Suzuki qc-1 Owner's Manual

SUZUKI

Q CHORD

Owners Manual

MODEL QC-1

2

THANK YOU & CONGRATULATIONS

Also remember that clinical studies the world over ha ve sho wn
that playing a musical instrument has many benefits f or both body
and soul. It utilizes and strengthens portions of your brain that
are not normally used in everyday activities.

Take a few moments no w to start to find the hidden creative
musical side that we all hav e within.

Q Cards

Q Chord

Welcome to a new and exciting way to make music, that’ s
creative, mind e xpanding and fun.

Every music lover has dreamed of pla ying with an orchestra or
performing in a band. The Suzuki Corporation, MIDI Hits and Tune
1000 have work ed together to combine the latest sound card
technology with your f avorite songs. The availability of these
professionally produced, optional, song cartridges now enable you
to have a truly heightened, interactiv e musical e xperience right out
of the box.

The Q Chord contains the latest technological advancement’ s
that now enables e veryone to play or create music. It offers the
ultimate combination of musical instrument and technology in a
light weight, portable and dynamic sounding package nev er before
availab le.

All of the Q Chord’s f eatures and functions can be used individu­ally or in exciting combinations. There is no end to the music you
can make no matter what skill lev el y ou aspire too.

This owner’s manual contains easy to follow, step by step instruc­tion for all Q Chord functions. If you hate to read instruction
manuals, we understand and encourage you to pla y and experi­ment with the instrument and refer to this manual to ans wer any
questions you hav e as you create y our own personal symphon y.

3

QUICK PLAY - POWER UP

Q TIP: After removing the instrument, batteries, and instruction

manual from the packing carton and shipping materials, save the
box and molded f oam insert for later use. It’s a great way to store
or transport your instrument.

Let’ s power up by installing either the enclosed batteries or using
the optional AC adapter QCA (use only the Q Chord QCA
adapter).

Your Q Chord comes complete with 8 batteries (size C, Sum-2 or
R-14) and is ready to use now , right from the bo x.

Turn the Q Chord o ver and pull back the 2 plastic tabs and
remove the battery door .

Insert the 8 batteries included in the shipping carton. Use the

diagram on the battery cover to make sure y ou correctly insert
them into the battery cradle.

If there is no power rechec k to mak e sure you have correctly
inserted the batteries and replaced the battery door.

1

Press the power button

3

PLUG IN AC AD APTER

Plug one end of the AC adapter into the 120v (standar d) AC
outlet, while plug ging the other end into the Q Chord power
jack on the side of the instrument.

1

Make sure you only use the QCA adapter. Other adapters could
cause damage to this instrument. See specification page f or
further details.

Press the power button

2

2

BATTERY INSTALLA TION

Jack Connector Panel

4

QUICK PLAY - DEMO SONG

The Q Chord has a built-in demonstration song which will immedi­ately allow you to begin pla ying along with the song “Michelle” by
the Beatles.

Press the Demo Button.

You should begin to hear the Demo song play.
Make sure that the P ow er button is already engaged and that the

Master Volume Knob is set to the 12:00 position or higher.

1

Follow the steps belo w and begin playing now!

PLA YING ALONG WITH THE DEMONSTRA TION SONG

Slide your thumb or index finger up the strumplate.

Continue to slide or tap your fingers up the strumplate at your o wn
pace.
You are now playing along with the band!

Play along with this Demo to get f amiliar with the sounds you can
make as you strum the Strumplate in various diff erent wa ys.

2

Q-TIP: Later we will explain many fun and interesting pla ying

techniques and set ups.
For e xample: how to select and pla y one of the 100 diff erent
strumplate voices av ailab le, plus diff erent sustain settings and
strumplate playing techniques.

Playing along with this Beatles song is similar to pla ying along
with one of the optional song cartridges.
The amount of orchestration varies from song to song. Some
have full big band orchestr a will others like the demo song
“”Michelle”, ” use the same instruments as the original recording.

As stated above there are man y fun, exciting and challenging
ways to pr actice, pla y and perform, the wide variety of song titles
that are availab le on the many optional song cartridges.

5

Press the Auto Chor d button once.

This will turn off the Chord Plus LED. This will eliminate the
melody line from the Demo song.

1

PLA YING ALONG WITH CERT AIN B AND MEMBERS

The Q Chord has the ability to play prerecorded song cartridges
called “Q Cards .” You can pla y along with these song cartridges
just like you are pla ying along with the demo song.
Listed below are more fun wa ys to play along with the demo song.

Strum or tap the Strumplate with your thumb or fingers.

Try taping your fingers to the beat of the music. Play around
using different finger and or thumb activity.

Q TIP: With the Chord Plus turned off you ma y w ant to activ ely
strum or tap the strumplate to make up for the missing notes .
There are many different w ays to pla y along with the band on this
demo song.
You can play with any member of the Q Chord band or any
combination of Q Chord band members. Or y ou can pla y solo by
yourself .
For e xample: You could play with just the drummer and the bass
player.
There are many combinations that we will detail later in this
manual.

3

Press the Demo Button.

You should begin to hear the Demo song play.
This time without hearing the melody line of the demo song.

2

QUICK PLAY - DEMO SONG continued

6

QUICK PLAY - SONG CARTRIDGE (optional)

1

PLA YING ALONG WITH THE SONG CARTRIDGES

The Q Chord has the ability to play prerecorded song cartridges
called “Q Cards.” To play one of these optional cartridges follow
the simple instructions shown below . F or more adv anced play see
the Song Cartridge section later in this manual.

Do not force the Q Card into its connection, it should insert
properly when firmly pressed. Mak e sure to insert the open end of
the cartridge, not the label end.
When the Song Cartridge is correctly inserted the display will read
“01.”

If you want to pla y a song other than the first selection press
the UP search button until y ou reach y our desired song.

Remember if the card is not inserted properly then the Q Card
control LCD will not display an y digits.

2

Press the Play button.

Make sure that the Master Volume Knob is set to the 2 o’clock
position or higher .
You should hear your selected song.

3

Strum or tap the Strumplate with your thumb or fingers.

Try taping your fingers to the beat of the music. Play around
using different finger and or thumb activity.

Q TIP: There are man y different fun and e xciting ways that you
can play with this prerecorded music. W e will get into more detail
later in this manual.

Remember it’ s that simple to pla y!

1. Plug in the song cartridge

2. Press Play

3. Strum Awa y!

4

T urn the po wer off.

Push the open end of the song cartridge into the Chord Button
end of the Q Chord, marked “Q Card”, as sho wn. Press in firmly
until the Cartridge is seated properly .
Make sure that the label side of the Cartridge is up so that you do
not force it in the wrong wa y.

2

3

7

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Q CHORD - MODEL QC-1
1 THANK Y OU & CONGRATULATIONS

2 Q UICK PLAY - SET UP
3 Q UICK PLAY - DEMO SONG
5 Q UICK PLAY - SONG CARTRIDGE (OPTIONAL)
6 TABLE OF CONTENTS
7 CONTROLS AND FUNCTIONS
9 EZ PLAY
11 STRUMPLATE
15 STRUMPLATE - EFFECTS
17 STRUMPLATE - PITCH BEND WHEEL
18 ONE FINGER CHORD PLA Y
19 MUL TI FINGER CHORD PLAY
20 RHYTHM SECTION - DRUMS
23 CHORD MODE - ACCOMPANIMENT
28 PLAYING A SONG WITH THE BAND
30 ADDITIONAL FEATURES - TRANSPOSE
30 ADDITIONAL FEATURES - TUNING
31 ADDITIONAL FEATURES - MIDI EXPANDER
32 ADDITIONAL FEATURES - OCTA VE SHIFT
33 STRUMPLATE - ADDITIONAL INSTRUMENT V OICES
35 MELOD Y KEYBO ARD
36 SONG/STYLE CARTRIDGES
39 MIDI
42 JACK CONNECT OR PANEL
43 STRUMPLATE INSTRUMENT VOICE LIST
45 W ARRANTY
46 SPECIFICATIONS
47 ACCESSORIES
48 NOTES

8

Use this reference page as y ou continue to play and add ne w f eatures and functions.

1. POWER - Main of/off switch

2. DEMO

3. VOLUME - Master Control

MASTERS

4. RHYTHM VOLUME - Up/Down

5. RHYTHM BANK - Indicator

LED’S (two)

6. INTRO/END

7. RHY. LIGHT BAR SEGMENTS

8. RHYTHM SELECT BUTTONS

RHYTHMS

STRUMPLATE

BOTT OM VIEW

9. TEMPO - Up/Down Buttons

10. BASS PORT

11. FILL

12. STRUMPLATE VOLUME

13. STRUMPLATE BANK -

Indicator LED’S (two)

14. STRUMPLATE LIGHT BAR
SEGMENTS (10)

15. STRUMPLATE SELECT
BUTTONS

16. START/STOP - Master Control

17. STRUMPLATE SUSTAIN

18. SPEAKER GRILL

19. STRUMPLATE

CHORD BUTT ONS

V

21. TRANSPOSE BUTTONS

22. CHORD BUTTONS

23. TUNE BUTTONS

24. MIDI EXPANDER CONTROL

25. OCTAVE SHIFT(strmplt. & kybd)

26. STRUMPLATE V OICE B UTT ON

20. PITCH BEND WHEEL

EFFECTS BUTT ONS

27. VIBRA TO BUTTON

28. EZ PLAY BUTT ON

29. REVERB BUTTO N

40.

41.

42.

39.

38.

9

-

Q CARD CONTROL

30. STOP BUTT ON

31. PLAY / PAUSE BUTTON

32. TRACK & VOICE # DISPLAY

33. SEARCH DOWN / UP

CHORD MODE

34. CHORD VOL. & DEPTH BUTTONS

35. AUTO & CHORD PLUS BUTTON

36. CHRD. & MANUAL CHRD. BUTTONS

37. BASS & MEL. KYBD. BUTT ONS

Q CARD

38. CHORD VOL. & DEPTH BUTTONS

39. AUTO & CHORD PLUS BUTTON

BOTTOM VIEW

40. BASS PORT

41. BATTERY COVER

42. IDENTIFICA TION TAG W/ SN #

2.

4.

6.

8.

7.

5.

3.

1.

9.

10.

11. 12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

26. 28.29.27. 30 . 31. 32 33. 35. 36. 37.34.

STOP PLAY/PAUSE

V

+

-

x

22.

25.

24.23.

V

V

21.

10

EZ PLAY

Press the Easy Play button.

The Q Chord’s Chord Mode section will automatically set up the Q
Chord, so that only the chord and strumplate sounds are heard.

1

EZ PLAY FEATURE

When first starting to play the Q Chord you may want to begin b y
engaging the Easy Play b utton. This function will automatically set
up the Q Chord so that only the selected chord button and the
strumplate will be heard. This basic set up is an ideal wa y to start
playing a new song.

Press a Chord Button

You will hear the sustained chord of the button you pressed
sound.
This basic set up is an ideal way to start playing a new song, by
first getting familiar with pla ying chord b uttons of your selected
song.

2

Strum or tap the Strumplate with your thumb or fingers.

You should only hear the strumplate and the engaged chord button.
Q TIP: The EZ Pla y mode is an excellent function to experiment

with the different sounds y ou can get out of the strumplate by the
different wa ys that y ou strum or tap it.
We will show y ou how to select from the 100 a v ailable strumplate
voices, how to add effects and use the pitch bend wheel, later in
this manual.
We will also e xplain how y ou can begin playing y our f av orite songs.

3

11

EZ PLAY - continued

Press the Rhythm Select Down b utton once to engage the
Country Style.

Press the down select button one time. The LED segment for the
Country Style will turn on.

1

EZ PLA Y FEATURE - CHANGING THE INSTRUMENT SOUND

The Chord Button sound with the EZ Play f eature engaged can be
changed by selecting a diff erent Rh ythm Style. Follow the simple
instructions shown below .

Press a Chord Button

You will now hear a sustained chord of the button you pressed.
This chord sound is now Organ instead of the Strings voice that
you heard when the Bossa Nov a Style was engaged.

2

Press the Rhythm Select buttons (Up or Do wn) and repeat step

2.

Try the other Rhythm Styles to hear the chord sounds that are
availab le.

3

Q TIP: Some chord voices are repeated for certain Styles.

Some voices ma y sound better than others depending on the style
of song that you are pla ying.
Try out all the different combinations and let y our creativ e juices
flow as you mix and match the chord sounds with the many
different Strumplate voices .

12

STRUMPLATE

Pressing the button once will sequence the LED light bar seg­ment from the Guitar down one to the Piano voice.

Q TIP: Pressing and holding down the Down Select button will
engage the rapid select mode. Release the button when you
have reached your desired voice.

1

CHOOSING A CONTROL P ANEL STR UMPLA TE V OICE

The Q Chord is equipped with a unique feature called a
Strumplate. This Strumplate will respond instantly to the touch of
your thumb or fingers. Whether you press a chord button, or
play along with the Demo button or Song Cartridge, the four
octave range of the Strumplate is always in tune.
There are a total of 100 Strumplate voices to choose from.

ADJUSTING THE STRUMPLATES VOLUME CONTROL

Observe the Strumplate Voice LED light to distinguish which
bank of voices is selected.

The indicator LED will show which left or right bank is selected.
For our example the left LED indicator is selected which means
the left bank of voices is selected.

2

Press the Strumplate Volume Up button until all 10 light bar
segments are lit.

This is maximum strumplate volume. If you want more volume
make sure to turn the Master Volume knob all the way to the
right.

Q TIP: Fine T uning V olume control. There are four degrees of
sensitivity for each LED light bar segment. Every time you press
the up or down volume control button you will change the
volume level. Every fourth time you press one volume control
button you will increase or decrease the LED light bar segment
by one light bar.

1

Press the Down Select Strumplate Voice Button.

13

STRUMPLATE CONTROL PANEL VOICES - CONTINUED

Press down the Up Sustain Button to increase the amount of
sustain on your selected Strumplate voice.

Pressing the button once will show the sustain level setting.
Q TIP: Pressing and holding down the Down Select button will

engage the rapid select mode. Release the button when you have
reached your desired level.

Fine T uning V olume control. There are four degrees of sensitiv­ity for each LED light bar segment. Every time you press the up or
down sustain control button you will change the sustain level.
Every fourth time you press one sustain control button you will
increase or decrease the LED light bar segment by one light bar.

1

ADJUSTING THE SUSTAIN CONTROL

The Sustain Control for the 10 control panel Strumplate voices is
preset and ready to play. However, depending on the style of
your strumplate playing, you may want to adjust the amount of
sustain to fit your individual and creative feel for the sound you
have in mind.

Strum the strumplate with your thumb or fingers.

Listen to the difference in the sound that the additional sustain
can make.

Q TIP: The amount of sustain engaged for your selected
strumplate voice can have big effect on the sound of that instru­ment voice.
When you have the time experiment with various sustain levels to
get a feel for the different ways that you can alter and vary the
many Strumplate voices with the Sustain feature.

2

14

STRUMPLATE PLAYING TECHNIQUES

Press the EZ Play button and then slide y our thumb or finger
up the strumplate.

Tr y again this time using two fingers as shown.
Tr y again this time using three fingers.
Try with fingers spread out and then try with fingers close to­gether.
As you noticed the more fingers you play with the fuller the sound
becomes.
By trying these different combinations you will get a better feel for
the different ways you can produce sound from the Strumplate.

1

SLIDE (STRUM) PLAY

The Strumplate is always in tune with what y ou are pla ying, but
just like a guitar there are many ways to strum the strings. There
is no one correct way because you determine what method
sounds best for each individual song. Use your creativity and
feel for the sound you want to hear and then attempt to achieve
that sound through the expressive Strumplate, and its controls
(Sustain, Effects and the Pitch Bend Wheel).

TAP PLAY
Using the tip of your finger(s) tap the Strumplate as you w ould

tap a table as you listen to a song.

Use the same EZ Play set up as above.
Tr y using one, two, three fingers or thumb as shown.
Try taping in one area of the Strumplate to start.
Then try taping in various areas of the Strumplate. You will be
able to hear each octave of the chord as you tap at the various
areas of the Strumplate.

As you continue playing with these two techniques, try combining
them by using the Slide Play and then Tap Play etc...
Their are many different ways to play the Strumplate, these are
just two techniques.
Have fun and take your time experimenting with different playing
styles of your own.

1

15

STRUMPLATE VOICE ONL Y

Press the EZ Play button and then press the A uto Chord
button twice.

The Auto Chord/Chord Plus LED will turn off, and only the Chord
Hold and Manual Chord buttons in the Chord Mode section
should now be lit now.

1

EZ PLAY - STRUMPLATE V OICE ONLY

Listed below is how to set up the Q Chord to hear only the
strumplate, some do’s and don’ts, and another playing technique.

2

Press a Chord button and then strum the Strumplate.

You should only hear the Strumplate voice.

STRUMPLA TE DO’S AND DON’TS
Q TIP: Do not use your fingernails or any sharp object on the

Strumplate.
A slight downward pressure from your thumb or fingers is all y ou
need to activate this sensitiv e area.

The more familiar y ou get with the strumplate the more expres­sive y ou will be able to become with the Q Chord.
We urge you to relax as y ou enjo y trying out the various control
panel strumplate voices and the diff erent wa ys to pla y them.

You can even try the no mov ement technique of placing three fin­gers on the Strumplate with the Organ or Strings voice engaged.
You don’t ev en hav e to mo v e y our fingers on strumplate, just
pressing different chord buttons

16

STRUMPLATE EFFECTS

T o hear onl y the Strumplate voice press the EZ Pla y button
and then press the Auto Chord button twice.

Only the Chord Hold and Manual Chord LED’s in the Chord Mode
section should now be on.

1

VIBRA T O STRUMPLATE EFFECT

The next two pages discuss the on board Strumplate eff ects:
Vibrato & Reverb. Both of these effects have depth control so
that you can select how much of the effect you would like to add
to your Strumplate voice.
The Vibrato effect causes an oscillating or “wavy” sound to the
strumplate voice.

2

Press VIBRA TO button.

The Vibrato LED should now be on.
When you engage the Vibrato effect the LED light bar in the
Strumplate V oice section will light for two seconds to indicate
the amount or depth of the Vibrato effect that is engaged.

Press the Chord Mode Volume Control after you select the
Vibrato button.

You have 2 seconds after engaging the Vibrato effect to adjust
the depth.
After that the Chord Mode Volume control will adjust the overall
Accompaniment Chord Mode Volume.

Tr y different depth settings with different Strumplate voices to get
a feel for the impact of this interesting and impressive effect on
the strumplate sounds.

3

Strum the Strumplate to hear the Vibrato effect.

Strum the Strumplate once with the Vibrato effect engaged and
once with the Vibrato effect off.

Listen to the difference, if you want to increase or decrease the
amount of Vibrato continue on to Step 4.

4

ADJUSTING THE DEPTH OF THE VIBRA T O EFFECT