M-audio DANCE STATION user guide

Dance Station Help Manual

Quick Overview:-

Evolution Dance Station™ is a realtime dance music-production package which allows the user to mix their
own tunes, live, using a 25 note keyboard to trigger high quality audio dance loops.

Audio Dance loops can be imported into the program from CD-ROM, Hard Disk or Floppy disk. The
Dance Station CD-ROM includes 1000 “ready-to-mix” professionally looped samples which will transform
your PC into your very own “Hit Factory”! Each sample may be assigned to one of 25 keys on a graphical
screen keyboard. Playback of samples will be polyphonic so that up to 25 keys may be pressed at the same
time (hardware dependent). This means you can create wicked mixes absolutely live.

Transport controls in the main screen will allow users to record their composition. The results will be
displayed in an editing screen. The editing screen allows you to move samples around the screen, copy
loops, change sample volume levels etc.

Key Features

• Get in the mix with over 1000 CD quality stereo samples

• Dance Station software, playback up to 25 samples simultaneously

• Mix, produce and save your own dance tracks

• Awesome graphics with state of the art real-time controls

• Unique hands-on mixing using the Dance Station keyboard

• Change the pitch of a sample in real-time with pitchbend wheel

• Drag new samples to the on-screen keyboard while in the mix

• Loop and hold samples

• Use your own samples or add samples from other extensive libraries (wav format)

• Editing window for easy post production work

• Quick Start Guide

• Online Help

• Exclusive Dance Station Web Site

License agreement:

Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on
the part of Evolution Electronics Ltd.

The software described in this document is furnished under a single-user license agreement. It may only
be copied for the purpose of a backup under the terms of the single-user agreement. Any other copying is
against the law. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the express
written permission of Evolution Electronics Ltd

Credits and copyright

Copyright (c) 1998 by Evolution Electronics Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dance Station is an Evolution Electronics production.
Dance Station was programmed by Stephen J. Mellin.
Help Text by Rhun Roberts

Readme file

Please check the disk for a file called README.WRI. This will list any changes made to the program after
the manual was printed.

1

Updating your Software

To update your software to the latest version visit our web site on http://www.evolution.co.uk. Here you
will find patches exclusively for Evolution own brand products. Simply download the free updates, run the
patch.exe files and quickly update your software. Check out also the Excellent Dance Station Web site
www.dancestation.com to swap song files with fellow Dance Music Enthusiasts.

Technical support

Evolution Electronics offers free technical support for registered Dance Station users. If you have a
problem, before contacting Technical Support please read the relevant section of the on-line help. A list of
frequently asked questions (FAQs) is also on disk which may solve numerous queries.

If you still need technical assistance, please have the following information to hand:
OPERATING SYSTEM :e.g. Win 95/Win98
HARDWARE PLATFORM: e.g. IBM PC
CPU: e.g. Pentium
CPU SPEED: e.g. 133 MHz
RAM: e.g. 32 MB
SOUNDCARD:

Technical Support can be contacted:
Between 0900 and 1700 UK Time

Evolution Electronics Ltd,
8 Church Square,
Leighton Buzzard,
Bedfordshire,
LU7 7AE.
United Kingdom

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Support E-Mail : [e-mail]
Sales E-Mail : [e-mail]
http://www.evolution.co.uk
http://www.dancestation.com

International :

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

2

Transport Controls

Play Press this button to start the playback of your song.

Stop Press this button to stop the playback of your song. A double click on the Stop

button using the left mouse button will rewind the song to the start. This is a fast way of

returning to zero.

Fast Forward Button Press this button if you want to jump to any location further into the
song. It works the same way as the controls on a conventional tape player. Please note that after
pressing the fast forward button you might not hear the music being played back immediately, but

rather from the start of the next bar (whenever a sample is triggered).

Rewind Press this button to rewind the song. Pressing the “Home” key on your PC keyboard will
rewind the song to the start position.

Record The Record button allows you to record your live mix and store it as a song on your

hard disk. To start a recording, press the Red record button. To end a recording, press the stop
button. When the record button is pressed, the program will enter “stand-by” mode and will not start
recording until you play a note on your keyboard. There is also an option in the Preferences menu to get a
count-in for your recording. If this is selected you’ll get a 4 beat count-in before the play position starts
moving across the screen. Whilst the record button is pressed, all samples triggered from the MIDI
keyboard will be recorded to the edit window. When stop is pressed to end the recording, all samples will
be displayed on the screen.

The record feature works in 2 modes:­Replace or Overdub

Replace Mode When this mode is selected, playing samples when in record mode will overwrite any
information you’ve already recorded. You cannot retrieve the original information when Replace mode has
been selected.

Overdub Mode This is the most useful Record mode as it allows you to layer samples during
subsequent recordings. This means you can lay down, say, your drum track during your first recording,
rewind to the start and build up your track bit by bit by adding more loops during each recording.

Controls

3

This is the main display area and is the section that displays all relevant information about the current play
position, the time signature and the left and right loop markers etc…

From Top left, clockwise,

Left The number adjacent to the Left button represents the bar position of the left marker. When in
loop mode, the left marker sets the start point of the loop. You can increase / decrease the value
respectively by clicking with the right and left mouse buttons. To set the left marker position, click on the
button marked to the right of “Left” as the track is playing. This sets the left marker position to the play
position at that particular instant.
You can jump from anywhere in the song to the left marker position by pressing the “L” key on your PC
keyboard

Right This works in the same way as the Left marker button. This sets the right marker position and
when loop mode is on, sets the end point of the loop. When the play position reaches this marker position
in loop mode, it jumps back to the left marker position.

Auto Clicking in this section with the left or right mouse buttons toggles between three possible
options. These options decide what happens to the play position when the stop button is pressed during
playback of a song.

Off If set to “Off”, pressing stop will leave the play position where it is so you can start from that
position next time your press play. This is the most common setting and is the default option.

Zero If set to “Zero”, pressing stop will return the play position to the start of the song. This is quite
convenient if you know you always want to start from the beginning every time.

Last Start If “Last Start” is selected, pressing stop will move the play position to the previous start
position. For example, if you start playback from bar 4, and play through to bar 10. Pressing Stop will take
the play position back to bar 4. If you fast forward the track to bar 6 and press play, this will be the start
position the next time you press stop. Easy isn’t it??!

Position Displays the current play position in units of Bars and beats. You can increase or
decrease the play position value by clicking on the units with the left or right mouse buttons. The Position
indicator increases as a track is playing.

Time Displays the current time signature. Basically, this tells you how many beats there are to
each bar. If it says 4/4, it means there are 4 beats to one bar (your typical “4 on the floor” beat). If it says
3/4, it means there are 3 beats to each bar (as you would hear in a Waltz). As all the loops in our collection
are in 4/4, setting the time signature to 3/4 could create some very strange results!
You can adjust the time signature by clicking on the values using the left and right mouse buttons.
The default value is 4/4 and only applies when a track is playing.

Tempo The Tempo value is only relevant when playing back songs and has no effect when
performing a live mix (unrecorded). You should find out what the BPM value is for the samples you are
using, and set the tempo value to be the same before you start any recordings. Otherwise you could end
up with samples being triggered at the wrong position. Please note that if you increase the tempo during
the playback of a track, it won’t speed up the samples you are playing, but will merely trigger them at a
faster rate. As soon as you grasp this concept, you’ll understand the association between the preset
sample BPM and the song tempo.

4

You can increase / decrease the tempo value by clicking on the tempo with the right and left mouse
buttons respectively. The tempo range is between 1 and 999 !

5

Key Parameters

Each of the 25 keys in Dance Station has 8 parameters associated with it.
From Left to Right these include:-

Pitch This allows you to specify a change in pitch (frequency) of any sample. The Pitch will
range between +12 and -12 semitones. There are 12 semitones in one octave (each key is one
semitone apart). The amount of Pitch change is displayed in the top left hand window.

To change the Pitch value, just click on the rotary control with your left mouse button and move your
mouse up or down to increase / decrease the pitch. To return the Pitch control to the default position,
click on the dial with the right mouse button.

If you change the pitch of a sample, you have to bear in mind that it will also affect the speed at which the
sample is played back as the pitch is directly related to the frequency of the audio sample. So, altering the
pitch of the drums will speed up or slow down the rhythm depending on which way you adjust the pitch.
Sometimes this can work well if you speed up a 100 BPM drum loop up, say 9 semitones and you end up
with a jungle rhythm!
Pitch is set to 0 by default and will play back the sample at the original tempo and pitch.

Fine tuning As well as assigning a pitch change in semitones to each of the 25 keys, you can
also fine tune each sample to within 100th of a semitone. Each of these steps is called 1 cent,
therefore, each key can be fine-tuned to either +50 or -50 cents. The value will be displayed in the

top left hand window.

Fine tune allows you to tweak samples so they are exactly in tune with each other. It can also be used to
alter the playback tempo slightly to create wacky effects. You could even detune two identical samples to
give a chorusing effect - great when combined with a wide Panning effect!
To change the Fine Pitch value, just click on the rotary control with your left mouse button and move your
mouse up or down to increase / decrease the pitch.

The Fine tune value is set to 0 by default. To return the Fine Pitch control to the default position, click on
the dial with the right mouse button.

Bend The Bend button specifies whether or not a key responds to the pitch bend wheel of the
Evolution MIDI keyboard. When the button is ON, playing a key and moving the pitch bend

wheel up or down will speed up or slow down the sample being played. Just as a DJ kills a track at
the end of a set, you can create the same effect by moving the Pitch bend button all the way down. Takes
time to master…but is an essential tool for the more experienced DJ !
The Bend button is off by default.
Shortcut Key “F3”

Loop When a key has the Loop button enabled, the sample will repeat over and over again

whilst the key is held down. All the samples supplied with Dance Station have been carefully

edited which means they all loop without any glitches. This means you can hold down keys for
the duration of the song and know that the tempo will remain constant all the way through. Unless you
want to trigger a drum loop every bar, it is recommended to have loop mode turned on for keys assigned to
playing drums. Makes live mixing so much easier!
Shortcut Key “F4”

6

Key Number The key number section tells you which of the 25 keys is currently selected.
The keys are numbered from 1 to 25 from note C2 to note C4 respectively. You can increase /
decrease the key number by clicking on the value in the window using the right and left mouse

buttons respectively. The key number will automatically update whenever a different key is
pressed. (This only applies if the 'Auto Key Tracking' Preferences switch is on)
Each key on the screen keyboard has above it a Key Selector (used for setting up all the parameters). This
turns green whenever a key is pressed. The Key number always matches up with the green key selector.

Velocity The MK-125 Dance Station keyboard is velocity sensitive which means the
harder you hit the keys, the louder the samples are played. You can specify using the Velocity

button if the samples respond to various key velocities. The default velocity in the Preferences
menu determines the velocity generated by the screen keyboard and the velocity given to a newly drawn
note in the Piano Roll. If the Velo switch for a key is off, the sample plays with maximum velocity]

There is a difference between Velocity and Volume. You will see this later when we look at the Volume
control.
Shortcut Key “F5”

Mute When you’re in the mix and you’ve got a few tracks pumping away, you can press the

mute button to temporarily silence a track. This is handy when you want to quickly flick through

each sample and see how the mix sounds with each of them dropped out.
Shortcut Key “F6”

Volume Use the Volume control to alter the output level of each key. Each key can have its own

unique volume level so you can balance up your samples against each other. To change the

Volume level, just click on the rotary control with your left mouse button and move your mouse up
or down to increase / decrease the volume level.
To return the control to its default position (maximum) just click on the control with the right mouse
button.

When a key is set to be velocity sensitive, the Volume control will act as the overall volume level for that
key. The velocity of the sample will be proportional to the overall volume level set for that key. The
loudest possible sample you could play would therefore have the volume set to maximum and the velocity
sensitivity turned off.

Pan The rotary Pan control is used to set the panoramic position of the sample in the stereo
field. Rotated all the way to the right, this will make the sound come from your right speaker

whereas a full rotation to the left will play back the sample from your left speaker. You can set the
Pan position anywhere between the extreme left and right positions.
You can create a cool effect when you assign the same sample, say a vocal line, and pan each track hard
left and right respectively. If you detuned one of them using the fine pitch option you can create a very
wide stereo effect.
To return the Pan control to the default position (panned centrally), just click on the control with the right
mouse button.

Nudge Right. Click on this button with the left mouse button to nudge the key selector one
step to the right. If you click and hold the button down it will quickly step through each key

allowing you to jump to various keys relatively quickly. A nudge left button is situated to the left of the
key parameters and is used to step through the keys from right to left.
Short Cut Key “F8”

7