Studiologic SL-161, SL-61 User Manual

SECTION 1.

Introduction:

Why and how do we use MIDI Controllers? What are Zones? Uses and Applications.

Congratulations on your new purchase of

the

SL-161/SL-61

Studio Logic Master Controller by

FATAR.
In this manual we will explain the concepts and techniques of using Master MIDI Controllers
to greatly expand your flexibility, creativity, control and productivity in your live or studio
keyboard setup. Whether you are using one multi-timbral sound module or a rack full of them,
this

Master Controller Keyboard and all

the

other Studio Logic Controllers by

FATAR

will

grea-

tly expand your professional and creative abilities.
The concept of a controller is to centralize your accessibility to your MIDI modules. It gives

you a central point of control over your slave modules in a given setup.

Have you ever tried to line up patches in your sound modules so that when you selected a
patch on your keyboard your other sound modules called up the right patch? Ever tried to
locate a patch position to write over a sound that you hopefully won't need later? Tired of
bending down to squint and see the display and program a module at the bottom of your rack?

All of these scenarios are greatly reduced when using a Master Controller.
The concept of ZONES, SPLITS and LAYERS is as follows:

A ZONE

consists

of a specified range of keys on your keyboard. That range of

notes

is

assigned

parameter messages that are communicated to your slave module(s), this reduces the need to
write and store patches on your module. These parameters may consist of the following infor­mation: patch number, volume setting, velocity curve, transposition value, pedal enable,
wheels enable,

etc....

When

a patch

is

selected

on your Master Controller all of

this

informa-

tion

is

sent

to

your modules instantly. The Studio

Logic

SL-161/SL-61

Master Controller by

FATAR

has
two (2) completely independent zones, meaning each zone can transmit all of its own infor­mation on any given MIDI channel. The range of notes in each zone can be setup to be adja­cent

to

another

ZONES

range of

notes

( one

ZONE

ends, going up

the

keyboard,

as

another

ZONE

starts)

or assigned

to

overlap each

other

or

any

part

of each

other's

ranges.

Thus we

introduce

the

concept

of

LAYERS

and SPLITS.

A

SPLIT

is

when

one

ZONE'S

range of

notes

ends

and another

ZONE'S

begins. A simple

exam-

ple

would

be

Bass in

the

left

hand and Piano in

the

right hand.

A ZONE'S

range of

notes

can

be

any amount of consecutive

notes

regardless of where another

ZONE'S

notes

begin.

When

two

or more

ZONE'S

range of

notes

overlap we call

this a LAYER.

LAYERS

are

the

way we can build

fat

lush

patches

using

the

full

potential

of

what

your

synths
and modules have to offer. Let's say we have a big pop ballad that needs your special touch?
We

want

to

create

a "Pad

Piano"

sound

to

cover

the

song. Assign each

ZONE

to

cover

the

enti-

re keyboard's range of

notes.

Using

the

two

ZONES,

assign each of them

to

play a different

patch:

(1)

dark rich Electric Piano, (2)

slow

attack

String Pad
with the release rate up slightly. If one or more patches are not in the same octave as the
others

it's

easy

to

fix.

Go

to

that

ZONE'S

transpose feature and move

it

up or down 12

steps
to line it up properly with the others. Something sounds a little mushy when playing Piano
parts

using

the

SUSTAIN PEDAL?

Try

going

to

the

ZONE

for

the

"non Piano" sound and

expe-

riment with disabling

the

SUSTAIN PEDAL

for

that

zone.

Within

moments you should have

a
deep, rich, rather large and musically useful sounding patch to use on your ballad.
Are you beginning to see the possibilities here? Please step inside the manual and we'll take

you through the simple yet versatile features of the Studio Logic 610 Master Controller by

FATAR.

SECTION 2.

Features:

A

guided

tour

through

the

Studio

Logic

161/61's

Controls and Features,

THE KEYBOARD

The

Studio

Logic

161/61

has a

61

key

FATAR

semi-weighted

piano

action.

It

is a new,

improved

version

of

the

classic

FATAR

action.

It

is

an extremely

musical

feeling

piano

style

action

that

has a very dynamic yet quick response to it. The velocity sensitive action can be modified with

several

VELOCITY

CURVE

response

settings

that

will

be discussed

later

in

this

manual.

The

61

key

action

of

the

SL-161/SL-61

will

transmit

channel

AFTERTOUCH

on

all

ZONES.

THE WHEELS

The PITCH and MODULATION WHEELS are the standard style, however, they are made with a

new rubberized

texture.

They have been designed

to

give

the

player a more

solid

tactile

sen-

sation during performing and programming for a more musical response.

THE ZONES

The

SL-161/SL-61

has

(2)

two

independent

ZONES

with

each

of

them

capable

of

being

assigned

to

any range

of

keys across

the

SL-161/SL-61's

keyboard.

As

discussed

in

the

introduction

to

this

manual,

the

ZONES

are

the

heart

of

creating

musically

useful

Layers and

Splits.

Each

of

the

(2)

ZONES consists of:

1. ZONE ENABLE/DISABLE BUTTON: Located on the front panel above the keyboard itself.

These are used

to

turn

the

ZONES

on and

off

in

PERFORMANCE

mode.

Each

switch

functions

independently of each other. In other words, you can have any combination of ZONES on or

off

at

any

point

by accessing these

ZONE

switches.

While

in

EDIT mode,

the

ZONE BUTTONS

are used

to

select

the

desired

ZONE

to

be

edited.

While

editing,

only

one

ZONE

at a time

can be selected and

the

buttons

now

toggle

on and

off

as

you

select

each

ZONE

SWITCH

for

editing.

2.

MIDI

CHANNEL

SELECT:

While

in

EDIT mode each

ZONE

can be

set

to

transmit

on any

of

the

16

MIDI

channels

available.

Only one

MIDI

channel

can be

transmitted

at a time

per

ZONE.

3.

BANK

SELECT:

After

selecting a MIDI

channel

to

transmit

on,

and

while

in

EDIT

mode,

you

can

initiate

or select

BANK

Changes. The commands are

different

depending

on

the

external

sound

module

you

are accessing. More on

BANK

SELECT

later

in

this

manual.

4. PROGRAM CHANGE: Patch selection can be made for each ZONE while in the EDIT mode.
Each ZONE can be set to select (send) patch changes 1 to 128 (some manufacturers use a numbe­ring scheme 0 to 127, so you may need to add (1) to each patchtt to achieve the desired results).

5.

SPLIT or

KEY

NOTE

RANGE:

This

edit

function

allows

you

to

select

the

range

of

active

notes

(keys)

for

each

ZONE.

The

ZONES

are

completely

independent

of

each

other

and

their

split

points can overlap thus creating LAYERS.
6 .TRANSPOSE: Each ZONE can be set to transpose its key range up or down 24 semitones. In

other words, up or down 2 octaves from the synth module's original setting.

7 .SUSTAIN PEDAL ENABLE / DISABLE SELECT: You can set each ZONE to respond or not

respond

to

sustain

pedal

information.

This

is

done

in

the

EDIT mode

for

each

ZONE.

8. WHEELS ENABLE / DISABLE SELECT: You can set each ZONE to respond or not respond to
PITCH and MODULATION WHEEL information. This is done in the EDIT mode for each ZONE.

9. AFTERTOUCH ENABLE / DISABLE SELECT: You can set each ZONE to respond or not respond
CHANNEL AFTERTOUCH information. This is done in the EDIT mode for each ZONE.

10.

SHAPE:

Velocity

curve

settings

specific

to

each

ZONE.

These

setting

will

alter

the

way

velocity

information

from

the

keyboard

will

be

transmitted

to

the

receiving

MIDI

channel.

There are 8 preset velocity curves to choose from that vary the dynamic response of the key-

board. Again, these settings are specific to each ZONE and are accessed while in the EDIT
mode.

GLOBAL

VELOCITY

CURVE:

This

VELOCITY

CURVE

setting

is a global

one, meaning

it

affects
the dynamic response of the entire keyboard across all (2) ZONES. There are 8 global settings
to choose from. Again, these setting are accessed while in the EDIT mode.

SUSTAIN

PEDAL:

The

Studio

Logic

SL-161/SL-61

has a connection

jack

on

the

rear panel for

a

SUSTAIN

PEDAL

input.

The

VP-26

by Fatar

is

recommended.

VOLUME

PEDAL:

The

Studio

Logic

SL-161/SL-61

has a connection

jack

on

the

rear panel for a stan-

dard

VOLUME

PEDAL

input.

POWER

INPUT:

The

Studio

Logic

SL-161/SL-61

has a

connection

jack

on

the

rear

panel

for

the

sup-

plied

POWER

SUPPLY

input.

MEMORY

STORAGE:

The

Studio

Logic

SL-161/SL-61

will

remember

all

of

your preset information when
powered down. All programmed settings are transmitted when the unit is powered up. There
is no need to store edited information, simply exiting the edit mode causes the information

to be stored.

SECTIONS.

Rear Panel Connections and Features:

Powering up. Connecting Pedals and hooking up with your other gear.

POWER INPUT

The

Studio

Logic

SL-161/SL-61

has a connection jack on

the

rear

panel for

the

AC

POWER

SUPPLY

INPUT.

The

AC

adapter

POWER

SUPPLY

supplied

with

this

unit

is a positive

tip

9V

DC

with

a

minimum current of 200 mA.

POWER SWITCH

The

Studio Logic

SL-161/SL-61

has

its

POWER

SWITCH

located on

the

back

panel next

to

the

POWER

SUPPLY

INPUT.

There

is

also a red

LED

to

indicate

the

unit

is on.

Upon

powering up

the

key-

board all preset data is transmitted out through the MIDI OUT connections.

SUSTAIN PEDAL

The

Studio Logic

SL-161/SL-61

has a connection jack on

the

rear

panel for a SUSTAIN

PEDAL

input.

This jack

will

function

properly

with

either

type of "normally closed" or "normally open"

SUSTAIN

PEDALS.

Upon

powering up

the

Studio Logic

SL-161/SL-61

will

recognize whichever type

of

pedal is presently connected to the keyboard, regardless of polarity (e.g. PS100 or VFP1). Note:

SUSTAIN

PEDAL

must

be

plugged

in

prior

to

powering up

to

properly

sense

polarity.

VOLUME PEDAL

The

Studio

Logic

SL-161/SL-61

has a connection jack on

the

rear

panel for a standard

VOLUME

PEDAL

input

that

uses a stereo or balanced jack

(e.g.

VP-26

by Fatar).

This

volume

control

will

chan-

ge

the

volume

equally

across

all

four

ZONES

simultaneously.

MIDI OUT CONNECTIONS

MIDI OUT

Connections: The

MIDI OUT

jacks

are

where you

connect

your

Studio

Logic

SL-161/SL-61
Master Controller to your various MIDI sound sources. Using a standard 5 pin DIN MIDI cable,
connect the Studio Logic MIDI OUT to your MIDI input jack on your synthesizer, sound modu­le or other MIDI equipped keyboard. You may use the THRU (daisy chain) feature on your MIDI
gear to connect to other MIDI modules if you like. Avoid daisy chaining more than 2 modu­les, if possible, to reduce the possibility of MIDI log jam or timing delays. The Studio Logic
SL-161/SL-61

conveniently

is

supplied with

two

parallel (identical)

MIDI OUT

jacks on

the

rear panel
to help reduce the possibility of timing delays when connecting to multiple MIDI sound modu­les.

When

connecting multiple

devices

to

your

SL-161/SL-61

allocate

them equally

across

the

two

MIDI OUT connections on this keyboard.

SECTION 4.

Description of Front Panel Controls and Features:
What are they, what do they do and how do I use them?

ZONE SELECT

Located on

the

top

panel

there

are

the

(2)

ZONE

buttons

for

the

(1)

enabling and disabling of

the

three

keyboard

ZONES

while in play mode and (2)

selecting

the

ZONES

while in

EDIT

MODE.

The LED indicators will be lit up when its corresponding zone is active or selected for editing.
In PLAY mode any combination of ZONES may be on or off at any point in time. However, in

EDIT

mode

the

ZONE

switches may only

be

used

to

select

one

ZONE

at a time.

Only

one

ZONE

at a time

may

be

edited

and

therefore

only

one

ZONE

light may

be

lit

at a time

while in

EDIT

mode.

You

are

able

to

jump from

ZONE

to

ZONE

while in

edit

mode by depressing

the

corre-

sponding ZONE BUTTONS.

Please note that you may only press a zone button and disable or^nable a zone while no notes

are depressed on the keyboard or while the sustain pedal is being depressed.