Oberheim Prommer User Manual

Oberheim Prommer

MIDI Sampler/

PROM programmer

USER'S GUIDE

Prommer User's Guide Table of Contents
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Prommer User's Guide Table of Contents
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Oberheim Prommer

User's Guide

By Paul J. White
Preliminary Edition, June 1986

CAUTION:
To prevent fire or shock hazard, do not expose this appliance to rain or
moisture. Do not remove cover. No user servicable parts inside. Refer
servicing to qualified service personnel.

WARNING:
This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and if not
installed and used properly, i.e., in strict accordance with the instruction
manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.

Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause
interference in which case the user at his own expense will be required to
take whatever measures may be required to correct the interference.

© 1986 - Oberheim - A division of ECC Development Corporation
11650 W. Olympic Blvd. , Los Angeles, CA 90064

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without
permission.

Oberheim, the Oberheim logo, Prommer, Matrix-12, Stretch, DMX, and DX
are trademarks of ECC Development Corporation.

Drumtraks is a trademark of SEQUENTIAL (Sequential Circuits, Inc.)
Simmons is a trademark of Simmons Electronics Limited
LinnDrum and Linn9000 are trademarks of Linn Electronics, Inc.

Prommer User's Guide Table of Contents
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TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

1. Introduction 7

2. Getting started 9

3. Blocks 1 3
A. Select block
B. Block address
C. Block length
D. Protect

4. Sampling 17
A. Sample rate
B. Sample time display
C. Record trigger threshold
D. How to record a sound

5. Playback modes 21
A. Play mode
B. Loop points
C. Looping guidelines
D. Transpose
E. Fine tune
F. Filter frequency
G. External trigger
H. Retrigger delay
I. Emphasis
J. Idle bypass

6. EPROMs 25
A. Cautions
B. Select PROM type
C. PROM offset
D. Check erasure function
E. Erasing EPROMs
F. Compare data function
G. Program PROM function
H. In case of an error...
I. Program linear function
J. Program setup function
K. Load data function
L. Load linear function
M. Load setup function
N. Run program function
O. Example1: Programming EPROM with block of equal size
P. Example 2: Programming multiple EPROMs with one sound
Q. Example 3: Programming multiple sounds on one EPROM

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7. Block functions 3 5
A. Copy block function
B. Swap block function
C. Erase block function
D. Erase all function
E. Reverse block function
F. Bit manipulation function
G. Examine memory function

8. Sound modifications 3 9
A. Envelope function
B. Envelope decay time
C. Envelope start point
D. Mix block function
E. Mix ratio
F. Ring modulate function
G. Stretch function
H. Squash function

9. MIDI 43
A. Channel select
B. Keyboard pitch enable
C. Echo
D. Modes
E. Zones
F. Zone limits
G. Pitch bend range
H. Velocity
I. Pressure
J. Program change enable
K. System exclusive - dump one block
L. System exclusive - dump all blocks
M. Universal sample dump
N. Universal sample dump request
O. Receive data
P. Transmit data
Q. Receive / Transmit example

10. Miscellaneous Information 51
A. Software Version
B. Battery backup system
C. Test programs
D. Bytes & Samples

11. Function Summary 55

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Appendix 1. Application examples

A. EPROMs and Drum Machines 59
B. Using MIDI Zones 67

Appendix 2. PROM cross reference 71
Appendix 3. Prommer MIDI specification 77
Appendix 4. Warranty 8 5

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Chapter 1 - INTRODUCTION

This guide is intended to describe the operation and general use of t he
Oberheim Prommer, a powerful and versatile tool for the modern
musician. The first chapters will describe the basic operation of all
functions and the appendices will provide information on some specific
applications.

Although the Prommer was designed to be very versatile and easy t o
use, it is still a complex instrument and will require some learning on t h e
user's part in order to use it properly. Please read this manual carefully
and keep it with the Prommer for future reference.

WHAT DOES IT DO ?

SAMPLES SOUNDS

The Prommer is a digital audio sampling device, that will convert an audio
signal into digital form and store the digitized signal in its memory. The
Prommer will record at a rate of up to 32,000 samples per second and has
a maximum memory capacity of 65,536 samples. This means that you can
record a sound that is about two seconds long at the fastest sampling
rate. Longer sounds may be sampled by using a slower sampling rate at a
reduced audio bandwidth.
One primary application of the Prommer is sampling drum sounds and
other percussive sound effects.
There is an input for line level signals (with switchable sensitivity of +4 dB
or -10 dB), and a balanced input for a low impedance microphone. A
peak reading LED meter allows monitoring the level of the input signal i n
order to set the correct recording level.

BURNS PROMS

The Prommer is also a PROM programmer. It can program ("burn") most
popular types of EPROMS, PROMS and EEPROMS. This means that
you can make your own custom sound chips to use in your Oberheim
DMX or DX digital drum machine. The Prommer will also program chips fo r
other brands of drum machines, that is any drum machine that uses
individual sound chips with eight bit companded or linear data format.

PLAYS BACK SOUNDS

The Prommer can play back sounds in memory over a twelve octave pitch
range when used with a MIDI controller, with control over transposition
and fine tuning. Sounds may b e looped to add sustain, with adjustable
loop points. An external trigger may b e used to play a sound, and a low
pass filter at the output will track the playback rate or can be set to a
selected frequency.

UNDERSTANDS MIDI

MIDI note-on commands can be used to play sounds at different pitches

with velocity and pressure controlling loudness and/or filter frequency.
MIDI pitch wheel information can also control pitch to allow 'bending'
notes. The Prommer can transmit sound data over MIDI to another
Prommer or to another machine that uses a proposed standard MIDI
sample dump. The Prommer can also record received MIDI data directly
into memory and retransmit it on command. This feature is useful for
saving synthesizer patches, drum machine sequences, etc.

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STORES MULTIPLE SOUNDS

The memory of the Prommer may be divided into 16 blocks . Each block
may be defined to cover any portion of memory and may even overlap

other blocks. All operations (Record, Play, Program PROM, etc.) take
place only within the currently selected block . When you record a sound,

for example, sound is recorded only into that part o f memory defined by
the current block. This means that you can have as many as 16 different
sounds in memory at one time.
Non-volatile (battery powered) memory is used so all your sounds will b e
retained in memory even with the power off.

MANIPULATES SOUND DATA

Sounds may be modified in several ways including reversing, mixing,
stretching, squashing, and enveloping. These Sound Mod functions

don't take place in real time but actually change the data in memory so
that the change is permanent and the modified sound can be burned
onto a PROM. Data in memory may also be examined and modified
numerically one byte at a time.

AND MORE !

The Prommer has an almost endless variety of possible applications
including (but not limited to) - sampling sounds for drum machines,
copying EPROMs, transferring multiple EPROM sounds to a single
EPROM, drum machine sound editing, transferring sounds from linear
format drum machines to companded format machines and vice-versa,
playing sounds with a keyboard, and MIDI data storage.

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