-tempered equivalents) on the C#, E, G# and B keys.

• ARABIC-4 — Another octave-based scale with an Arabic flavor. In this case the “quarter

tones” are not perfectly equal, imparting a distinctive character to the notes.

9

Section 2 — System Page Parameters TS-12 Musician’s Manual

• JAVA-PELOG1 — One of the two main scales of the gamelan orchestras of Java and Bali is the

seven-tone scale called Pelog. The notes C, D, F , G, and A (which are reproduced on the black
keys) are considered primary, with E and B used for grace notes. The octaves are stretched
(tuned a little sharp) due to the harmonic content of the instruments in the gamelan. (Note
that there are many subtle variations of these tunings, almost as many as there are gamelan
ensembles. The tunings we have included here are to be considered typical, not definitive.)

• JAVA-PELOG2 — This is another version of the seven-tone Pelog scale used in gamelan

music. The notes C, D, F , G, and A (which are reproduced on the black keys) are considered
primary, with E and B used for grace notes. The octaves are stretched (tuned a little sharp)
due to the harmonic content of the instruments in the gamelan.

• JAVA-PELOG3 — A third version of the seven-tone Pelog scale used in gamelan music. The

notes C, D, F , G, and A (which are reproduced on the black keys) are considered primary,
with E and B used for grace notes.

• JAVA-SLNDRO — This is a 15-tone equal tempered tuning from Java. Playing every third

note (as in a diminished chord) yields a typical 5-tone scale of the gamelan. Other notes can be
used as passing tones.

• JAVA-COMBI — This is actually two pitch-tables in one. The white keys play the seven-tone

Pelog scale, same as the table JAVA-PELOG1. The black keys play a five-tone scale called
Slendro, which is close to a five-tone equi-tempered scale. Both tunings have their octaves
stretched (tuned a little sharp) due to the harmonic content of the instruments in the gamelan.

• INDIAN-RAGA — Indian scale used to play ragas, based on 22 pure intervals called Srutis.

This pitch-table uses two keyboard octaves to play one octave in pitch. The 22 Srutis are
mapped to keys in this two octave range omitting the A#s, which play the same pitch as the
adjacent A.

• TIBETAN — This tuning is based on a pentatonic scale from Tibet. Notice that playing the

black keys yields a scale similar to the 5-tone Slendro tuning from Indonesia.

• CHINESE-1 — This is a seven-tone scale used widely in China. It is meant to be played on the

white keys.

• CHINESE-2 — This is a seven-tone scale based on an ancient Chinese lute tuning. It is meant

to be played on the white keys.

• THAILAND — This is a seven-tone equi-tempered scale from Thailand. It is meant to be

played on the white keys.

• 24-TONE-EQU — Centered on C4, this scale has an even quarter tone (50 cents) between each

keyboard note, and each pitch octave covers 2 keyboard octaves. This tuning has been used
by many contemporary composers and can be used in some Middle Eastern music.

• 19-TONE-EQU — Centered on C4, this scale divides the octave into 19 equal steps. From C4

to G5 forms an octave. This scale yields very pure thirds and sixths, but not fifths. Like the
24-tone scale, this has been used by some modern composers.

• 31-TONE-EQU — Centered on C4, this scale divides the octave into 31 equal steps. From C4

to G6 forms an octave. Similar to 19-tone in the purity of its intervals.

10

• 53-TONE-EQU — This scale divides the octave into 53 equal steps. From C2 to F6 forms an

octave. It yields very pure thirds, fourths and fifths.

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 2 — System Page Parameters

• HARMONIC-C — This is a mathematically generated scale based on the relationships of the

partials in the harmonics of the fifth octave of the linear harmonic spectrum. It is interesting
mostly from a theoretical standpoint.

• CARLOSALPHA — The first of three scales derived mathematically by Wendy Carlos in the

search for scales with the maximum purity of primary intervals, Alpha is based on the
division of the octave into 15.385 equal steps (78 cents per key). One pitch “octave” covers 16
keys, though because the Carlos scales are asymmetric (not based on whole number divisions
of the octave) they do not yield pure octaves.

• CARLOS-BETA — Wendy Carlos’ Beta scale is based on the division of the octave into 18.809

equal steps 63.8 cents per key). One pitch “octave” covers 19 keys, though, again, being
asymmetric it yields no pure octaves.

• CARLOSGAMMA — Wendy Carlos’ Gamma scale is based on the division of the octave into

34.188 equal steps (35.1 cents per key). This scale has essentially perfect major thirds, fourths
and fifths. One pitch “octave” covers 35 keys, though, again, being asymmetric it yields no
pure octaves.

• PARTCH-43 — Harry Partch was a pioneer of micro tonality in the early 20th century. He

developed this 43-tone-per-octave scale of pure intervals, and even designed an entire
orchestra of instruments for music using this scale. The tonal center is found on key D2 (the
low D on the 61-note keyboard). This pitch-table has been transposed up an octave to bring
the notes into a more usable range.

• REVERSE — This pitch-table simple reverses the pitch-tracking of the keyboard, putting the

highest notes at the bottom of the keyboard and the highest notes at the top. Lots of fun.

Selecting ROM Pitch-Tables

Here’s how to select and use the Internal ROM pitch-tables:

1) Start by selecting a sound from the internal memory of the TS-12. We recommend using a

piano, organ, or guitar sound. Do not select a drum kit or percussion sound, as these sounds
use the TS-12 Drum-Map and will not respond to pitch-tables.

2) Once you have found a sound you like, press the System button four times. The display will

read SYSTEM PITCH-TABLE=
table of the TS-12 and is known as the western twelve tone equal-tempered tuning. Play a
scale on the keyboard and listen to the pitch of each note.

3) Press the Up Arrow button three times to display the first ROM pitch-table (PYTHAGRN-C)

and play the keyboard. Notice that the TS-12 is now using an alternate tuning. The first
several ROM pitch-tables will make subtle changes in tuning, while the remainder of the ROM
pitch-tables will have a more obvious affect.

4) Press the Up Arrow button again and play the keyboard. Continue scrolling through the

remaining pitch-tables and listen to the tuning variations offered.

If you would like to continue using a particular pitch-table with other sounds, press the Sounds
button to return to the TS-12’s internal sound banks. The currently selected System pitch-table
will remain in affect even after turning the TS-12 power off and back on. In this way, if your
music requires the same pitch-table all the time, you can simply turn on the TS-12 and start
playing.

NORMAL

. The NORMAL pitch-table is the default pitch-

11

Section 2 — System Page Parameters TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Using the U1-Programs Pitch-Tables

Note: You will need the TSD-100 floppy disk that was included with the TS-12 to complete the

following exercise. This disk contains two files of pitch-tables. They are stored as 60­PROGRAMS file types. The first pitch-table file is called HIST PTABLS and contains five
different Historical pitch-tables with twelve root key versions of each scale. The second file is
called ETH/MOD PTS and contains a variety of Ethnic and Modern pitch-tables:

• Insert the TSD-100 floppy disk into the disk drive and press the Storage button twice.

Tip: Pressing the Storage button twice will automatically take you to the Disk Load Page.

• Press the Up or Down Arrow button until the display reads TYPE= 60-PROGRAMS

• Press the upper left soft button above the words LOAD FILE=__________. Using the Up or

Down Arrow button, find the file named

• Press the bottom middle soft button beneath the words BANKSET U0, and press the Up

Arrow button once so the display reads BANKSET U1.

• Press the upper right soft button above the word *YES*. This will load 60 new pitch-table

Programs into User RAM BankSet 1.

When the file has been loaded, the display will show DISK COMMAND COMPLETED.

• Press the System button four times until the display reads SYSTEM PITCH-TABLE=

selected pitch-table>
TABLE=

• Press the Sounds button and select a sound of your choice from any BankSet other than

BankSet U1.

• While holding down the BankSet button, press the Bank 1 button, then release both buttons.

You have now selected User RAM BankSet U1.

Note: At this point when you select locations in BankSet U1, you will be selecting from 60 pitch-tables

instead of 60 Programs. The Programs that were originally stored in BankSet U1 have been
replaced by the newly loaded pitch-table file.

• Press the Bank 0 button and then press the upper left soft button. Play the keyboard. This

selects the first of the 60 pitch-tables that are instantaneously available.

Try the other pitch-tables in Bank 0 by pressing the other soft buttons. Continue by selecting
pitch-tables in Banks 1 through 9. Each Bank contains six pitch-tables.

U1-PROGRAMS.

. Press the Up or Down Arrow button to set this value to PITCH-

ETH/MOD PTS

.

.

<last

12

Using the above procedure, you can load the file named HIST PTABLS to try more pitch-tables.
Loading a full set of 60 pitch-tables into the TS-12 internal memory in this way gives you the

ability to select a variety of keyboard tunings in real-time while in the middle of a performance!
Pitch-tables can even be remotely selected via incoming MIDI Program Changes.

TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 2 — System Page Parameters

PRESS-MODE Range: CHAN or PSET

This parameter determines the default Track Pressure setting for sounds as they are selected in
Sounds mode, or as they are assigned to a Track using the Replace Track Sound function in
Presets or Seqs/Songs. It also determines the default Track Pressure mode for all three Preset
Tracks when a Preset is selected. When PRESS-MODE=CHAN, all Sounds and Preset Tracks that
are set to KEY will have their Track Pressure mode automatically set to CHAN; Sounds and
Preset Tracks that have their Pressure mode set to OFF will be unaffected. The PRESS­MODE=PSET setting disables this function, and installs the Sound and Preset Track Pressure
settings as stored in the Sounds or Presets.

The TS-12’s keyboard generates Channel pressure (Track PRESSURE=CHAN), but Sounds and
Presets can be programmed so that they respond to Poly-Key pressure via incoming MIDI (Track
PRESSURE=KEY). However, when Track PRESSURE=KEY, the sounds will not respond to the
Channel pressure generated by the TS-10’s own keyboard. The PRESS-MODE parameter
automatically compensates for this when PRESS-MODE=CHAN, ensuring that sounds created
with Poly-Key pressure will respond to Channel pressure generated by the TS-12’s keyboard.

WAKE-UP-MODE Range: SOUNDS, PRESETS, SEQ/SONG, DEFAULT,

PREVIOUS, LASTPAGE, GEN-MIDI

This parameter determines which mode the TS-12 will “wake-up” in after power-on.

• SOUNDS — Power-on in Sounds mode with the last Sound selected before power-off selected.

• PRESETS — Power-on in Presets mode with the last Preset selected before power-off selected.

• SEQ/SONG — Power-on in Sequencer mode with the last Sequence or Song selected.

• DEFAULT — Power-on in Sounds mode showing Program Bank U0-0. The default sound in

ROM will be selected.

• PREVIOUS — Power-on in the same mode the TS-12 was in when it was powered-off. Note

that if the TS-12 was in General MIDI mode when it was powered-off, it will wake-up in
Sounds mode.

• LASTPAGE — Power-on showing the last page that the TS-12 was on when it was powered-off.

This does not apply to some editing sub-pages. Note that if the TS-12 was in General MIDI
mode when it was powered-off, it will wake-up showing the last page that the TS-12 was on
before entering General MIDI mode.

• GEN-MIDI — Power-on in General MIDI mode.

Note: When WAKE-UP-MODE=GEN-MIDI, and Sampled Sounds had previously been loaded, the

Auto-Load prompt will be displayed before the TS-12 enters General MIDI. To prevent this, you
can first erase all Sampled Sounds from memory, as described in Section 14 — Understanding
Sampled Sounds.

13

Section 3 — MIDI Control Page Parameters

These parameters set instrument wide MIDI parameters, such as the Base Channel number and
MIDI Reception mode, and control what types of MIDI messages are received and transmitted.
The settings of these parameters will remain in effect at all times and are preserved while the
power is off. The MIDI Control Page has three sub-pages. This section also offers an
introduction and overview of General MIDI, and explains how to use it with the TS-12.

Whether you are simply linking two keyboards together, playing a synth from a guitar controller,
or driving a rack of samplers from the TS-12, MIDI makes it all possible.

• Press the MIDI Control button. This takes you to the top level MIDI Control Page:

BASE-CHAN Range: 01 to 16

Selects the Base Channel on which the TS-12 transmits and receives MIDI messages. System
Exclusive messages are always sent and received on the base channel.

Any of 16 MIDI channels may be selected as the basic MIDI channel of the TS-12. The effect of
setting the base channel varies depending on the MIDI Mode and whether data is being sent or
received.

Transmit If SEND=BASE, then the TS-12 only transmits keys, controllers, and program

changes on the base channel. If SEND=TRACK, then keys, controllers, and program
changes are transmitted on the channel defined in the preset or sequencer track.

Receive In Poly mode — keys, controllers, and program changes are only recognized if

received on the base channel. In Mono A mode, program changes are received only
on the base channel. The base channel is also used in both Mono modes as the first
channel of the 12 channel range.

GMIDI Range: OFF or ON

This is used to enter General MIDI mode. The TS-12 completely conforms to the full General
MIDI Specification. This allows you to play back any General MIDI-based sequence via incoming
MIDI and always get predictable results. The General MIDI Sounds in ROM (listed later) are also
provided on the in-box disk (TSD-300) that came with your TS-12.

For a complete description of this mode, see Section 12 — Sequencing/MIDI Applications.

SEND Range: BASE or TRACK

Controls the MIDI channel on which the TS-12 will transmit performance information such as key
and controller events, as well as program changes.

• BASE — The TS-12 will transmit only on the Base Channel, and will ignore the channel

assignments contained in the tracks. When Presets are selected, they will transmit the MIDI
Program Change for the Preset, and not the Program Change values for the three Tracks.

• TRACK — The settings on the Track MIDI page determine the MIDI transmission channel.

The TS-12 will transmit on the channel(s) assigned to the track(s) being played, either from the
keyboard or the sequencer, depending on the Track MIDI Status (i.e. nothing will be sent if a
track is assigned to the - - - - /RECV or MIDI-OFF status). Each track can have its own MIDI
channel.

1

Section 3 — MIDI Control Page Parameters TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Note: When a Sequence or Song Track is selected, SEND will automatically be set to TRACK. Sequence

and Song Tracks always transmit on their Track MIDI Channel.

MODE Range: OMNI, POLY, MULTI, MONO-A, or MONO-B

This parameter determines how MIDI information will be received by the TS-12. MODE has no
effect on what MIDI information is transmitted.

There are five MIDI modes implemented in the TS-12:

• OMNI — In this mode, the TS-12 will receive on any or all of the 16 MIDI channels. This mode

is useful when you are only using a few instruments, and you are not concerned with setting
up different channels for each device.

• POLY — In this mode, the TS-12 will receive only on the Base MIDI channel. MIDI

information on all other channels will be ignored.

• MULTI — An ENSONIQ innovation, MULTI mode is the key to unlocking the potential of the

TS-12 as a multi-timbral receiver from an external MIDI sequencer. In MULTI mode, the 12
Tracks of the current song or sequence can receive MIDI information independently and
polyphonically on up to 12 different MIDI channels. The Preset Tracks will not receive
incoming MIDI in MULTI mode.

In MULTI mode, different MIDI channels must be selected for each Sequence Track that you
want to receive via MIDI. This can be accomplished on the Track MIDI page. If more than
one Sequence Track is set to the same MIDI channel, only the lowest numbered track will
receive via MIDI.

In MULTI mode, independent of what tracks are stacked or selected on the front panel, the
sounds you hear will depend entirely on what MIDI channel(s) the MIDI data is received on.

About Mono Mode

Mono mode is particularly useful for driving the TS-12 from a guitar controller, or any other
application where having up to twelve independent, monophonic channels is desirable. The
TS-12 offers two types of Mono mode operation. In both types, the TS-12 will receive
monophonically on twelve consecutive MIDI channels (the Base channel through Base channel
+11). The difference has to do with how those MIDI channels are routed within the TS-12.

• MONO-A — This is another ENSONIQ development intended to make using multi-channel

controllers like guitars easier. All notes and controllers received via MIDI will play whatever
sounds are selected or stacked on the front panel, just as if the notes were played from the
keyboard. You have the advantage of multiple tracks which will respond independently to
controllers received on multiple channels, but you do not have to set up the sounds for each
track separately.

• MONO-B — This is the more conventional type of Mono mode. It allows you to set up each

track of the current song or sequence as a monophonic synthesizer. Each track can have a
different sound assigned to it. This is how you get a different sound on each string when
using a MIDI guitar controller.

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TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 3 — MIDI Control Page Parameters

Global Controllers in Mono Mode

Global controllers are controllers sent on one channel that affect all other channels simultaneously.
They can be useful in reducing the number of MIDI events required to achieve particular effects,
and can thereby reduce the delays sometimes associated with overloading MIDI. Some guitar
controllers can transmit global controllers, and the TS-12 can respond to them.

In Mono mode (A or B) the
controllers (pitch bend, pressure, etc.). For example, if the base channel is channel 3, any
controllers received on channel 2 will be interpreted as global controllers and will affect all voices
being played. If the base channel is channel 1, channel 16 becomes the channel for global
controllers. Each track will also respond independently to controllers sent on its own channel.
For example, each guitar string on a MIDI guitar can send independent pitch bend, while the
“whammy bar” controller could be sent on the global channel to affect all voices.

VELS/XPOS — MIDI Transpose Enable Range: SEND, RECV, or BOTH

Controls whether track transpose will affect the transmission/reception of MIDI key numbers,
giving you more control over how the Track Parameter TRANSPOSE function will affect notes
played on a track.

XPOS also controls how the Track VELS setting will affect MIDI transmission/reception of
velocity, in accordance with the same rules that govern the Track TRANSPOSE parameter.

• SEND — Will transmit the transposed key numbers of a track, but notes received via incoming

MIDI will not be transposed. This setting is useful for sending transposed key numbers to an
external MIDI device, without affecting the pitch of notes received via incoming MIDI.

• RECV — The key number transmitted by the TS-12 will always be the same key that was

actually played on the TS-12 keyboard, but notes received via incoming MIDI will be
transposed. In this mode, the TS-12 will respond properly when transposed data sent to an
external sequencer is transmitted back to the TS-12.

• BOTH — Will transmit and receive the transposed key numbers of a track. Useful for sending

transposed key numbers to an external MIDI device, while also affecting the pitch of notes
received via incoming MIDI.

base channel minus one becomes the MIDI channel for global

Setting Local Voices Affected MIDI Reception Affected MIDI Transmission Affected

SEND Yes No Yes
RECV Yes Yes No
BOTH Yes Yes Yes

XCTRL - External Controller Range: 000 to 127

Use XCTRL to assign an external MIDI Controller number to be both transmitted and received by
the TS-12. The number that is assigned here will be used as the MIDI Controller number that the
XCTRL Track parameter will transmit on.

Most controllers on a synthesizer—mod wheel, channel pressure, or breath controller for
example—have a MIDI controller number associated with them: this parameter can be set to
match the MIDI Controller number of any controller in your rig. Doing so will make a particular
external controller available as a modulator in any of your sounds.

One of the modulation sources that can be selected in the programming section is XCTRL. The
value of the XCTRL parameter is a MIDI controller number, ranging from 000 to 127. When the
Track XCTRL value is edited, parameters that have XCTRL assigned as a mod source will be
modulated, and the TS-12 will transmit the edited value(s) on the MIDI Controller number
assigned to this parameter. When the TS-12 receives MIDI Controller messages corresponding to
this controller number, they will be routed to all parameters that have been programmed with
XCTRL as a modulation source.

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Section 3 — MIDI Control Page Parameters TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Suppose for example, you are playing the TS-12 from a keyboard with a breath controller (or
want to use a breath controller as a modulator when playing the TS-12 keyboard). You can set up
a program on the TS-12 in which the filter cutoff frequency is modulated by XCTRL. If you then
set XCTRL=02, the breath controller will now be able to modulate the filter, or whatever else has
its modulation source set to XCTRL, in the program you have created.

The following controller numbers are commonly supported:

Number Controller Number Controller

1 Modulation Wheel 64 Sustain
2 Breath Controller 66 Sostenuto
4 Foot Pedal 70 Sound Variation (Patch Selects)
6 Data Entry MSB 71 Harmonic Content (Timbre)
7 Volume 72 Release Time
10 Pan 73 Attack Time
12 Effect Modulation 74 Brightness

• Press MIDI Control again. The display shows the second sub-page:

LOOP Range: OFF or ON

The MIDI LOOP parameter controls how volume information is handled when a track’s status is
set to LOCAL-OFF or MIDI-LOOP. It controls whether or not the Track MIX parameter, as
adjusted in the Track Parameter section, will transmit via MIDI. It only affects tracks that have
their MIDI status set to LOCAL-OFF or MIDI-LOOP. It is normally OFF, but in a MIDI loop
setup, it should be ON.

• OFF — This is the default setting. When changes are made to the Track MIX parameter (on

tracks with STATUS=LOCAL-OFF or MIDI-LOOP), or when the volume pedal is moved, the
TS-12 will transmit MIDI volume (controller 7) messages that combine the Track MIX setting
with the current setting of the volume pedal.

• ON — The TS-12 will not transmit changes made to the Track MIX parameter on tracks with

STATUS=LOCAL-OFF or MIDI-LOOP. Volume pedal changes will be transmitted directly
and are unaffected by the MIX setting.

When LOOP=OFF, then the MIX parameter is combined (multiplied) with the volume pedal
setting to create a composite volume, which is then transmitted to external sound modules as
MIDI controller 7. In a MIDI loop situation with a computer, this is undesirable, because
lowering the MIX value will send controller messages that are indistinguishable from volume
pedal messages. When this information is echoed by the computer, the TS-12 receives it as
volume pedal, lowering the volume on that track even further. Eventually this causes the volume
to spiral down to zero, which in turn causes the track to be silenced, even though the displayed
volume setting is greater than zero. Setting LOOP=ON will prevent this problem from occurring.

Note that the volume pedal is only active if PEDAL=VOL on the System page, and that volume
pedal changes will always be transmitted as MIDI volume (controller 7).

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TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 3 — MIDI Control Page Parameters

Working with MIDI Loops

With a MIDI loop setup, the MIDI Out of the TS-12 is either directly or indirectly (through an
external device such as a computer) connected to the MIDI In of the TS-12. The MIDI-LOOP
Track STATUS is optimized for use in a MIDI loop in which the TS-12 will play back into itself.

Do not use the SEND/RECV Track STATUS setting with a MIDI loop present. To connect a TS-12
track to a computer sequencer, the MIDI-LOOP setting should be used. In this type of setup, a
computer in MIDI Thru mode forms a loop which echoes the MIDI information back into the TS-

12. See Section 5 — Preset/Track Parameters for more information about the Track MIDI STATUS
parameter. See Section 10 — Understanding the Sequencer for information on recording into the TS­12 sequencer in a MIDI loop.

Using Presets with MIDI Loops

Tip: For best results, set SEND=BASE and MODE=POLY on the MIDI Control page. Be aware that

when you select a new preset, program changes with the preset’s number are transmitted via
MIDI; Program changes are not transmitted from the individual tracks in the preset. Receiving
from MIDI while on a Preset bank page or Preset Track parameter page will minimize problems.

CNTRLS — Controllers Range: OFF or ON

This switch controls whether or not the TS-12 will transmit and receive MIDI controllers — pitch
bend, mod wheel, pressure, volume, sustain pedal, etc.

SONG-SEL — Song Select Range: OFF or ON

This determines whether the TS-12 will send and receive MIDI Song Select messages.

• OFF — The TS-12 will not transmit MIDI Song Select messages, and will ignore incoming Song

Select messages received via MIDI.

• ON — Incoming Song Selects will select the corresponding TS-12 sequencer location.

Incoming MIDI Song Selects # 00-59 will select TS-12 Sequencer locations # 00-59. Selecting
Sequencer locations # 00-59 will always cause the TS-12 to transmit MIDI Song selects # 00-59.

ALL-OFF Range: OFF or ON

The All Notes Off message enable switch controls how the system will react to MIDI All Notes
Off messages received on any MIDI channel.

• OFF — The TS-12 will ignore any All Notes Off messages that are received.

• ON — The TS-12 will shut down all currently sounding internal voices unless the MODE

parameter is set to OMNI, in which case the message is ignored.

START/STOP Range: OFF or ON

This parameter determines whether pressing the Play and Stop/Continue buttons will transmit
MIDI Start, Stop and Continue messages from the TS-12 MIDI Out port. The TS-12 will always
receive Play Stop, and Continue messages via MIDI, regardless of the setting of this parameter, if
CLOCK=MIDI on the Sequencer Control page. Some older drum machines have no way of
disabling reception of these messages, and will always start playing their internal patterns when
they receive a Start message. Set this parameter to OFF when you want to use such a drum
machine simply as a voice module, played from a TS-12 sequencer track, without starting its
internal sequencer playing each time you press the Play button on the TS-12.

• ON — When you press the Play or Stop/Continue buttons to start, stop or continue the TS-12

sequencer, a corresponding MIDI Start, Stop or Continue message will be sent.

• OFF — When you press the Play or Stop/Continue buttons to start, stop or continue the TS-12

sequencer, a MIDI Start, Stop or Continue message will not be sent.

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Section 3 — MIDI Control Page Parameters TS-12 Musician’s Manual

PROG-CHG — Program Changes Range: OFF or ON

This switch controls how the TS-12 handles transmission and reception of MIDI program change
messages.

• OFF—the TS-12 will not transmit or receive MIDI program changes.

• ON—the TS-12 will transmit and receive program changes over MIDI.

• NEW—the TS-12 will transmit program changes only if they are different than the previous

program change sent out on the particular channel. Program changes will be received
normally.

Refer to the Track MIDI parameter description in Section 5 — Preset/Track Parameters and Section
10 — Understanding the Sequencer for more information on how program changes are handled.

Receiving MIDI Program Changes

The way in which the TS-12 receives program changes is slightly more complex than some other
systems, because of the large number of programs and presets that are available to be selected
from MIDI program changes. The following chart shows how the TS-12 receives MIDI program
changes:

In OMNI, POLY and MONO-A modes (puts unit into Sounds/Presets mode):
When… Incoming MIDI Program Changes… Will Select…

BankSet U0 is selected 00-59 User RAM Programs 00-59
BankSet U1 is selected 00-59 User RAM Programs 00-59
BankSet R2 is selected 00-59 ROM Programs 00-59
BankSet R3 is selected 00-59 ROM Programs 00-59
BankSet R4 is selected 00-59 ROM Programs 00-59
BankSet S8 is selected 0-9 Sampled Sounds 0-9
BankSet S9 is selected 0-9 Sampled Sounds 0-9
BankSet U0 is selected 60-119 User RAM Presets 00-59
BankSet U1 is selected 60-119 User RAM Presets 00-59
BankSet R2 is selected 60-119 ROM Presets 00-59
BankSet R3 is selected 60-119 ROM Presets 00-59
BankSet R4 is selected 60-119 ROM Presets 00-59
BankSet S8 is selected 10-127 nothing...
BankSet S9 is selected 10-127 nothing...

In MULTI and MONO-B modes (received on Seq/Song Tracks only):
When… Incoming MIDI Program Changes… Will Select…

Track BANK=000 (BankSet U0) 00-59 (without FX) User RAM Programs 00-59
Track BANK=001 (BankSet U1) 00-59 (without FX) User RAM Programs 00-59
Track BANK=002 (BankSet R2) 00-59 (without FX) ROM Programs 00-59
Track BANK=003 (BankSet R3) 00-59 (without FX) ROM Programs 00-59
Track BANK=004 (BankSet R4) 00-59 (without FX) ROM Programs 00-59
Track BANK=008 (BankSet S8) 0-9 (without FX) Sampled Sounds 0-9
Track BANK=009 (BankSet S9) 0-9 (without FX) Sampled Sounds 0-9
Track BANK=000 (BankSet U0) 60-119 (with FX) User RAM Programs 00-59
Track BANK=001 (BankSet U1) 60-119 (with FX) User RAM Programs 00-59
Track BANK=002 (BankSet R2) 60-119 (with FX) ROM Programs 00-59
Track BANK=003 (BankSet R3) 60-119 (with FX) ROM Programs 00-59
Track BANK=004 (BankSet R4) 60-119 (with FX) ROM Programs 00-59
Track BANK=008 (BankSet S8) 60-69 (with FX) Sampled Sounds 0-9
Track BANK=009 (BankSet S9) 60-69 (with FX) Sampled Sounds 0-9

Note: Incoming MIDI Bank Select messages 0 thru 9 will select BankSets 0 thru 9, changing which

Programs will be selected by incoming MIDI Program Changes. In all cases Program Change
numbers above 120 to 127 are ignored.

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TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 3 — MIDI Control Page Parameters

Selecting a New Sequence or Song Effect from MIDI Program Changes

As indicated in the above chart, in MULTI and MONO-B modes, adding 60 to the MIDI Program
Change number for the desired sound will select the new sound and also install the effect from
that sound into the sequence (or song) effect. This can be useful when controlling the TS-12 from
an external sequencer. Note that changing the effect will briefly silence the audio output and will
cut off any sounding voices if VOICE-MUTING=ON on the System page.

• Press MIDI Control again. The display shows the third sub-page:

SYS-EX Range: OFF, ON, or OLD

This switch determines whether the TS-12 is able to receive incoming MIDI System Exclusive
messages:

• When SYS-EX=OFF, the TS-12 is not able to receive any MIDI System Exclusive messages.

• When SYS-EX=ON, the TS-12 will receive MIDI System Exclusive messages in the post-2.0

SYS-EX data format.

• When SYS-EX=OLD, the TS-12 will receive MIDI System Exclusive messages in both the pre-

2.0 SYS-EX data format, and the post-2.0 SYS-EX data format. The OLD setting allows data
saved from pre-2.0 software to be loaded into the TS-12.

The Sys-Ex Dump messages that are sent from the Storage, Sys-Ex, Send Dump pages can always
be transmitted regardless of the setting of this switch. (Refer to the Appendix for more
information about the TS-12’s Sys-Ex implementation).

DEVICE-ID Range: 01 to 16

Allows Remote MIDI Devices to address the TS-12 via incoming MIDI Sys-Ex without changing
the base channel number. Think of this parameter as a higher level of identification. This is also
used to identify Sys-Ex messages transmitted by the TS-12.

SEND-PARAMS Range: OFF or ON

When SEND-PARAMS=ON, the TS-12 allows the transmission of parameter values via Sys-Ex
messages. When OFF, there is no transmission of parameter values. For example, if you are
editing a sound, set this parameter to OFF, to prevent a stream of MIDI Sys-EX information from
flowing between the TS-12 and any connected Remote MIDI Devices.

7

Section 4 — Understanding Presets

This section offers a basic overview of the concepts involved in selecting, creating, editing, and
understanding TS-12 Presets. For more detailed descriptions of the actual parameters, refer to
Section 5—Preset/Track Parameters.

What is a Preset?

A Preset is a combination of three sounds and an effects set-up that can be instantly recalled for
use in performance. Presets are handy “performance memories” which allow you to create and
save sound combinations, splits, layers, patch select variations, etc.

The three sounds in a preset reside on three Tracks. For each of these three tracks, the TS-12
remembers:

• which sound is assigned to the track

• whether or not the sound is selected or layered

• the values of all the Track parameters for that track

A preset also has one Effects algorithm which is common to all three tracks.

The most common context for the TS-12 to be in is Preset mode. Unless the TS-12 is in Sequencer
mode, you may assume that you are in a preset. Aside from the presets that are saved, there is a
preset buffer that is always active. A preset buffer is a kind of storage location that is used to
temporarily store information.

Whenever you select, layer or edit the Track Parameters for a sound, you are working within the
preset buffer. The information in the preset buffer is temporary until you save it into one of the
internal preset locations, and then it becomes permanent (it can be recalled). The track
parameters of the preset, including mix, pan, transpose, etc. are always active and you should
make sure that their settings are correct if you think that your programs are behaving strangely.
Whenever you select a new sound from the Sound Bank pages, the track parameters are reset to
their standard default settings. If you wish to change a program without resetting these
parameters, use the Replace Track Sound feature described later in this section.

What is the Difference between Preset Mode and Sequencer Mode?

There are three Tracks in a “normal” preset and twelve tracks in a sequence or song. A sequence
or song, in addition to its ability to record data on its tracks, can be thought of as a giant twelve­track “preset.” However, this giant “preset” is not available simultaneously with normal three­track presets. The twelve tracks of a sequence or song are available from the keyboard only while
in Sequencer mode — indicated by the LED above either Seq/Song Tracks 1-6 or 7–12 button
being on. The twelve sequence or song tracks are always playable via incoming MIDI when the
MIDI mode is set to MULTI (on the MIDI Control page).

Selecting Presets

Press Presets. The LED above the Presets button lights, indicating that you are in Preset mode.
The display shows you the currently selected bank of six presets, and the bottom left-hand corner
of the display will show PSET. You can press the BankSet button and the ten Bank buttons
(labeled 0-9) to select the various banks within Preset mode. Take a moment to select different
presets by pressing the soft button closest to the preset (either above or below the preset name).

Since Preset and Program banks look very similar (both Presets and Programs have six 11­character names per page), the bottom left-hand corner of the display will show PSET when you
are in Presets mode. This helps to differentiate between the two modes, as shown below:

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Section 4 — Understanding Presets TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Tip: Because you can use the BankSet button and the ten Bank buttons to “shop around” in various

banks before selecting a preset, it is possible to lose track of where the currently selected preset
(the one you are hearing) is located. Try this shortcut for getting to the BankSet and Bank that
contains the selected preset: rapidly double-click the Preset button. This will instantly return
you to the location that contains the currently selected preset.

Press the Presets button again. Across the top line, the display shows the names of the three
sounds that are on the three tracks. On the lower line you see “context” information about the
current preset. The illustration below shows the relationship of the preset and its three tracks to
what you see on the display:

Track Parameters:

Mix

Preset Effect

• The Preset Effect Algorithm and its related parameters

Track 1

• Sound

• Track parameters

Shows the name of the
preset you are hearing,
and toggles between the
currently saved and the
edited preset

Track 2

• Sound

• Track parameters

Shows the Preset
BankSet & Bank
location for the
currently saved
preset

• Sound

• Track parameters

Track 3

Press to rename
& write Preset to
a new location

Pan & Pan Mode
Attack*
Release*
Brightness*
Timbre*
External MIDI Control (XCTRL)*
Key Zone
Velocity Range
Velocity Sensitivity
Transpose
Detune
Rate* (LFO and/or Wave-List Duration)
Sustain On/Off
Sostenuto On/Off
Pitch Bend On/Off
Mod Wheel On/Off
Reset Controllers On/Off
All-Notes-Off On/Off
Patch Select mode*
Pressure mode*
Volume Pedal Mode
MIDI Status
MIDI Channel
MIDI Program*
MIDI BankSelect*
Effects Bus Routing
Effect Mod Control

(* indicates saved with Programs)

Whenever the Presets LED is lit, it means that the TS-12 is in Preset mode, and the ten Bank
buttons beneath the display will select Preset Banks when you press them (rather than selecting
Sound Banks, as they do when the Sounds LED is lit).

How Many Presets are in the TS-12?

The TS-12 offers 300 internal Presets:

• 120 presets in User RAM — 60 in BankSet U0 and 60 in BankSet U1.

• 180 presets in ROM — 60 in BankSet R2, 60 in BankSet R3, and 60 in BankSet R4.

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TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 4 — Understanding Presets

Editing a Preset

In addition to the presets stored in memory, there is one more preset that you are using most of
the time whether you know it or not. Whenever you are selecting or layering sounds in Sounds
mode, you are also creating a preset. The TS-12 automatically “remembers” the last three sounds
you selected and stores them in a special memory buffer called the Preset Edit Buffer. Try this:

• Press Sounds and select a sound by pressing its soft button.

• Layer another sound with the first by double-clicking its soft button.

• Layer a third sound by double-clicking on it.
You have created a preset with three sounds playing simultaneously. Suppose you wanted to

adjust their relative volumes, or shorten the release time, or change the pan location of one of the
sounds without losing the combination. You can do all of these things and a lot more with
presets.

In Preset mode, whenever you are hearing the Preset Edit Buffer, the preset name is shown as
*-EDITED--* . You can always toggle between the edited and currently selected preset by
pressing the soft button closest to the preset name.

As we have already discussed, a preset consists of three tracks, each of which has a sound and a
set of track parameters. The track parameters are found in the Track Parameters section of the
front panel. Presets can be saved, so that you can call them up at any time, or you can use the
Preset Edit Buffer in real-time as a powerful performance tool.

While you still have three programs layered, press the Mix/Pan button in the Track Parameter
section. The display shows:

• Across the top line you see the name of the last three sounds you selected, one with a solid

underline and the other two with flashing underlines, just as they appeared on the sound bank
pages. A flashing line means that it is a layered sound.

• On the lower line you see the mix levels for each sound. You can select which one you want to

adjust by pressing the soft button beneath the value, then adjust the value with the data entry
controls.

• Note that you can select a track for editing (using the lower three soft buttons) independent of

what is selected or layered on the upper line of the display. This means that you can adjust
the volume of any of the three sounds in the layer without having to un-layer them.

On this and all Track Parameter pages, selecting or layering sounds from the upper line
determines what sound(s) you hear, and selecting parameters on the lower line determines which
track will be modified if you move the Data Entry Slider or the Up/Down Arrow buttons. Try
pressing some of the other Track Parameter buttons — Tuning, Brightness, Key Zone, etc. —
and adjusting the track parameters on those pages. You will soon see that within a preset, it’s
easy to create splits and layers, transpose a sound, change the pan and many other useful things.
You can even assign one or more tracks in a preset to play only over MIDI, making presets a great
tool for controlling remote MIDI instruments in combination with TS-12 sounds.

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Section 4 — Understanding Presets TS-12 Musician’s Manual

What are Preset/Track Parameters?

Preset/Track Parameters provide easy access and control for track and sound attributes, and are
used in mixing/manipulating sequencer tracks and in creating presets.

A group of Preset/Track Parameters is associated with each preset and sequencer track. These
parameters control various aspects of the track, including some important and useful sound
controls which may be easily adjusted during performance, or recorded into the sequencer. The
settings of these parameters are saved with every preset. These instantly recallable presets
include an effect setup and three programs on three tracks with a full set of programmable
performance parameters, including key zones, transpositions, release times, timbral variations
and others. The settings of all performance parameters on sequencer tracks are saved for each
track while the power to the TS-12 is off, and are always available.

The buttons which control the pages containing these parameters are found in the Track
Parameters section of the front panel to the right of the display.

To view or adjust the setting of a particular type of track parameter, press the appropriate button
in the Track Parameter section. The selected parameter type is indicated in the top-left corner of
the display.

On the Track Parameter pages, the top line of the display will show the names of three programs
and their current layering status. The name of the parameter type is abbreviated to four
characters in order to make room for the program names, and is shown in the top left corner of
the display. The bottom line of the display shows the current values of the selected parameter for
the three tracks of the preset.

In Sequencer mode the current values of parameters for the six tracks (Tracks 1-6 or 7-12) will be
displayed. You can press the Tracks 1-6 or 7-12 button again to toggle back and forth between
the TRAX page which shows the names of the programs on the tracks and the last selected track
parameter page which shows parameter values.

The currently selected track parameter will be underlined. This is the active parameter which
will be modified. You may select a parameter for a different track by using the soft buttons.
When programming performance presets, the lower row of soft buttons is used to select tracks.
For sequencer or song tracks, both upper and lower soft buttons are used.

Remember that you can edit parameters on tracks that you are not hearing. The tracks that you
can hear are indicated with solid or flashing underlines on their names.

Saving a Preset

Once you have created a preset you like, you can save it to one of the 120 Preset locations in the
User RAM memory (you cannot save presets or sounds to the ROM memory — it is read only).
Saving a preset to a User RAM location will erase the one that is currently there, so be careful.

To save a preset, first decide which User RAM BankSet and Bank location you want to save it to,
then:

• Press the Presets button twice to view your edited preset. If the display does not show your

edited preset, press the soft button in the lower left corner of the display. The display should
show “*-EDITED--*” in the lower left corner.

• Press the lower right soft button underneath the word “*WRITE*.”

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TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 4 — Understanding Presets

• The display shows the current name of the preset with a cursor (underline) beneath the first

character. If you want to give the preset a new name, do so at this time. Use the Up/Down
Arrow buttons and the Data Entry Slider to change the underlined character, and press the
Left/Right Cursor (soft buttons) to move the underline.

• After you’ve named your preset, press and hold down the Presets button. The word SAVE

flashes in the lower left corner of the display. The display shows the names of the presets in
the currently selected BankSet and Bank. If you let go of the Presets button, the display will
return to show the Preset Write page.

Currently selected BankSet & Bank location

• Press and hold any of the Bank buttons (0-9) to view the different preset banks. This allows

you to select a Bank location within the current BankSet for your edited preset. While holding
down a Bank button, press the BankSet button to toggle between the two User RAM
BankSets.

Seqs

Songs

Presets

Sounds

(Write)

BankSet

While holding down
the BankSet button…

Bank

0

1 2

User RAM BankSets ROM BankSets

3

5

4

Press & hold any of
the10 bank buttons

6

7

Sampled Sound BankSets

8 9

• Once you’ve selected a BankSet and a Bank location for your edited preset, while holding

down either the Presets button or the appropriate Bank button, press the soft button for the
preset location into which you want to save your preset. Your edited Preset will be saved into
that location, erasing the existing preset.

If you need to listen to a few presets in order to decide which one to replace, simply press the soft
button beneath *EXIT* and then select presets just as you normally would. The word *EDITED*
disappears from the screen, indicating that you are listening to saved presets. Your new preset is
safe in the Preset Edit Buffer. But make sure you don’t edit anything in any of the presets you
audition, including selecting or layering sounds in Sound mode, or this will create a new Edit
Preset, erasing the one you created.

When you are ready to save the new preset, press the Presets button, and then the lower left soft
button. You will be returned to the Edit Preset (the word *EDITED* should return on the
display). Now you can save the preset as described above.

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Section 4 — Understanding Presets TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Avoiding Confusion when using Presets

Whenever you create and save a preset, the TS-12 only “remembers” the location of the three
sounds in memory — not the actual sounds themselves. This is important to remember when
you use User RAM programs in presets. If you move a sound, put another in its place, or transfer
an entire BankSet of sounds, the preset might still be “pointing to” a location that no longer
contains the sound you had in mind.

For example, if you create and save a preset containing a brass sound, a string sound and a piano
sound, and you then write over the piano sound with a flute sound, the flute sound will now
appear in the location originally occupied by the piano in your preset.

Using the Replace Track Sound Function in Presets Mode

The Replace Track Sound function is primarily used for:

• Assigning sounds to tracks without changing the effects or other Track Parameters

• Determining the exact placement of sounds in a preset

Normally, when sounds are selected from the sound bank pages, they are transferred to a track in
the Preset Edit Buffer, and many of the track parameters for that track are reset to standard
default settings. However, you may wish to change which sound is assigned to a track in a
preset without changing any of the other settings for that track. This is done using the Replace
Track Sound feature in Presets Mode. The Replace Track Sound button is located next to the
Seq/Song Tracks 1-6 and 7-12 buttons on the bottom row in the Track Parameters section.

Replacing a Sound in a Preset

• Press one of the Track Parameter buttons, such as Mix/Pan, to display the current preset, and

make sure that the correct track is selected. The track whose sound will be replaced is
indicated by the underlined parameter value on the lower line of the display. It does not
matter which Track Parameter page is displayed. Use the bottom three soft buttons below the
display to select the correct track.

• Press the Replace Track Sound button. The last selected sound bank page will be displayed

and the LED above the Sounds button will start to flash, indicating that you are in Replace
Track Sound mode.

• Locate the sound that you wish to install into the track and press the soft button nearest to it.

This sound is now installed on the track, and will acquire the status of the sound that was
replaced if it was selected or layered. You may change BankSets, Banks, and/or continue to
select replacement sounds until you are satisfied that you have found the right one. If you
replace the sound on a track that is not currently selected or layered in the preset, you will be
immediately returned to the preset page that you were on.

• Press Replace Track Sound again to exit Replace Track Sound mode and return to the preset

page to verify that your change was correct. Pressing Sounds or any other page button will
also exit Replace Track Sound mode.

The method described above is also used to change the sound assigned to a track in the current
sequence or song. Unlike using Replace Track Sound in a Preset, using it in Sequencer Mode will
update the track Program and Bank Select number to the correct value for the sound selected.
See Section 10 — Understanding the Sequencer for more information.

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TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 4 — Understanding Presets

Using SoundFinder in Presets Mode

Here’s how to scroll through Programs that have the same defined Program Type in Presets
mode. For this example, load the 120-PROGRAMS file called USERBNKS V2 from the TSD-200
disk:

• Press the Presets button.

• While pressing the BankSet button, press the Bank 3 button. This selects ROM BankSet R3.

• Press the Bank 0 button. This selects the first Bank in ROM BankSet R3. The display shows:

• Press the upper left soft button to select AC-BS/PIANO (an upright bass and piano split).

• Press the Mix•Pan button (pressing any Track Parameter button will allow you to view the

three tracks that make up a Preset). The display shows:

In this Preset, FULL-BODY is the primary sound (solid underline) and UPRITE-BASS is layered
(flashing underline) with it. In this scenario, we will use SoundFinder to audition other Programs
that have the same Program Type as the FULL-BODY Program.

• Press the lower center soft button so that the cursor (underline) is beneath the FULL-BODY

MIX value (090). The display should look like this:

• Press the Replace Track Sound button. Its LED should be lit.

• Press the Up Arrow button. The display now shows:

• BRITE-PNO is underlined because it is the next Program that has the same Program Type as

FULL-BODY.

• Press the Up Arrow button again. Notice that SoundFinder has moved from BRITE-PNO to

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Section 4 — Understanding Presets TS-12 Musician’s Manual

the STEREO-PNO Program. STEREO-PNO is also defined with the same Program Type as
FULL-BODY.

• Continued presses of the Up Arrow will scroll forward through all of the Programs with the

same Program Type. Continued presses of the Down Arrow button will scroll backward
through all of the Programs with the same Program Type.

• When you’ve found the sound that you want, press the Replace Track Sound button to exit

SoundFinder. The Replace Track Sound LED will no longer be lit, and you will be returned
to the MIX page with the last sound selected replacing FULL-BODY.

Replacing a Sound and the Effect in a Preset

You can replace the sound on a track and make its effect become the preset’s effect by double­clicking the Replace Track Sound button:

• Select a preset and select the track whose sound you want to replace.

• Double-click Replace Track Sound. The last selected sound bank page will be displayed and

the LEDs above the Replace Track Sound and the Sounds button will both start to flash,
indicating that you are in Replace Track Sound mode.

• Use the BankSet, Bank buttons, and soft buttons to pick a sound as before; but now each time

you pick a new sound, its effect will become the preset effect.

• Press Replace Track Sound again to exit Replace Track Sound mode and return to the preset

page to verify that your change was correct.

Display Location

The following short cut for finding the locations of the sounds assigned to each Preset Track also
shows the Display Location for each Program. For any Program or Preset Bank, the Display
Locations are numbered as follows:

.1

.4

.2

.5

.3

.6

Finding the BankSet, Bank, and Display Location for Sounds on Preset Tracks

To find the BankSet, Bank and Display location (U0-1.5, U1-3.1, R2-7.4, etc.) for the sounds
assigned to Preset tracks:

• Select a Preset to view (it should be underlined). For this example, we’ll use the

DIGIWARMTH preset located in R2-0.

• Press Presets.

• While holding down the BankSet button, press the Bank 2 button.

• Press the Bank 0 button.

• Press the upper left soft button in the display. The display now shows the Preset Bank page:

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TS-12 Musician’s Manual Section 4 — Understanding Presets

Preset BankSet Location

Preset Bank Location

Preset Display Location

• Press and hold Presets, and then press Sounds. The display will show:

Program BankSet Location Program Bank Location Program Display Location

The BankSet, Bank, and Display location for each of the track sounds are shown on the top line
of the display.

• Release both buttons and the track names will be redisplayed:

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Section 4 — Understanding Presets TS-12 Musician’s Manual

Using Effects With Performance Presets

All three tracks in each preset, and all twelve tracks in each sequence or song, share the same
effects algorithm and settings. The effects settings for each preset is inherited from the primary
(non-layered) selected sound, and any layered sounds in the preset will use that same effect. The
effects settings for each sequence or song are inherited from the current sequencer effect at the
time the sequence or song was created. If this effect is incompatible with other programs in the
preset, sequence or song, there are several options:

• set the effects bus routing to -DRY- for any of the programs that are incompatible

• set the effects bus routing to -AUX- for programs that you want to process separately by

sending them to the AUX Outputs

• change the preset/sequence/song effect to be something more suitable

When you press the Track Effects button from preset or sequencer mode, the first page that
appears is the Track Effects Bus Routing page. On this page you can override the normal effects
routing of the sound on each track. Subsequent sub-pages let you edit the effect for use in a
preset, sequence, or song; these pages are identical to the effects programming pages under the
Program Effects button. See Section 6 — Understanding Effects for more information on effect
selection and programming.

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Section 5 — Preset/Track Parameters

This section offers detailed descriptions of the commands and parameters used in selecting,
creating, and editing Performance Presets as well as sequencer tracks. For an overview of the
concepts involved, refer to Section 4 — Understanding Presets.

The default settings for several of the Track Parameters are stored with Programs. These default
settings are installed whenever a Program is put on the Track. Editing these values at the track
level will not edit the default settings stored with the program. If you want to edit the valuesthat
are stored with a Program, they are available on the first sub-page of the Program Control page.

Unless otherwise noted in the detailed descriptions which follow, use the Up/Down Arrow
buttons or the Data Entry Slider to adjust the value of the parameter.

• Press the Mix/Pan button to get to the Mix page:

Mix Page Range: 000 to 127

The Mix Page enables you to make volume changes to the individual tracks, allowing you to
balance the TS-12 sounds and/or control the volume of external MIDI devices. In sequencer
mode, the MIX page has a special function which allows you to click or double-click on specific
tracks to mute or solo them during playback of sequences or songs.

All tracks whose MIDI Status is set to SEND/RECV, SEND/----, VOICE-OFF, or LOCAL-OFF
will send a MIDI Volume Change message (controller 7) with the indicated value whenever this
parameter is edited. Sequencer and preset tracks will also send the current volume for each track
when a sequence or preset is selected.

• Press the Mix/Pan button again to get to the Pan page:

Pan Page Range: -64 to +63, STEREO or -MONO-

The Pan Page gives you control over the placement of the track’s sound in a stereo field. A PAN
setting of -64 is hard left, and +63 is hard right.

Press the soft button underneath the PAN value again to select either STEREO or -MONO-.
When -MONO- is selected, it will override the settings originally programmed on the Output
page and force ALL of the voices of the sound to the new pan location. -MONO- is the optimal
setting when using parallel effects, because it allows for discrete routing into the two components
of the FX-1 effect. When this is set to STEREO, and the PAN is set to +00, the voices of a sound
are panned according to the settings originally programmed on the Output page.

All tracks whose MIDI Status is set to SEND/RECV, SEND/----, LOCAL-OFF or VOICE-OFF will
send a MIDI Continuous Controller message (controller 10) with the indicated value whenever this
parameter is edited. Preset tracks will also send this controller message when a preset is selected.

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