Yamaha DX200E User Manual

Page 1

Page 2

SPECIAL MESSAGE SECTION

This product utilizes batteries or an external power supply (adapter). DO NOT connect this product to any power supply or adapter other than one described in the manual, on the name plate, or speciﬁcally recommended by Yamaha.

WARNING: Do not place this product in a position where anyone

could walk on, trip over ,or roll anything over power or connecting cords of any kind. The use of an extension cord is not recommended! IF you must use an extension cord, the minimum wire siz e for a 25' cord (or less ) is 18 AWG. NOTE: The smaller the AWG number ,the larger the current handling capacity. For longer extension cords, consult a local electrician.

This product should be used only with the components supplied or; a cart, rack, or stand that is recommended by Yamaha. If a cart, etc., is used, please observe all safety markings and instructions that accompany the accessory product.

SPECIFICATIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE:

The information contained in this manual is believed to be correct at the time of printing. However, Yamaha reserves the right to change or modify any of the speciﬁcations without notice or obligation to update existing units.

This product, either alone or in combination with an ampliﬁer and headphones or speaker/s, may be capable of producing sound levels that could cause permanent hearing loss. DO NOT operate for long periods of time at a high volume level or at a level that is uncomfortable. If you experience any hearing loss or ringing in the ears, you should consult an audiologist. IMPORTANT: The louder the sound, the shorter the time period before damage occurs.

Some Yamaha products may have benches and / or accessory mounting ﬁxtures that are either supplied with the product or as optional accessories. Some of these items are designed to be dealer assembled or installed. Please make sure that benches are stable and any optional ﬁxtures (where applicable) are well secured BEFORE using. Benches supplied by Yamaha are designed for seating only. No other uses are recommended.

NOTICE:

Service charges incurred due to a lack of knowledge relating to how a function or effect works (when the unit is operating as designed) are not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, and are therefore the owners responsibility. Please study this manual carefully and consult your dealer before requesting service.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:

Yamaha strives to produce products that are both user safe and environmentally friendly. We sincerely believe that our products and the production methods used to produce them, meet these goals. In keeping with both the letter and the spirit of the law, we want you to be aware of the following:

Battery Notice:

This product MA Y contain a small non-rechargeable battery which (if applicable) is soldered in place. The average life span of this type of battery is approximately ﬁve years. When replacement becomes necessary, contact a qualiﬁed service representative to perform the replacement.

This product may also use “household” type batteries. Some of these may be rechargeable. Make sure that the battery being charged is a rechargeable type and that the charger is intended for the battery being charged.

When installing batteries, do not mix batteries with new, or with batteries of a different type. Batteries MUST be installed correctly. Mismatches or incorrect installation may result in overheating and battery case rupture.

Warning:

Do not attempt to disassemble, or incinerate any battery. Keep all batteries away from children. Dispose of used batteries promptly and as regulated by the laws in your area. Note: Check with any retailer of household type batteries in your area for battery disposal information.

Disposal Notice:

Should this product become damaged beyond repair, or for some reason its useful life is considered to be at an end, please observe all local, state, and federal regulations that relate to the disposal of products that contain lead, batteries, plastics, etc. If your dealer is unable to assist you, please contact Yamaha directly.

NAME PLATE LOCATION:

The name plate is located on the bottom of the product. The model number, serial number , po wer requirements, etc., are located on this plate. You should record the model number, serial number, and the date of purchase in the spaces provided below and retain this manual as a permanent record of your purchase.

Model

Serial No.

Purchase Date

PLEASE KEEP THIS MANUAL

92-BP (bottom)

Page 3

FCC INFORMATION (U.S.A.)

1. IMPORTANT NOTICE: DO NOT MODIFY THIS UNIT!

This product, when installed as indicated in the instructions contained in this manual, meets FCC requirements. Modiﬁcations not expressly approved by Yamaha may void your authority, granted by the FCC, to use the product.

2. IMPORTANT: When connecting this

product to accessories and/or another product use only high quality shielded cables. Cable/s supplied with this product MUST be used. Follow all installation instructions. Failure to follow instructions could void your FCC authorization to use this product in the USA.

3. NOTE: This product has been tested and

found to comply with the requirements listed in FCC Regulations, Part 15 for Class “B” digital devices. Compliance with these requirements provides a reasonable level of assurance that your use of this product in a residential environment will not result in harmful interference with other electronic devices. This equipment generates/uses radio frequencies and, if not installed and used according to the instructions found in the users manual, may cause interference harmful to the operation of other electronic

* This applies only to products distributed by YAMAHA CORPORATION OF AMERICA.

devices. Compliance with FCC regulations does not guarantee that interference will not occur in all installations. If this product is found to be the source of interference, which can be determined by turning the unit “OFF” and “ON”, please try to eliminate the problem by using one of the following measures:

Relocate either this product or the device that is being affected by the interference.

Utilize power outlets that are on different branch (circuit breaker or fuse) circuits or install AC line ﬁlter/s.

In the case of radio or TV interf erence , relocate/reorient the antenna. If the antenna lead-in is 300 ohm ribbon lead, change the lead-in to co-axial type cable.

If these corrective measures do not produce satisfactory results, please contact the local retailer authorized to distribute this type of product. If you can not locate the appropriate retailer, please contact Y amaha Corporation of America, Electronic Service Division, 6600 Orangethorpe Ave, Buena Park, CA90620

The above statements apply ONLY to those products distributed by Yamaha Corporation of America or its subsidiaries.

(class B)

ADVARSEL!

Lithiumbatteri—Eksplosionsfare ved fejlagtig håndtering. Udskiftning må kun ske med batteri af samme fabrikat og type. Levér det brugte batteri tilbage til leverandoren.

VARNING

Explosionsfara vid felaktigt batteribyte . An vänd samma batterityp eller en ekvivalent typ som rekommenderas av apparattillverkaren. Kassera använt batteri enligt fabrikantens instruktion.

VAROITUS

Paristo voi räjähtää, jos se on virheellisesti asennettu. Vaihda paristo ainoastaan laitevalmistajan suosittelemaan tyyppiin. Hävitä käytetty paristo valmistajan ohjeiden mukaisesti.

(lithium caution)

NEDERLAND / THE NETHERLANDS

• Dit apparaat bevat een lithium batterij voor geheugen back-up.

• This apparatus contains a lithium battery for memory back-up.

• Raadpleeg uw leverancier over de verwijdering van de batterij op het moment dat u het apparaat ann het einde van de levensduur afdankt of de volgende Yamaha Service Afdeiing:

Yamaha Music Nederland Service Afdeiing Kanaalweg 18-G, 3526 KL UTRECHT

• For the removal of the battery at the moment of the disposal at the end of the service life

• Gooi de batterij niet weg, maar lever hem in als KCA.

• Do not throw away the battery. Instead, hand it in as small chemical waste.

Tel. 030-2828425

please consult your retailer or Yamaha Service Center as follows:

Yamaha Music Nederland Service Center Address : Kanaalweg 18-G, 3526 KL UTRECHT Tel : 030-2828425

(lithium disposal)

Page 4

PRECAUTIONS

Yamaha cannot be held responsible for damage caused by improper use or modiﬁcations to the instrument, or data that is lost or destroyed.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING

* Please keep these precautions in a safe place for future reference.

WARNING

Always follow the basic precautions listed below to avoid the possibility of serious injury or even death from electrical shock, short-circuiting, damages, ﬁre or other hazards. These precautions include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Do not open the instrument or attempt to disassemble the internal parts or modify them in any way. The instrument contains no user-serviceable parts. If it should appear to be malfunctioning, discontinue use immediately and have it inspected by qualiﬁed Yamaha service personnel.

• Do not expose the instrument to rain, use it near water or in damp or wet conditions, or place containers on it containing liquids which might spill into any openings.

• If the AC adaptor cord or plug becomes frayed or damaged, or if there is a sudden loss of sound during use of the instrument, or if any unusual smells or smoke should appear to be caused by it, immediately turn off the

power switch, disconnect the adaptor plug from the outlet, and have the instrument inspected by qualiﬁed Yamaha service personnel.

• Use the speciﬁed adaptor (PA-3B or an equivalent recommended by Yamaha) only. Using the wrong adaptor can result in damage to the instrument or overheating.

• Before cleaning the instrument, always remove the electric plug from the outlet. Never insert or remove an electric plug with wet hands.

• Check the electric plug periodically and remove any dirt or dust which may have accumulated on it.

CAUTION

Always follow the basic precautions listed below to avoid the possibility of physical injury to you or others, or damage to the instrument or other property. These precautions include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Do not place the AC adaptor cord near heat sources such as heaters or radiators, and do not excessively bend or otherwise damage the cord, place heavy objects on it, or place it in a position where anyone could walk on, trip over, or roll anything over it.

• When removing the electric plug from the instrument or an outlet, always hold the plug itself and not the cord.

• Do not connect the instrument to an electrical outlet using a multiple-connector. Doing so can result in lower sound quality, or possibly cause overheating in the outlet.

• Unplug the AC power adaptor when not using the instrument, or during electrical storms.

• Before connecting the instrument to other electronic components, turn off the power for all components. Before turning the power on or off for all components, set all volume levels to minimum. Also, be sure to set the volumes of all components at their minimum levels and gradually raise the volume controls while playing the instrument to set the desired listening level.

• Do not expose the instrument to excessive dust or vibrations, or extreme cold or heat (such as in direct sunlight, near a heater, or in a car during the day) to prevent the possibility of panel disﬁguration or damage to the internal components.

• Do not use the instrument near other electrical products such as televisions, radios, or speakers, since this might cause interference which can affect proper operation of the other products.

• Do not place the instrument in an unstable position where it might accidentally fall over.

• Before moving the instrument, remove all connected adaptor and other cables.

• When cleaning the instrument, use a soft, dry cloth. Do not use paint thinners, solvents, cleaning ﬂuids, or chemical-impregnated wiping cloths. Also, do not place vinyl, plastic or rubber objects on the instrument, since this might discolor the panel or keyboard.

• Do not rest your weight on, or place heavy objects on the instrument, and do not use excessive force on the buttons, switches or connectors.

• Do not operate the instrument for a long period of time at a high or uncomfortable volume level, since this can cause permanent hearing loss. If you experience any hearing loss or ringing in the ears, consult a physician.

■ REPLACING THE BACKUP BATTERY

• This instrument contains a non rechargeable internal backup battery which permits internal data to remain stored even when the power is off. When the backup battery needs replacing, the message "Err1" appears in the display. When this happens, immediately back up your data (using an external device such as the ﬂoppy disk-based Yamaha MIDI Data Filer MDF3), then have qualiﬁed Yamaha service personnel replace the backup battery.

• Do not attempt to replace the backup battery yourself, in order to prevent the possible serious hazards. Always have qualiﬁed Yamaha service personnel replace the backup battery.

• Never place the backup battery in a location that a child can reach, since a child might accidentally swallow the battery. If this should happen, consult a physician immediately.

■ SAVING USER DATA

• Save all data to an external device such as the Yamaha MIDI Data Filer MDF3, in order to help prevent the loss of important data due to a malfunction or user operating error.

Always turn the power off when the instrument is not in use.

(3)-6

Page 5

Congratulations and thank you for purchasing the Yamaha DX200 Desktop

Control Synthesizer!

The DX200 is a combination tone generator and sequencer that puts an enormous amount of sonic power and real-time performance control in an exceptionally compact and easy-to-use “desktop” package. As one of the Loopfactory group of instruments, it’s an amazingly high-quality and versatile tool for loop-based music production. Use it on your gigs, as part of your DJ setup — or as your secret weapon in your studio arsenal.

With eighteen knobs and umpteen switches, many of them “dedicated” — meaning that a control does speciﬁcally and ONLY what its name indicates — the DX200 is a synthesizer control freak’s dream.

Powering the richly textured and dynamic Voices of the DX200 is the FM Synthesis system — the tone generation method behind the enormously popular DX7. On the DX200, we’ve combined the bright and harmonically complex digital sound of FM, with the warm and powerful sound-shaping controls of analog synthesizers — to give you the best of both worlds.

Play the exceptionally high-quality digital Voices of the DX200 with full 16-note polyphony — from the built-in keyboard or from a MIDI device. Use the built-in 16-step sequencer to create your own synth and rhythm sequences. And power up the full-featured DX200 Editor on your computer — to tap into ALL the amazing sonic power the DX200 has to offer.

There’s a lot of important, helpful information in these pages. So read through this manual carefully — and get the most out of your sophisticated new DX200.

● Packing List

The following items have been included with your DX200. Check to see that you have everything listed here.

• Owner's Manual

• CD-ROM

• AC Power Adaptor*

* Power supply recommendation may vary from country to country. Please check with

your nearest Yamaha dealer for further details.

* The company names and product names in this Owner’s Manual are the trademarks or registered trademarks of

their respective companies.

* The screens as illustrated in this owner’s manual are for instructional purposes only, and may appear somewhat

different from the ones of your instrument.

Page 6

Contents

Contents ............................................................ 6

How to Use This Manual .................................. 8

Panel Controls .................................................. 9

Quick Start Guide ........................................... 11

Parameter Structure ....................................... 12

Tone Generator Signal Flow &

Effect Block Diagram ..............................13

Chapter 1

Chapter 8

Pattern Playback.................... 35

Tip 25 Adjusting the Gate Time....................................35

Tip 26 Transposing the key...........................................36

Tip 27 Swing.................................................................37

Tip 28 Muting tracks.....................................................37

Tip 29 Muting notes during playback ...........................38

Tip 30 Mixer controls — Pan and Volume...................39

Tip 31 Assigning Patterns to the keyboard buttons.......40

Pattern Basics ........................ 15

Tip 1 Playing a Pattern ............................................... 15

Tip 2 Exploring other Patterns.................................... 15

Tip 3 Switching Patterns on the fly ............................16

Tip 4 Playing it backwards.........................................17

Tip 5 Changing the bpm.............................................17

Tip 6 Messing with the Beat....................................... 18

Tip 7 Double time, half time.......................................18

Chapter 2

Song Playback......................... 19

Tip 8 Playing a Song...................................................19

Chapter 3

Chapter 9

LFO Modulation........................ 41

Tip 32 Modulating the volume......................................41

Tip 33 Modulating the Filter.........................................42

Tip 34 Modulating the pitch..........................................43

Tip 35 Changing the LFO wave....................................44

Chapter 10

EG Basics ............................... 46

Tip 36 Shaping the sound with EG ...............................46

Tip 37 Using EG to control the Filter (FEG) ................49

Tip 38 More about FEG Depth......................................50

Tip 39 Going negative — with FEG Depth ..................51

The Keyboard......................... 20

Tip 9 Playing the keyboard......................................... 20

Tip 10 Changing octaves..............................................20

Tip 11 Playing the Rhythm track.................................. 21

Tip 12 Velocity............................................................. 21

Chapter 4

Scene Basics .......................... 22

Tip 13 Switching Scenes .............................................. 22

Tip 14 Morphing........................................................... 22

Chapter 5

Effects....................................23

Tip 15 What is an Effect?.............................................23

Tip 16 Playing with the Effects....................................24

Tip 17 Distortion...........................................................26

Chapter 6

Chapter 11

Advanced Sound Shaping

Controls ................................. 52

Tip 40 Portamento — the famous gliding pitch effect..52

Tip 41 Selecting the Algorithm.....................................53

Tip 42 Shifting Harmonics............................................54

Tip 43 Mellow or metallic — FM Depth......................55

Tip 44 Controlling the FM Decay.................................56

Tip 45 Noise Level........................................................56

Tip 46 All kinds of noise...............................................57

Tip 47 Fat, phatter and phattest!....................................58

Tip 48 Creating your own original Scenes —

and saving them .........................................59

Chapter 12

Free EG................................... 60

Tip 49 Free EG..............................................................60

Tip 50 Changing the Length of your Free EG tracks....62

Filter (VCF) ..............................27

Tip 18 Cutoff and Resonance.......................................27

Tip 19 Wild, wild filter sweeps — VCF Types............ 28

Tip 20 FEG Depth ........................................................ 30

Chapter 7

Nuts and Bolts ........................ 31

Tip 21 Show Value.......................................................31

Tip 22 Original Value................................................... 32

Tip 23 Panic! (or “Uh-oh...What do I do now?”).........33

Tip 24 Factory Reset..................................................... 34

Chapter 13

Pattern Power Tips................. 63

Tip 51 Hit the top of the Pattern! ..................................63

Tip 52 Shake, Retrigger, and Roll!................................64

Tip 53 Selecting a Voice (Copy Voice) ........................65

Tip 54 Starting a Pattern on a different note.................65

Tip 55 Transposing the pitch of a Pattern .....................66

Tip 56 Copying a Pattern (Sequence)............................67

Page 7

Contents

Chapter 14

Pattern Recording ...................68

Tip 57 Erasing a Pattern — and starting from scratch . 68

Tip 58 Setting the Metronome lead-in.......................... 69

Tip 59 Recording a Pattern in real time........................ 70

Tip 60 Step Recording.................................................. 72

Tip 61 Storing your new Pattern................................... 79

Chapter 15

Song Recording ....................... 81

Tip 62 Erasing a Song — and starting from scratch..... 81

Tip 63 Creating a Song................................................. 82

Tip 64 Setting the BPM (tempo) for your new Song ... 84

Tip 65 More Song editing features............................... 85

Tip 66 Adding Patterns to your Song — Insert Pattern 87 Tip 67 Taking Patterns out of your Song —

Delete Pattern............................................ 88

Tip 68 Storing your new Song...................................... 89

Chapter 16

Speed Tips for Power Users .... 90

Tip 69 Using [SHIFT] with the [DATA] knob —

for leaps and bounds!................................ 90

Tip 70 Using [SHIFT] to “hold” a setting....................91

Tip 71 Gang-editing a group of Steps .......................... 91

Chapter 17

Real World Tips .......................92

Tip 72 Adjusting the Gate Time with the [DATA]

knob........................................................... 92

Tip 73 Adjusting the pitch with the [DATA] knob ...... 92

Tip 74 Changing the pitch with the keyboard .............. 93

Tip 75 Stutter fill-in 1................................................... 94

Tip 76 Stutter fill-in 2................................................... 94

Tip 77 Stutter fill-in 3................................................... 95

Tip 78 Assigning Patterns for your gig ........................ 95

Tip 79 Chord progressions with Pattern Assign........... 95

Chapter 19

Master Class 2 — Advanced Music Production ... 103

Tip 87 Playing the DX200 as a synthesizer................103

Tip 88 Recording to a sequencer.................................104

Tip 89 Recording DX200 knob moves to a sequencer105

Tip 90 Editing the DX200 from a computer...............106

Tip 91 MIDI sequencer controls —

Start, Continue, Stop................................107

Tip 92 Saving Patterns and Songs to a MIDI data

filer...........................................................108

Tip 93 Loading back your saved Patterns and Songs .109

Appendix

Function Index...............................................110

About the Included CD-ROM........................112

Specifications................................................114

Error Messages .............................................114

Troubleshooting............................................115

FM Tone Generation......................................116

MIDI Data Format...........................................124

MIDI Implementation Chart...........................144

Rhythm Track Instrument List .....................145

Pattern List.....................................................146

Chapter 18

Master Class 1 — Onstage........96

Tip 80 Sync the DX200 to your sequencer................... 96

Tip 81 Changing the MIDI channels............................97

Tip 82 Loopfactory setup — with the SU200 .............. 98

Tip 83 Loopfactory sync system — with the AN200... 99

Tip 84 Loopfactory sampling ..................................... 100

Tip 85 Full DJ system — turntable and all! ............... 101

Tip 86 Loopfactory megasetup — with MIDI Thru... 101

Page 8

How to Use This Manual

How to USE a manual? Sounds a bit obvious, we admit. (“Open it and read it.”) But here goes:

1 Go straight to the Quick Start Guide.

This tells you simply and in no uncertain terms how to set up your new DX200 and get sound out of it.

2 Work through the 93 Tips.

These are practical, no-nonsense applications that get you actually USING the machine.

If this is your ﬁrst tone generator or synthesizer, ﬁre up the DX200, open up the manual to Tip 1, and go from there. Think of it as a game — the more tips you complete, the better you know the machine, and the sooner you can reach your goal of becoming a true synth wizard. Pay particularly close attention to the Power Hints scattered throughout — they’re great for further exploration.

If you have years of experience with synthesizers and know all about cutoff frequency, resonance, algorithms, modulators, LFOs, EGs, and MIDI — and you even dream in hexadecimal — skim through the tips anyway. There’s bound to be some interesting and helpful stuff here, no matter what your level of expertise. If you need some pertinent info quickly, check the Tech Talk boxes.

3 Refer to the Appendix when necessary.

Lots of helpful, convenient information in this section, too. If something doesn’t work as expected, go to Troubleshooting (page 115). If you want a clear, concise explanation of how the synthesizer of the DX200 works, see FM Tone Generation (page 116). If you’re not sure where to go for help but you’ve got a key word in mind, check the Contents (page 6) or look through the Function Index (page 110).

Have fun!

Page 9

Panel Controls

Main Voice

Control Keyboard

Here’s a quick way to get familiar with your DX200! The front (or top) panel of the DX200 can be roughly divided into four sections: Main, Control, Voice, and Keyboard. Look through the controls here, and check out the Tips related to each of them for more information.

The Tip references b y each control are not meant to be comprehensiv e . They either give the ﬁrst (or main) Tip in which the control appears, or the group of Tips that are most closely related.

Page 10

Panel Controls

Voice

Keyboard

Main

These are the fundamental controls of the DX200 — for changing modes, adjusting values, exiting from functions, and so on.

Display and indicators

[SONG] ...................................Tips 8, 63

[PATTERN] .....................................Tip 1

[DATA] knob .............................Tips 2, 69

[SHOW VALUE] ....................... Tips 21, 22

[STORE]........................... Tips 48, 61, 68

[EXIT]......................................... Tip 23

These controls are for editing and changing the sound of the Voices.

[SCENE] ................................Tips 13, 14

[FREE EG] .............................. Tips 49, 50

[VOLUME]

[LFO] ................................ Tips 32 — 35

[EG] .................................. Tips 36 — 39

[DIST] ........................................ Tip 17

[COMMON] .................................. Tip 47

[ALGORITHM] ...............................Tip 41

[MODULATOR] ..............................Tip 42

[NOISE OSC]................................. Tip 46

[EFFECT/MIXER] ................. Tips 15, 16, 30

[PORTAMENTO] .............................Tip 40

[HARMONIC] ................................ Tip 42

[FM DEPTH] ................................. Tip 43

[DECAY] ...................................... Tip 44

[NOISE LEVEL] ..............................Tip 45

[VCF] ................................ Tips 18 — 20

Control

For the most part, these buttons are related to the Patterns — especially for controlling record and playback operations.

Start/Stop ......................................Tip 1

[TAP] ...........................................Tip 5

Record ........................Tips 49, 51, 59, 60

[SWING] .................................Tips 6, 27

[REVERSE]...............................Tips 4, 25

[SHIFT]................................. Tips 69, 70

[OCT <<] ............................... Tips 10, 63

[OCT >>] ............................... Tips 10, 63

[KEYBOARD] ............................Tips 9, 26

[PATTERN SELECT]........... Tips 3, 31, 78, 79

[SYNTH TRACK] ............................ Tip 28

[RHYTHM TRACK] .......................... Tip 28

The Keyboard section has several main uses:

• Playing the Voices................... Tips 9, 86

• Selecting Patterns.......Tips 2, 3, 31, 78, 79

• Controlling the Sequence Steps

..................................... Tips 29, 59, 60

• Selecting functions and operations

. Tips 28, 52 – 58, 60, 62, 66, 67, 80, 81, 86, 91 – 93

Page 11

Quick Start Guide

Once that you’ve got the DX200 out of the box and checked that all included items were indeed included, it’s time to set everything up and get playing.

1 Turn the VOLUME control all the way down to the minimum.

2 Connect the OUTPUT jacks (L/MONO and R) to the inputs of your

recorder/mixer/ampliﬁer.

If you’re using a mono system, use only the L/MONO jack. If you’re using headphones, connect them to the PHONES jack.

DX200

Recorder

AC outlet

Adaptor

Mixer

DC IN OUTPUT

PHONES

Headphones

Amplifer

3 Plug in the included power adaptor — ﬁrst, one end into the DC IN termi-

nal, then the other into an AC outlet.

4 Turn on the power with the rear panel power switch. Then, turn on the

power of your recorder/mixer/ampliﬁer.

The DX200 takes a little time to “warm up” after being turned on – roughly 15 seconds. After the startup routine is ﬁnished, your DX200 is ready to play.

5 Press the Start/Stop button on the DX200 to start a Pattern and slowly

turn up the VOLUME control until the level is appropriate.

To stop the Pattern, simply press the Start/Stop button again.

And that’s all there is to it. Now go on to the Tips and start playing!

Page 12

Parameter Structure

This diagram shows the structure and hierarchy of the Songs, Patterns and Voices of the DX200. As you work with the DX200 and explore its various functions and features, refer back to this diagram to see how all the pieces of the puzzle ﬁt together.

Pattern Select Setup

User Pattern 128

Preset Pattern 1

Sequence

Synth Track

Step

Synth Voice

Pan Wet Vol

LFO EG etc.

Free EG

Rhythm Track 1

Step

Rhythm Voice 1

Cutoff Resonance

Rhythm Track 2

Step

Rhythm Voice 2

Cutoff Resonance

Rhythm Track 3

Step

Rhythm Voice 3

Cutoff Resonance

BPM Beat Swing

Effect

Type Param

256 Preset Patterns

128 User Patterns

System

Gate Time Reverse

Song 10

Song 1

Measure 1

Pattern No. Pitch Offset

Beat Swing Gate Time Reverse Track Mute

Measure 2

Pattern No. Pitch Offset

Beat Swing Gate Time Reverse Track Mute

10 User Songs

Measure 256

Pattern No. Pitch Offset

Beat Swing Gate Time Reverse Track Mute

Page 13

Tone Generator Signal Flow & Effect Block Diagram

Effect section

Out

Synth track Distortion EQ

Rhythm track 1

Rhythm track 2

Rhythm track 3

The EQ processing is accessible only with the DX200 Editor software.

Page 14

This is NOT an owner’s manual!

At least not an ordinary one. But, then again, the DX200 is no ordinary instrument. It’s packed with exciting, po werful, yet easy-to-use features that give you complete, hands-on sonic control — plus tons of dynamic real-time functions that can bring an extra edge to your live performances!

With all the digital power under this small hood, the DX200 is a stunning new instrument of the future. Yet it also brings you the very best of the old analog world — just look at all those knobs for twisting and tweaking your sound!

We know you don’t like reading manuals. But you owe it to yourself to look through this collection of hot tips. They show you how to get the most out of your new DX200 in the shortest time possible.

It’s like having an expert programmer take you by the hand and show you the ropes, sharing all the tricks and techniques you need to be a master on the instrument yourself. These tips take you from the bare-bones basics, to advanced power tips that get you pumping out fat sounds and happening tracks — in no time ﬂat!

So jump in …

Page 15

Chapter 1

1 Playing a Pattern

Here’s where all the fun starts — with the pre-programmed Patterns.

Just press the Start/Stop button, and listen to the Pattern play. The Pattern repeats (loops) until you press the button again to stop it.

● What exactly are Patterns?

The Patterns are the basic musical building blocks of the DX200 — they provide an instrument sound (also called a “Voice”), plus a looping phrase using that Voice.

These pre-recorded Patterns give you the rhythmic and melodic foundation you need for laying down tracks — in your own recording or in performance. Keep in mind that you can create your own Patterns as well. (See page 68.)

Pattern Basics

Start your synthesizer apprenticeship right here. In this section, you’ll learn about playing Patterns, and how to use some of the DX200’s powerful tools to change the sound as it’s playing.

Pattern Mode

Select the Pattern mode by pressing the [PATTERN] button. The letter “P” in the display indicates the Pattern mode.

2 Exploring other Patterns

The DX200 features a total of 256 specially pre-programmed Patterns. Try some of these out now.

Use the [DATA] knob to select a different Pattern. Notice how the Pattern number in the display changes. Then press the Start/Stop button to play the Pattern.

Keep in mind that you cannot select Voices

You can also change Patterns during playback! Turn the [DATA] knob while the Pattern is playing — the new Pattern starts playing immediately after the previous one is ﬁnished.

separate from the Patterns. If you want to hear a certain Voice, select the Pattern containing that Voice. You can copy that Voice to a different Pattern; see Tip 53.

Page 16

Chapter 1 Pattern Basics

3 Switching Patterns on the ﬂy

Try mixing it up now. The DX200 lets you change Patterns as easily as pressing a button...

Thanks to the Pattern Select function, you can chain together Patterns in real time from the keyboard — as you perform.

Select a Pattern, then press [PATTERN SELECT].

The button lights.

Start the Pattern. While the Pattern is playing, press one of the keyboard buttons (except 1, 4, and 8).

Avoid these keys — they won’t change the Pattern.

Notice how a new Pattern starts playing as soon as the previous one is ﬁnished. This is a great way to string together various Patterns in a live performance — and create your own songs on the ﬂy. If you want, you can use the keys to select a Pattern before starting playback as well.

• Repeats

Unless you want the same Pattern to repeat several times, don’t press a keyboard button more than once. On the other hand, you can quickly program the Pattern sequence for an entire song if you want, without having wait for each Pattern to play back. The DX200 remembers all the buttons you press and how many times you press them, and automatically plays back the Patterns as you programmed — repeats and all.

• Other octaves, more Patterns

Before starting the Pattern, use the [OCT <<]/[OCT >>] buttons to change the octave range of the keys. That’ll let you select other Patterns!

• Assign them yourself

The Pattern-to-key assignments have been made for you. However, you can make your own assignments, and put the Patterns you want to use close together for easy access. (See page 40.)

Page 17

Chapter 1 Pattern Basics

4 Playing it backwards

The Reverse function lets you completely turn the Pattern around, and play all the notes backwards.

Before you start the Pattern (or during playback, if you want), simply press the [REVERSE] button.

5 Changing the bpm

Now, that you’ve got a Pattern playing, try changing its speed. (This is also called “bpm” — beats per minute.) The DX200 gives you two ways to do this — tapping out the speed manually, or using the [DATA] knob to adjust it.

1 Tap the [TAP] button three or four times at the desired speed.

The new bpm is shown in the display. The [TAP] button and BPM lamp ﬂash in time.

2 If you want, adjust the bpm by turning the [DATA]

knob.

BPM

3 Press the Start/Stop button to start the Pattern at the

new bpm.

You can also change the bpm while the Pattern is playing. T o do this , simply start the Pattern before step #1 above.

Determines the speed or tempo of a Pattern.

Operation

Use [TAP] button to tap tempo; then adjust with [DATA] knob. Or hold down [SHIFT] and press [TAP/BPM]; then use [DATA] knob.

Range

20.0 — 300.0 bpm

Page 18

Chapter 1 Pattern Basics

6 Messing with the Beat

There’s more than one way to mess with the rhythm. Actually, the DX200 gives you a truckload of ways you can disturb and deconstruct your beats. One of these is the (appropriately named) Beat function.

You’ll be meeting up with this control again when you record your own Patterns. But let’s see how you can use it now to change the feel of a Pattern while it’s actually playing...

1 Select a Pattern and start it by pressing the Start/Stop button.

2 While the Pattern is running, hold down [SHIFT] and press [SWING]

(BEAT).

Now, you’ve got Beat called up and ready, so turn the [DATA] knob to change the setting.

You can tell from the lit number buttons how the Pattern is affected. When set to “16,” all 16 step buttons are lit and all 16 steps play back normally. Change the setting to “12,” and Steps 13 - 16 drop out. Notice how the Pattern not only slows down but “feels” different, too. Change Beat to “8,” and you’ve only got Steps 1 - 8 happening. That’s half of the original 16step Pattern, and naturally, it plays back at half the speed.

Beat

Determines the number of steps in the selected Pattern for playback: 16, 12, or 8. To set, hold [SHIFT] and press [SWING], then use the [DATA] knob.

Range

16, 12, 8 steps

7 Double time, half time

Here’s a dramatic way to instantly double the speed of a Pattern — or slow it down by one-half.

Simply hold down [SHIFT] and press the [OCT <<] button — just before the beginning of the Pattern — to slow down the bpm by one-half. The ﬁrst half of the Pattern plays at the new speed, before returning to the original speed.

To double the bpm, hold down [SHIFT] and press the [OCT >>] button just before the top of the Pattern. The Pattern plays back twice at the new speed, then returns to normal.

Page 19

Chapter 2

Song Mode

Pressing the [SONG] button selects the Song mode.

8 Playing a Song

Let’s select a Song now and play it.

1 Press the [SONG] button.

Song Playback

As we said before, the Patterns are the basic building blocks of the DX200. But what can you build with them?

Songs! Our team of expert programmers has created a few Songs using the various

Patterns of the DX200. Check these out and hear just how powerful and versatile the DX200 can be for recording your own material.

2 Select the desired Song by turning the [DATA] knob.

3 Press the Start/Stop button to play the Song.

For more about Songs and how to create your own, see page 81.

The letter “S” indicates the Song mode.

Page 20

Chapter 3

9 Playing the keyboard

The built-in keyboard is small — just one octave — but it lets you use all the features of the DX200 without having to connect a separate keyboard. Try it out now.

1 Press [KEYBOARD].

The Keyboard

Small and compact as it is, the DX200 also features a one-octave keyboard for playing and recording the sounds of the instrument.

2 Play the keyboard.

The buttons give you a full octave, from C to C. Keep in mind that buttons 1, 4, and 8 don’t make any sound here — they’re not part of the scale.

Db (C#) Eb (D#) Gb (F#) Ab (G#) Bb (A#)

C D E F G A B C

The button lights.

10 Changing octaves

Naturally, one octave doesn’t cover a whole lot of ground. That’s why we’ve included convenient Octave buttons, so you can shift the octave range of the keyboard up or down as needed — quickly and easily.

1 While the [KEYBOARD] button is lit, press [OCT >>].

The display shows “C4,” indicating the octave. (“C3” is normal.) Play the keyboard and listen to the sound. Try some other octave settings, pressing [OCT <<] and [OCT >>] as desired to shift the octave.

Octave

Determines the octave range of the built-in keyboard. Press [OCT <<] or [OCT >>] to change. ([DATA] knob can also be used after pressing one of these buttons.) Press both buttons simultaneously to restore normal range. Some notes may not sound for the maximum values.

Range

C-2 — C3 (normal) — C8

Page 21

Chapter 3 The Keyboard

11 Playing the Rhythm track

The DX200 also has a special Rhythm track (actually there are three) that let you play and record drum, percussion, bass and other sounds — giving you the power to easily create your own ultra-hip beats. Naturally, you can play all these sounds straight from the built-in keyboard...

1 With the [KEYBOARD] button lit, press [RHYTHM TRACK].

The button lights.

Press the button repeatedly to switch among the three Rhythm tracks: 1, 2, and 3.

2 Play the keyboard.

Remember — you can use the [OCT <<]/[OCT >>] buttons to change the range, and call up a whole different set of sounds. For more details on how to use the Rhythm tracks, see page 145.

12 Velocity

All the keys of the built-in keyboard play at a ﬁxed volume — no matter how hard or how soft you play them. However, you can set this ﬁxed volume yourself, and make the sound as soft or as loud as you need it.

This Velocity setting also controls how loud the sounds are, when you record your own Patterns in Real-time recording (page 70).

1 Hold down [SHIFT] and press button [16], repeatedly

if necessary, until “<EL” appears in the display.

Velocity

Determines the default Velocity setting for the built-in keyboard of the DX200. This affects the loudness of the Synth and Rhythm track sounds, when played from the keyboard. It also affects the loudness of Real-time recorded tracks, when the built-in keyboard is used to record notes.

Velocity is set in the Utility parameters. Hold down [SHIFT] and press button [16], repeatedly if necessary, until “<EL” appears in the display. Use the [DATA] knob to change the value.

Range

1 — 127

2 Use the [DATA] knob to change the value.

Make sure the [KEYBOARD] button is lit, and try out different settings.

Page 22

Chapter 4

13 Switching Scenes

Here we’ll switch between Scenes, for instant sound changes.

Scene Basics

Scene is one of the most powerful and exciting features of the DX200. It lets you “morph” between two completely different sounds — in real time, as the Pattern is playing.

Select a Pattern and start it up. While it’s playing, press the SCENE [2] button. Hear how the sound changes? Press SCENE [1] to go back to the ﬁrst sound. Try to do this on the beat, alternating between the two in rhythm.

14 Morphing

Let’s try something more subtle now. While playing back a Pattern, turn the [SCENE] knob slowly, back and forth.

Notice how the sound gradually “morphs” between 1 and 2 — in real time as you work the knob. Do this in sync with the rhythm and create your own shifting textures.

For more details on Scene, see page 59.

Page 23

Chapter 5

15 What is an Effect?

The Effects are the last element in the sound chain — they are the last bit of processing done to the sound before you hear it.

These real-time Effects — Delay, Flanger, Phaser, Overdrive/Amp — let you mangle the sound in wild and exciting ways. Although it’s not in the Effect section, there’s also a Distortion effect that lets you add anything from a warm grunge to a full-on metallic assault.

The Effect controls are exceptionally simple and easy to use. Pressing the [TYPE] button changes the Effect type, while the [PARAM] and [WET] knobs let you adjust the sound and depth of the Effect.

Effects

The effects of the DX200 are more than just icing on the cake — they’re powerful tools you can use to completely transform the sound, and put your tracks over the top.

Changes the Effect type (Delay, Flanger, Phaser, Overdrive/ Amp).

Changes the depth or degree of the Effect. When set to the minimum (all the way left), the Effect sound cannot be heard.

Changes the sound of the Effect. (Each effect lets you control a different key parameter.)

[WET] knob

Range

0 — 127 (Same for all Effect types.)

Page 24

Chapter 5 Effects

16 Playing with the Effects

Let’s take a look at each of the Effects, and try applying them to the sound.

Before you begin, set the [WET] knob up to about 2:00 or 3:00.

Generally, you should keep the knob at this position. This ensures that you can properly hear the Effect. (Tweak it later as needed to adjust the Effect balance.)

Now, try out each Effect, and use the same procedure:

1 Select the Effect type.

Press the [TYPE] button, then use the [DATA] knob. Thirteen different types are available.

2 Adjust the Effect depth.

Use the [PARAM] knob.

● Delay

(Delay 1 — 3)

Delay is a popular effect that repeats the sound in rhythm. Play a Pattern and select Delay 1 (dLY1). Try setting the [PARAM] knob to around 3:00. Hear how the Delay sound pulses with the original sound to create a different, more complex yet “spacier” feel. Try the other Delay types, too.

The key to using Delay effectively (no pun intended) is to keep it in sync with the Pattern. This is a little tricky and may take some practice. Slowly work the [PARAM] knob and listen carefully for changes in the rhythm. Keep in mind, there are no “wrong” or “right” settings here — use your ears to come up with settings that feel good.

● Reverb

Reverb (r<rb) is a “hidden” type in the Delay category and it lets you apply an ambient wash of reﬂections to the sound. Used subtly, it can make your tracks warmer and more natural sounding — as if they were being played in a concert hall. More extreme settings can drench the sound in reverb and produce spacy, other-worldly effects.

Try this out on one of the Patterns. Select the Pattern and play it, then tweak the [PARAM] and [WET] knobs, trying different settings, and hearing how they change the sound. Lower settings result in a shorter reverb time as well as an overall brighter sound. Higher settings produce a longer reverb time and dampen the high frequencies as well for a softer, more mufﬂed sound.

Keep in mind that Reverb — like all the Effects — is applied to all tracks, Synth and Rhythm 1 - 3.

Page 25

Chapter 5 Effects

● Flanger

(Flanger 1, 2)

This modulation-based Effect produces a “swishing” or “tunneling” sound. Play a Pattern and select Flanger 1 (FLG1).

Take the [PARAM] knob from minimum to maximum, and notice how the sound grows from a subtle sweeping, metallic sound — like a jet airplane taking off — to a virtually pitch-less sonic meltdown.

● Chorus

Chorus is another modulation effect (“hidden” in the Flanger category) that adds a subtle warmth and depth to the sound — although you can go for some extreme effects, too.

Try Chorus (CHor) out on a Pattern. Play around with the [PARAM] knob, trying different settings — and listen for the changes.

Start out with [PARAM] set to 7:00 (minimum). This is no Chorus modulation at all. Now, bring it up slowly to 8:00, then around 9:00. Hear the modulation working? Doesn’t the sound seem more animated? Even fatter?

Try higher settings, as well — going to 12:00, then slowly up to 3:00 and beyond. Notice how the pitch wavers in strange ways — and hear how the sound even brightens up for the highest values.

● Phaser

(Phaser 1 - 3)

Another modulation Effect, Phaser is similar to Flanger, but much more subtle. It’s perfect for adding some warm animation and movement to the sound.

Play a Pattern and select (PHS1). Set the [PARAM] knob to the minimum (0) and gradually turn it up — and listen to how the modulation enhances the sound. Go on to the other Phaser types as well, for more sonic variations.

● Overdrive/Amp

(Amp 1 - 3)

This Effect simulates the overdriven sound of a guitar amp, and lets you apply varying degrees of distortion to the sound. Start a Pattern and try Amp 1 (AmP1), and tweak the [PARAM] knob. Notice how minimum values produce a warm, edgy “bite,” while maximum values deliver a full, heavy metal onslaught.

Try all three Overdrive/Amp types — the differences may not be dramatic, but they give you a variety of warm and crunch-laden distortion effects to work with. Some of the Patterns sound especially good with a little grunge...

Effect

Effect Type

Allows you to select one of thirteen Effect types for processing the sound of the tracks (Synth and Rhythm 1 - 3). Press the [TYPE] button, then use the [DATA] knob.

Settings

Delay 1 - 3, Reverb, Flanger 1 and 2, Chorus, Phaser 1 - 3, Overdrive/Amp 1 - 3

Parameter (PARAM)

In general, this allows you to control the depth of the Effect. (The actual parameter differs depending on the selected Effect type.) Use the [PARAM] knob to adjust.

Range

0 — 127

Wet

Allows you to control the volume of the Effect — in other words, the wet/dry balance. Use the [WET] knob to adjust.

Range

0 — 127

Page 26

Chapter 5 Effects

17 Distortion

The last tip introduced you to a distortion effect, the Overdrive/Amp types. Here’s yet another way to dirty up the sound — Distortion.

Although not strictly part of the Effect section, Distortion is a strong effect in its own right. Compared to the warm Overdrive/Amp Effect types, it has more edge and bite. When applied to many of the DX200’s Voices, it is capable of creating very convincing guitar-like distortion effects.

1 Press the DIST [SWITCH] button. (The lamp turns on.)

2 Adjust the balance with the [DATA] knob.

This lets you mix the “dry” no-Distortion sound with the “wet” Distortiononly sound. Try different settings and hear how they change the sound. Notice how a fully wet “U63” results in a very brittle, edgy sound.

Distortion

Allows you to apply a distortion effect to the Synth track. (Note that this does not affect any of the Rhythm tracks.) Press the DIST [SWITCH] button to turn Distortion on, then use the [DATA] knob to adjust the dry/wet balance. A value of “d63” has only the original, unprocessed sound, while a value of “U63” has only the Distortion-processed sound.

Range

d63 (dry) — d=U (dry = wet) — U63 (wet)

Page 27

Frequency (pitch)

Volume

Resonance

Chapter 6

Filter (VCF)

The VCF or Filter section is one of the most powerful and dynamic on the entire instrument. Used in the right way, the VCF controls are capable of transforming sterile, boring sounds into something really dynamic and exciting. Try out the following Tips and see what we mean...

For your Filter explorations, here’s the best place to start.

These two Filter controls work interdependently — changing one of them affects the sound of the other.

Turn [CUTOFF] to the left and the sound becomes darker or “mufﬂed.” Turn it to the right and the sound becomes brighter. Turn [RESONANCE] to the right and the Filter peak becomes sharper and more pronounced. Turn it to the left and hear how the Filter ﬂattens out.

Also keep in mind that the overall effect of Cutoff and Resonance is controlled by FEG Depth (Tip 20 below). If FEG Depth is set too high or too low, you may hear little or no change in the sound — no matter how furiously you twist the [CUTOFF] and [RESONANCE] knobs.

Cutoff

Determines the frequency at which the Filter effect starts. The higher the value, the higher the frequency.

Cutoff and Resonance

Darker Brighter Flatter More pronounced

Resonance

Determines the emphasis of the resonant peak of the Filter (at the Cutoff frequency).

Range

0 — 127

Volume

Cutoff frequency

Frequency (pitch)

Range

Synth track : -16 — 100 Rhythm track 1-3 : -64 — 63

Page 28

Chapter 6 Filter (VCF)

19 Wild, wild ﬁlter sweeps — VCF Types

The enormous power and versatility of the Filter section continues with the VCF Types. These hidden variations put some really heavy-duty sonic ﬁreworks at your ﬁngertips — just what you need to blow the crowd away.

Try these settings out for size...

1 Call up a Pattern and press the Start/Stop button. Start out by setting

both [RESONANCE] and [FEG DEPTH] to around 1:00.

2 Simultaneously hold down [SHIFT] and turn the [CUTOFF] knob.

Keep your eyes on the display as you do this — the setting will change! For starters, select “12db” — which should be around 11:00.

In this shifted condition, the [CUTOFF] knob becomes the VCF Type selector. (That’s why “TYPE” is printed in black below the knob.)

3 Now, take your ﬁnger from the [SHIFT] button, and the knob reverts to its

original identity as the Cutoff control.

Turn it very slowly — especially between 8:00 and 1:00 — as you listen to the gradual changes in the sound.

4 Not wild enough for you? Let’s move onto another type then...

Hold down [SHIFT] again and turn the [CUTOFF] knob to around 12:00, so that “bPF” is called up in the display.

Is that any wilder? Still too tame? Let go of [SHIFT] and try tweaking the [CUTOFF] knob between 8:00 and 2:00.

5 Let’s try one more. Hold [SHIFT] and set the [CUTOFF] knob to around

2:00, so that the “HPF” type is selected.

Things can get kind of crazy here, too. Tweak the [CUTOFF] knob some more — especially between 12:00 and 3:00 — and hear what kind of madness you can generate.

Don’t forget the [RESONANCE] and [FEG DEPTH] knobs! Work with them too as you tweak the [CUTOFF] knob. There’s a lot of sonic variation to be had in just these three controls.

Page 29

VCF Type

Chapter 6 Filter (VCF)

Determines the ﬁlter type used for the VCF section. The ﬁlter passes only a speciﬁed range of frequencies while cutting off the rest. There are several completely different types, as well as a variety of ﬁlter slopes (see below).

Settings

24db (Low Pass Filter 24dB/octave), 18db (LPF 18dB/octave), 12db (LPF 12dB/octave), bPF (Band Pass Filter), HPF (High Pass Filter), bEF (Band Eliminate Filter)

24db, 18db, 12db

The Low Pass Filter passes only those frequencies below the speciﬁed cutoff point. Cutoff curves of 24dB/octave, 18dB/octave and 12dB/ octave can be selected.

Level

Cutoff frequency

Cutoff range

12dB/oct 18dB/oct 24dB/oct

Frequency

BPF

The Band Pass Filter passes only those frequencies in the speciﬁed

range, with a cutoff curve of 12dB/octave.

Level

Cutoff range Cutoff range

Range passed

Center frequency

Frequency

HPF

The High Pass Filter passes only those frequencies above the speciﬁed cutoff point, with a cutoff curve of 12dB/octave.

Level

Cutoff range

Cutoff frequency

Range passed

Frequency

BEF

The Band Eliminate Filter passes only those frequencies outside the speciﬁed frequency range. The Resonance setting (see page 27) determines the eliminate range.

Level

Range passed Range passed

Cutoff range

Page 30

Chapter 6 Filter (VCF)

Technically, the FEG Depth controls how the Filter works over time. This is even shown on the panel for you:

With the the [CUTOFF] and [RESONANCE] knobs set respectively to 9:00 and 3:00 (see above), slowly turn the [FEG DEPTH] knob.

Depending on the Pattern selected, negative settings (setting the knob left of 12:00) may result in little or no sound. But once you turn the knob past the halfway point (12:00), you’ll start to hear the ﬁlter “opening up.” Turn the knob slowly for gradual ﬁlter sweep effects. Also try working the knob in time with the rhythm for dynamic “wah” effects.

FEG Depth

Indicates a “dip” in the ﬁlter, just at the start of each note.

Indicates a ﬁlter “peak,” just at the start of the note.

FEG Depth

Determines the degree or depth of the ﬁlter effect over time. Positive values result in a normal EG; negative values use a “reverse” EG — producing a ﬁlter sweep effect that dips and comes back up, rather than one that peaks and goes down.

Range

-64 — 63

Page 31

Chapter 7

21 Show Value

Sometimes you’ll want to see what value a knob or button has been set to. Remember that when you call up different Patterns, the knobs won’t correspond to the settings, so just looking at the knobs won’t help. And if you turn the knob or press the button, you’re likely to change the setting. What’s a poor knob twister to do?

Use the Show Value function. This convenient tool lets you see virtually any of the Voice-related settings — without disturbing or changing them.

1 While you’re editing the Voice of a Pattern, press the [SHOW VALUE] but-

ton.

Nuts and Bolts

Let’s take a break from the fun and games for a moment. Check out the following functions and familiarize yourself with them — they’re very useful, convenient tools you’ll need as you work with the DX200.

2 Simply turn the knob of the parameter whose value you’d like to see.

For example, to see the Portamento Time value that’s been set for the Voice, turn the [PORTAMENTO] knob.

Display ﬂashes and indicates the currently set value for the parameter (in this case, Portamento).

Naturally, Show Value can be used with all Voice-related buttons as well. For example, to see the current setting of the NOISE OSC TYPE, press the NOISE OSC [TYPE] button.

LED next to button ﬂashes to indicate current setting.

For buttons that have multiple parameters (such as LFO [DETAIL] or FREE EG [MODE]), press the button repeatedly to call up the desired parameter.

Page 32

Chapter 7 Nuts and Bolts

3 Press the [EXIT] button to return to normal operation.

All of the indicated controls can be used with the Show Value function. (Original V alue, too. — See Tip 22 below.)

• Trade Secrets

Use Show Value to pick the brains of our programmers. Do you have a favorite Voice and would like to ﬁnd out its settings? Just call up Show Value and take a peek behind the curtain.

Show Value

Allows you to check the current value or setting of a Voice-related parameter, without changing the value or setting. Press the [SHOW VALUE] button, then turn the appropriate knob or press the appropriate button. The current value/setting is displayed. While Show Value is active, the Voice cannot be played and the Pattern controls cannot be used. Press the [EXIT] button to return to normal operation.

22 Original Value

If you tweak and turn the knobs on a Voice for any length of time, you’re going to come up with a Voice that’s VERY different from the one you started out with. And at some point in the editing process, you might wish you could take a peek at the original settings — without erasing your new ones, of course — just to see how far you’ve strayed.

This is where the Original Value function can help. Similar to Show Value (in Tip 21 above), Original Value lets you view any of the originally programmed Voice-related settings — simply by turning a knob or pressing a button.

1 While you’re editing the Voice of a Pattern, hold down [SHIFT] and press

the [ORIGINAL VALUE] button.

2 Turn the knob or press the button of the parameter whose value or set-

ting you’d like to see.

For example, to see the original Cutoff value that’s been set for the Voice, turn the [CUTOFF] knob.

Display ﬂashes and indicates the originally set value for the parameter (in this case, Cutoff).

Original Value can be used with all the same knobs and buttons as Show Value. For details, see Tip 21 above.

3 Press the [EXIT] button to return to normal operation.

Page 33

Chapter 7 Nuts and Bolts

● What’s the difference between Original Value and Show Value?

• Show Value — Lets you view the CURRENT settings of the Voice.

• Original Value — Lets you view the ORIGINAL PRESET PROGRAMMED settings of the Voice.

If you haven’t done any editing to a Voice, both of these will display the same values — those of the currently selected Pattern.

• Closer to home

While you’re editing a Voice, you may ﬁnd yourself way off course — somewhere in outer space! You can use Original Value to retrace some of your steps and come back closer to Earth. For example, call up Original Value and check one of the settings — say, FEG DEPTH — then press [EXIT] and adjust the [FEG DEPTH] knob to bring the value closer to the original. Keep doing this with other parameters as well, until you get the sound you want.

• Current and original values

Want to easily see how far your edited values are from the original? Just switch between Show Value and Original Value. To alternate between the two functions, simply press the appropriate button(s): [SHOW VALUE] for Show, [SHIFT] and [ORIGINAL VALUE] for Original. No need to exit beforehand — just toggle between the two, turning the knob each time you switch to check the settings.

Original Value

Allows you to check the originally programmed value or setting of a Voice-related parameter, without changing the value or setting. Hold [SHIFT] and press the [ORIGINAL VALUE] button, then turn the appropriate knob or press the appropriate button. The original value/setting is displayed. While Original Value is active, the Voice cannot be played and the Pattern controls cannot be used. Press the [EXIT] button to return to normal operation.

23 Panic! (or “Uh-oh...What do I do now?”)

As you’ve undoubtedly discovered by now, the DX200 is a wonderfully deep and extraordinarily versatile synthesizer. Sonically, it can take you places you’ve never dreamed of.

Unfortunately, that can be part of the problem. While you’re tweaking a Voice, you may end up drifting in a synthesized never-never land, or come across nothing but silence or mufﬂed noises, or — maybe worst of all — meet up face to face with a monster sound that can’t be tamed.

Until you know exactly how the controls work and how they affect the sound, you’ll ocassionally ﬁnd the DX200 to be an unpredictable, sometimes uncontrollable beast. Before you unplug it and try to stuff it back in its box, try these common-sense workarounds and solutions.

● Select a different Pattern.

Or select the same Pattern again. Yes, this will automatically erase any edits you’ve made. But at least you can come back to square one and start over.

● Press the [EXIT] button.

This won’t always work as you expect. Keep in mind, [EXIT] is mainly used to leave a function or operation. Use it when you ﬁnd yourself inadvertently doing something you don’t really want to do — such as deleting a Pattern from a Song (page 88) or clearing a sequence (page 68). Also use it to get out of situations where there is no sound or many buttons just don’t seem to work — such as in Show Value (page

31) or Original Value (page 32).

● Turn off the power.

When all else fails... Actually, we don’t recommend doing this, especially if you’ve got speakers connected. But it IS a quick and sure way to reset everything.

Page 34

Chapter 7 Nuts and Bolts

● Do a Factory Reset operation. (See Tip 24.)

Use this only if you suspect something is actually wrong with the DX200. (For the most part, many of the confusing things about the instrument may just be things that you don’t quite understand yet.) Remember, this will COMPLETELY ERASE any original work you’ve done or saved — so be careful!

● Check the Troubleshooting section (page 115).

We mean it. The next time you ﬁnd yourself scratching your head (or tearing your hair out), save yourself a whole lot of grief and read through this section. It’ll make you feel better.

24 Factory Reset

If the DX200 freezes in an operation, crashes, or otherwise behaves erratically, the Factory Reset operation can usually be counted on to bring things back to normal.

Factory Reset is also used to restore all the factory-programmed Pattern and Song data. For example, if you’ve created your own Pattern and Song data (and saved it, of course) but want to use the original Patterns and Songs of the DX200, just perform a Factory Reset.

This operation automatically erases any and all of your original Patterns and Songs. If possible,

make sure to save any important data (page 108) before using Factory Reset.

1 Turn the power off.

2 Simultaneously hold down the [SHOW VALUE], [PATTERN] and [EXIT] but-

tons, and turn on the power again.

Page 35

Chapter 8

25 Adjusting the Gate Time

Try this simple, fast and cool tool — and change the feel of your tracks.

Select and start a Pattern. Any Pattern will do.

While the Pattern is playing, simultaneously hold down [SHIFT] and press [GATE TIME] ([REVERSE]).

Pattern Playback

We’re going to pick up where we left off in Chapter 1, and give you some more Pattern Tips. These are simple things you can do to change the sound, pitch, rhythmic feel, and other aspects of the Patterns — even the Patterns themselves — in real time.

This lamp ﬂashes to indicate Gate Time is active.

Turn the [DATA] knob to change the Gate Time. Notice how the length of the notes changes as you work the knob.

When you’re done, don’t forget to press [EXIT] (or [SHIFT] + [GATE TIME]) to leave the function.

Gate Time

Determines the length of each note. The higher the value, the longer the gate time. Shorter values produce a clipped sound, longer ones produce a sustained sound.

Range

1 — 100 (normal) — 200

Page 36

Chapter 8 Pattern Playback

26 Transposing the key

The Transpose function lets you change the pitch or key of the Pattern as it plays back. With this, you can change chords on the ﬂy, and create your own chord progressions — instantly, as you perform.

Let’s try it out. Select a Pattern and start it up. Now, hold down [SHIFT] and press [KEYBOARD].

The button ﬂashes.

As the Pattern plays, try pressing various keys. For example, press [12] — and hear how the key changes. Press [9], and you’re back to the original pitch. (Remember that buttons 1, 4, and 8 don’t have any effect here.)

The trick to using this effectively is hitting the pitch changes right on the beat. To get the hang of it, try this simple example — counting “one, two, three, four” with the Pattern — and stay in time with the rhythm.

one two three four ONE two three four ONE two three four ONE two three four

Try changing pitch on other beats in the Pattern as well — for example, not just on the “one,” but hitting the “one” and “three” both. Or on all four beats, for some unusual, “busy” changes. And did you know that you can use the [OCT <<]/[OCT >>] buttons, too? This next example may take a little practice...

two THREE fourone two three fourONE two THREE fourONE two three fourONE

Notice that the octave doesn’t actually change until you hit the number button on the keyboard.

Experiment with other Patterns as well. And when you’re done, don’t forget to press the [EXIT] button to leave the function.

Transpose

Determines the key of Pattern playback. To enable, hold down [SHIFT] and press [KEYBOARD], then press appropriate buttons on keyboard. Use [OCT <<]/[OCT >>] to change octave. The number of semitones that the pitch has been transposed is indicated in the display.

Range

-24 — 24

Page 37

27 Swing

Here’s an instant way to change the rhythmic feel of a Pattern. Play it straight, or give it some swing.

Call up a Pattern and start it up. While it’s playing, press the [SWING] button and turn the [DATA] knob.

Try a setting of about 65 - 70 and notice how the Pattern takes on a “bouncy” feel. Experiment with different settings and different Patterns. Judicious use of Swing can make the Patterns sound less mechanical — and give your tracks a more “human,” natural feel.

• The Swing effect differs depending on the selected Pattern. For certain Patterns with few notes (such as only quarter notes), Swing may have little to no effect.

• When the Beat parameter (page 18) is set to “12,” Swing has no effect on the Pattern.

Chapter 8 Pattern Playback

Swing

Determines the amount of swing or triplet feel in Pattern playback. (Does not change the actual recorded data.) While a Pattern is playing, press the [SWING] button and turn the [DATA] knob to change the value.

Range

50 (straight) — 83 (maximum swing)

28 Muting tracks

The Patterns of the DX200 contain and play back up to four separate tracks — the Synth track and three Rhythm tracks. The convenient Track Mute feature lets you selectively mute these tracks — even during playback.

Track Mute actually has two main applications: one in recording, the other in live performance. When recording several tracks to a Pattern (page 70), it’s often useful to hear only one or two of your previously recorded tracks — and Track Mute is ideal for this.

However, where Track Mute REALLY shines is in live performance. Pro DJs and dance music artists can whip the crowd into a frenzy by dropping parts out and bringing parts in. For example, bringing everything down to the drums is a great dynamic trick that keeps the dancers grooving. From there, you can gradually build things up, adding track by track until you have the whole mix cooking. Or bring everything in all at once, and watch the crowd explode.

1 Call up and start one of the Patterns.

2 Let’s start by muting the Synth track. While holding down [SHIFT], press

[1] on the keyboard.

Page 38

Chapter 8 Pattern Playback

Notice how buttons [1], [2], [3], and [4] light while you hold down [SHIFT] — this means all four tracks are on. Button [1] corresponds to the Synth track; when you press this, the Synth track cuts out. To bring the Synth track back in, simply hold down [SHIFT] and press [1] again.

3 Now, do the same with Rhythm tracks 1, 2, and 3 —

which are assigned to buttons [2], [3], and [4], respectively.

While the Pattern is playing, try muting and unmuting the tracks in time with the rhythm. The lighted buttons let you see at a glance which tracks are active — a great help when doing this live.

Track Mute

Allows selective muting of the four tracks: Synth and Rhythm 1 - 3. Two methods are available:

Method 1

Holding down [SHIFT] and pressing number buttons [1], [2], [3], and [4].

Method 2

Holding down [SHIFT] and pressing [SYNTH TRACK] or [RHYTHM TRACK].

In Method 2, [RHYTHM TRACK] is an eightway toggle switch. Each button press (as you hold down [SHIFT]) steps through all Track Mute settings.

For both methods, the LED next to the track number lights to indicate that the track is on.

29 Muting notes during playback

Here’s a Tip that’s useful both in live performance AND in creating Patterns. It’s called Step Mute and it lets you modify an existing Pattern by taking out speciﬁc notes — while the Pattern is playing.

Step Mute is another great way to change the rhythmic feel and melodic content of a Pattern — without permanently changing the original data. Let’s try it out...

1 Select a Pattern and start it up.

2 Make sure the Synth track is on (press [SYNTH TRACK] if necessary), then

press one of the keyboard buttons.

The button lamp turns off, indicating the note is muted.

Hear how the selected note drops out? You can press the same button again to put the note back in. Try pressing some other buttons and listen to how their presence or absence affects the feel of the Pattern.

3 Do the same with the Rhythm Tracks as well.

Press [RHYTHM TRACK] repeatedly to select the desired Rhythm Track: 1, 2, or 3. Then, press the keyboard buttons — just as you did in Step 2 above.

Page 39

Chapter 8 Pattern Playback

• Adding and subtracting beats

Did you notice that you can add sounds, too? This is especially effective in the Rhythm tracks. If the selected Rhythm track has some unlit buttons — meaning there are spaces in the track — try pressing some of those buttons to add more drum/percussion hits to the track. Or try taking some of the lit buttons’ sounds out, and hear what kind of rhythm you come up with.

• Save your edits

If you like the new Pattern you’ve created, store it. (See page 79.) All Step Mute settings are saved along with the stored Pattern; yet the original data is not changed.

Step Mute

Allows you to mute and unmute speciﬁc steps in a Pattern during playback. Select and start a Pattern, then select the track you wish to control: Synth or Rhythm 1, 2, or 3. Then, press the desired buttons to mute/ unmute the steps.

30 Mixer controls — Pan and Volume

Try these bread-and-butter controls out, and change the mix of the Patterns. Pan and Volume only affect the Synth track — the Rhythm tracks remain unchanged.

1 Select a Pattern and start it.

2 Let’s try changing the Pan position ﬁrst.

Hold down the [SHIFT] button, and turn the [PARAM] (PAN) knob.

Pan

Determines the position of the Synth track sound in the stereo image. Hold down [SHIFT], and turn the [PARAM] (PAN) knob to adjust.

Range

Notice how the Synth track sound moves from left to right and back again as you turn the knob? (We assume you’re listening to this with stereo headphones or on a stereo speaker system...)

L63 (full left) — Cntr (center) — r63 (full right)

3 Now, work with the Volume.

Hold down the [SHIFT] button, and turn the [WET] (VOL) knob.

Hear how the Synth sound fades in and out as you tweak the knob?

Remember, this only affects the Synth track — unlike the master [VOLUME] knob, which controls the overall sound of the DX200.

Volume

Determines the volume of the Synth track. Hold down [SHIFT], and turn the [WET] (VOL) knob to adjust.

Range

0 — 127

Page 40

Chapter 8 Pattern Playback

31 Assigning Patterns to the keyboard buttons

Remember in Tip 3 how you selected Patterns on the ﬂy, as they were playing? Here’s where you can set which Patterns are triggered by which keyboard buttons. Any Pattern — even the User Patterns — can go to any button. Plus, you can use a key range of three octaves, from C2 to B4 — that’s 36 different Pattern Select locations.

1 Hold down [SHIFT] and press [PATTERN SELECT].

2 Use the [OCT <<]/[OCT >>] buttons to select the

desired octave range.

The button ﬂashes. All keyboard buttons turn off.

3 Press the desired keyboard button. (Remember, [1],

[4], and [8] can’t be used.)

4 Select the Pattern with the [DATA] knob. Your original User Patterns are

fair game as well.

5 Repeat Steps 2 - 4 as often as you want, until you’ve made all the desired

Pattern-to-key assignments.

Once you’re ﬁnished, press [EXIT] (or [SHIFT] and [PATTERN SELECT] again) to leave the function.

Now, try using Pattern Select to play the newly assigned Patterns. (Need a refresher course? See Tip 3 again.)

Pattern Select Assign

● Storing Pattern Select assignments

There’s no need to store! All your Pattern Select Assign settings are stored automatically as you make them.

Determines the Pattern-to-key assignment for Pattern Select. Hold down [SHIFT] and press [PATTERN SELECT]. Select octave range, then press desired keyboard button and use [DATA] knob to select Pattern. Pattern assignments are stored automatically.

Page 41

Chapter 9

32 Modulating the volume

Get to know your LFO.

This Tip takes you through the basics in setting up and using the LFO. It also introduces you to one of the more popular LFO applications — modulating volume. Used with some of the other sound shaping controls on the DX200, this is responsible for the machine gun effects, helicopter-like sounds and a slew of other industrial noises you hear in a lot of techno, electronica and dance music today.

LFO Modulation

Here’s another crucial cornerstone in synthesizer sound — the LFO. Although LFO modulation can be used to make the sound warmer and more natural, its strong forte is in creating wild and extreme special effects. Explore the following Tips and you’ll soon build up a huge arsenal of powerful tools for mangling the sound in awesome ways.

1 Call up a Pattern.

2 Press [DETAIL], several times if necessary, until “Amd”

(Amplitude Modulation Depth) appears brieﬂy in the display.

3 Use the [DATA] knob to set the value to “99.”

This is the Amplitude Modulation Depth setting — “amplitude” meaning “volume.” Setting Amplitude Modulation Depth to 99 puts the LFO in maximum control over the volume of the sound.

4 Press [KEYBOARD] to use the keyboard, and hold

down one of the keys.

Hear how the the sound wavers in and out, in a tremolo effect?

5 As the note sounds, tweak the LFO [SPEED] knob —

and hear how the modulation alternately speeds up and slows down.

Amplitude Modulation Depth

Determines the amplitude (volume) depth for the LFO. To set, press [DETAIL] repeatedly (until “Amd” appears), and use [DATA] knob to set value. (Pressing [DETAIL] repeatedly steps through the other LFO Detail parameters; see page 42.)

Range

0 — 99

Speed

Determines the speed of the LFO modulation.

Range

Stop (no modulation), 1 — 99

Page 42

Chapter 9 LFO Modulation

33 Modulating the Filter

Now, let’s apply the LFO to the Filter — and create some interesting wah-wah effects.

1 Press [DETAIL] until “Fmd” (Filter Modulation Depth) appears brieﬂy in

the display.

2 Use the [DATA] knob to set the value to around “50.”

This is the Filter Modulation Depth setting. Setting Filter Depth to 50 gives the LFO some control over the

timbre or tonal quality of the sound.

3 Press [KEYBOARD] to use the keyboard, and hold down one of the keys.

Can you hear the wah-wah sound?

If you’ve come to this Tip directly from Tip 32 above, you’re hearing the LFO applied to both Amplitude and Filter. To hear the Filter effect all alone by itself, set Amplitude back to normal (0).

For more fun:

Try tweaking the VCF controls. Naturally, if the LFO is being applied to the Fil-

ter, any changes you make to the Filter section will affect the LFO-modulated

sound as well.

Filter Modulation Depth

Determines the Filter modulation depth for the LFO. To set, press [DETAIL] repeatedly (until “Fmd” appears), and use [DATA] knob.

Range

0 — 99

Page 43

Chapter 9 LFO Modulation

34 Modulating the pitch

Try using the LFO to warp the pitch — and discover some more awesome modulation effects.

1 Press [DETAIL] until “Pmd” (Pitch Modulation Depth) appears brieﬂy in

the display.

2 Use the [DATA] knob to set the value to “0.”

This is Pitch Modulation Depth. Start out with this minimum value.

3 Press [KEYBOARD] to use the keyboard, and hold down one of the keys.

As the sound sustains, slowly turn the knob clockwise. Notice how the pitch becomes less and less dis-

tinct the further you get from “0.” For some Voices, the pitch may stay distinct but change radically —

over an octave or more!

Try experimenting with different LFO Speed settings, and also try holding down more than one note.

If you’ve come to this Tip directly from the other LFO Tips above, you may want to hear the Pitch modulation by itself. To do this, set both Amplitude and Filter back to normal (0).

Pitch Modulation Depth

Determines the two Pitch Modulation Depth settings for the LFO. To set, press [DETAIL] (until “Pmd” appears), and use [DATA] knob.

Range

0 — 99

Page 44

Chapter 9 LFO Modulation

35 Changing the LFO wave

The LFO uses one of 6 different waveforms to modulate the sound. The particular wave you select has a

huge effect on the ﬁnal sound. Try out some of these and see what kind of chaos you can create.

1 Press [DETAIL] until “UA<E” (Wave) appears brieﬂy in the display.

2 Use the [DATA] knob to set the Wave to “trGL” (Triangle).

This selects the Triangle wave. Try some of the other Wave settings and hear how they change the

sound.

• Sample and hold

Use the Sample-and-hold wave (S-H) mainly for Pitch modulation effect. Unlike the other Wave settings, these generate random ﬂuctuations. They’re less suited to modulating the Amplitude or Filter, since the random differences may be less apparent. Especially with Amplitude, they may result in unwanted dropouts in the sound. However, they can be very effective with Pitch, particularly in creating “electronic” sounds and sci-ﬁ effects.

Page 45

Determines the LFO waveform.

Settings

● Triangle (trGL)

● Saw Down (SAUd)

Chapter 9 LFO Modulation

Wave

● Sine (SinE)

● Sample-and-hold (S-H)

● Saw Up (SAUu)

● Square (Squr)

Page 46

Chapter 10

36 Shaping the sound with EG

One of the most important aspects in analog synthesizer sound is how that sound is controlled over time. The DX200 gives you some very powerful and ﬂexible ways to do this. One of them is the EG section.

EG stands for Envelope Generator — “envelope” here being the control that shapes the sound as it evolves over time. The EG effectively tells the synthesizer when to bring the volume up or down.

EG Basics

Shape the volume, shape the tone. Use the EG (Envelope Generator) section to control how your sound moves, grows and evolves.

As you work through the Tips in this chapter, keep in mind that the actual sound and the effects of the suggested tweaking may widely differ depending on the selected Patterns, the LFO settings (see Chapter 9), and the current EG settings. If the sound doesn't change or changes unexpectedly, try selecting a different Pattern.

Like most analog synthesizers, the DX200 has four EG controls: Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release. The DX200 also lets you use the EG to control the ﬁlter — to shape the tone in time.

Let’s take a look at how these work — and hear them in action.

1 Call up a Pattern, and press [KEYBOARD] to enable

the keyboard buttons.

2 Press the [SELECT] button in the EG section so that

the AEG lamp lights.

Indicates AEG is selected.

Doing this lets you control only the AEG (Amplitude EG), which affects the volume.

3 As you play the buttons, turn the [ATTACK] knob. Try setting it to around

2:00 and tap the buttons repeatedly.

Notice how the attack of the sound is a little slow? Now, set the knob to its minimum (7:00), and hear how the attack is instantaneous. Next, try setting the knob to around 4:00 or 5:00 and hear how the sound very slowly grows louder as you hold the key.

4 Let’s try the [SUSTAIN] knob now.

Keep in mind that Sustain is the ONLY level control in the bunch — the rest of the knobs control time or rate.

Start with [SUSTAIN] set to around 9:00 (a value of 15 - 20). Then play and hold down a note. Do the same with successively higher settings as well — 12:00 (64), 2:00 (95), and 5:00 (127).

Hear how the sustain or “held” sound of the Voice gets louder with each setting above? For the 5:00 setting, the volume reaches maximum and stays there as long as you hold the note.

Page 47

Chapter 10 EG Basics

5 Next, play with the [DECAY] knob and hear how that affects the sound.

Experiment with the [DECAY] knob. Depending on the Voice and the other EG settings, a short Decay value (knob around 9:00) may result in a weak, percussive sound. Try adjusting the knob around 11:00 or 12:00 and then slowly move upwards from that as you repeatedly play the key.

6 Now, on to the [RELEASE] knob.

Start by resetting [ATTACK] to 7:00, [DECAY] to 11:00, and [SUSTAIN] to 1:00. Then experiment with different [RELEASE] knob settings, such as 1:00, 3:00 and 5:00.

Notice that the sound sustains — longer and longer for each setting — after you release the note.

Before you go on to Step 7 below, bring [RELEASE] back to around 1:00, and leave the other knobs unchanged.

7 To make things more interesting, press [SELECT] to turn on the FEG con-

trols, and use the EG knobs to play around with the ﬁlter. (We’ll do more exploring with the ﬁlter in the next tip, too.)

Indicates FEG is selected.

Play around with the four EG knobs and hear what kinds of sonic mayhem you can create.

Work with the VCF section controls (page 27), too — they have a huge effect on the overall sound and behavior of the EG. We’ll warn you, though — the results can be complex and unpredicatable. But we guarantee you’ll discover a whole truckload of sounds you never thought possible.

● What is an EG? What does it do?

To explain by example, let’s take a look at an acoustic instrument — the piano. The piano doesn’t actually have any EGs inside, but the basic principle is the same.

ATTACK

DECAY

When you hit a key on the piano, the sound starts sharply (Attack), but goes down soon (Decay) to a softer level (Sustain) as the note is held, and quickly dies out to complete silence (Release) when you lift your ﬁnger from the key.

SUSTAIN

RELEASE

Page 48

Chapter 10 EG Basics

• Tweak them together

When you start out tweaking the EG, you may want to set [SELECT] to both FEG and AEG. This eliminates a lot of confusion about which EG is doing what. For example, if you have separate settings and the FEG opens up long after the AEG has already shut down, you’ll probably not hear much of the sound. Similarly, if the AEG takes its sweet time to unfold — by which time the FEG has already come and gone — the sound may never come through.

• Tweak them separately

Adjusting both FEG and AEG together (see hint above) is convenient and easy — but it also may result in relatively boring, static Voices. To make really interesting, organic sounds with shifting textures, the trick is to adjust the Filter and Amplitude EGs separately, yet make sure that they coincide with each other often enough to keep the sound from dropping out entirely. There are no diagrams to help you with this — you’ll have to use your ears!

EG Select — FEG and AEG

Determines the EG settings for the ﬁlter (FEG) and amplitude or volume (AEG). Press [SELECT] to enable FEG, AEG or both (ALL), then use the EG controls (see below) to change the EG settings.

Settings

FEG AEG ALL (both FEG and AEG)

EG Controls

Attack

Determines the time it takes for the sound to reach full volume when a note is played.

Decay

Determines the time it takes for the sound volume to reach the Sustain level. This is similar to the natural decay heard in acoustic instruments.

Sustain

Determines the level of the sound for when a note is held. If this is at or near minimum, the sound will die out as the note is held. If this is at or near maximum, Decay will have no effect and the sound will remain at maximum level as long as the note is held.

Release

Determines the time it takes for the sound to reach minimum volume (or silence) after a note is released. If Sustain is set too low, this may have little to no effect on the sound.

Range

0 — 127 (for each knob)

Page 49

Chapter 10 EG Basics

37 Using EG to control the Filter (FEG)

In Tip 36 above, we introduced you to the EG and showed you how it works with volume (Amplitude). Now, let’s take a look at what the EG can do with the Filter.

These speciﬁc FEG setting examples will get you started, and give you a deﬁnite feel for how to use EG to change the tonal quality of the sound. In the process, you’ll learn more about how the Filter works, too — and how you can get it to work for you.

Try out these settings, experiment with them, go wild, go mad! There’s so much you can do with these controls, so many sonic possibilities — this barely scratches the surface.

1 Select a Pattern, then select FEG.

Press the [SELECT] button repeatedly until FEG is lit.

Indicates FEG is selected.

2 Start by setting a slow Attack on the Filter.

Set [ATTACK] to around 2:00 (value of 95).

3 Play around with the [CUTOFF] knob as you play the keys.

Tweak the knob slowly in the range of 7:00 - 2:00 (0 - 95) as you play single notes in succession. Listen to how the sound changes. Finally, set the knob to around 8:00 or 9:00 (1 - 15).

4 Now, experiment with the [SUSTAIN] knob.

Try tweaking this to different settings as you play the keys. Make sure you hold the key or keys down — the sound will change as you hold. Before you go on to the next steps, set this to around 11:00 (50).

5 Before we try out the [RELEASE] knob with the Filter, we’ll need to stretch

out the volume a bit.

Press [SELECT] to call up AEG, then set the AEG’s [RELEASE] to about 2:00 (90 - 95).

6 Now, go back to the FEG (press [SELECT]), and work with the FEG’s

[RELEASE] knob.

Play a series of single notes, and tweak the knob between 11:00 and 4:00 (45 and 120).

Notice how the FEG Release setting determines how much of the sound is heard after key is released. If the Filter Release is too short, little or none of the sound will come through.

Finally, set this to around 12:00 or 1:00 (65 - 80).

Page 50

Chapter 10 EG Basics

7 Just for good measure, play around with the [DECAY] knob a bit.

As with the other controls, tweak this to various settings as you play the keys. Finally, set this to around 1:00 or 2:00 (80 - 90).

8 You’re on your own now!

With the above settings as a starting point, go back to each of the EG knobs and play around with them some more. Take a crack at using other controls as well — and hear how they change the sound. And while you’re at it, go on to Tip 38 below — for further FEG explorations.

38 More about FEG Depth

In Tip 37, you learned about the FEG Depth control. Let’s take a closer look (and listen) to it in this Tip — and the next.

1 If possible, continue with the sound you’ve created in Tip 37 above.

Select a Pattern, and tweak the controls to the basic settings shown below.

FEG

AEG

2 Now, play around with the [FEG DEPTH] knob.

First, set it to around 12:00 and slowly turn it clockwise while you play the keys. Listen for the sound changes — some of them will probably be quite subtle.

Tweak the knob the other way, and hear how the sound drops out for the negative values (7:00 - 12:00). Don’t worry about this — we’ll see in Tip 39 below how to effectively use the negative settings.

Finally, set the knob to about 2:00 (50). Experiment with the [RESONANCE] knob, too. Try out a variety of settings — especially around 1:00 - 4:00 — and hear how they alter the tone.

Page 51

Chapter 10 EG Basics

39 Going negative — with FEG Depth

As we promised in the last Tip, here’s a sound-creating pointer that takes advantage of the negative values of FEG Depth. Try these settings out — and hear what it’s like on the “minus” side of the sound.

1 First, get everything set up with the following settings:

EG [SELECT]........... to “ALL” (both FEG and AEG)

[ATTACK] ................ to around 2:00 (90 - 100)

[DECAY].................. to around 1:00 (80)

[SUSTAIN].............. to around 3:00 - 4:00 (100 - 120)

[RELEASE].............. to around 1:00 - 2:00 (80 - 90)

[CUTOFF]................ to around 2:00 (100)

[RESONANCE] ........ to around 2:00 (70)

2 Finally, set the [FEG DEPTH] knob to 7:00 (-128) — the maximum negative

value.

3 Now, play several single notes, slightly apart, and listen for the very slow

attack and the long sustain. Hear how the ﬁlter slowly sweeps and grows with the sound?

A negative FEG Depth setting reverses the FEG operation — producing a ﬁlter sweep effect that dips down instead of peaks. This means the sound gets softer and more mufﬂed, until the end — when the ﬁlter sweeps back up again.

Try these, too

• Experiment with higher Cutoff and Resonance settings than the ones shown above.

• Tweak the FM Synthesis controls — Algorithm, Modulator, Noise Oscillator, and the related knobs. These give the Filter a wealth of high harmonics to work with, and make the sound more interesting. (See Tips 41 - 46.)

• For even greater degrees of weirdness, try some long Portamento settings, too (for example, around 90 - 110).

Page 52

Chapter 11

40 Portamento — the famous gliding pitch effect.

You’ve heard the sound before. Although singers and instrumentalists use it to bend up or down to a central pitch, Portamento is one of the deﬁning features of analog synthesizers and electronic music.

Portamento packs enormous power. On the one hand, it lets you add subtle sliding “grace notes.” On the other, it can completely subvert the pitch and give you atonal glides. Ultimately, the effect is dependent on what notes you play and how far apart you space them. Try it out and see what madness you can come up with.

Advanced Sound Shaping Controls

By this point, you’re well on your way to becoming a master synthesizer programmer. You’ve learned about the Patterns, the Scenes, Effects, the Filter, LFO, EG, and so on — but your education’s not over yet. The DX200 has actually got quite few more sonic tricks up its sleeve. Let’s try some of them out now...

1 Call up a Pattern, and set the [PORTAMENTO] knob to about 10:00

(around 30 in the display).

2 Enable the keyboard with [KEYBOARD], then play notes [9] and [16] alter-

nately.

3 Try other settings, too, and hear how the Portamento

effect changes.

Bring Portamento up to about 12:00 (50), then 2:00 (70), and ﬁnally the maximum of 5:00 (99).

Experiment. Try the effect out on some of your other favorite Voices. Also try tweaking Portamento while the Pattern is playing — and listen to the resulting sonic mayhem.

Portamento

Determines the Portamento time, or how long it takes to glide the pitch from one note to the next. Higher values result in a longer pitch glide time.

Range

0 — 99

Page 53

Chapter 11 Advanced Sound Shaping Controls

41 Selecting the Algorithm

Algorithm is one of the fundamental controls behind the FM Synthesis sound of the DX200. It determines how the basic sound-generating elements (operators) of the synthesizer are organized and combined.

Without getting into too deep of a discussion of FM Synthesis (you can read more about that on page 116), selecting an Algorithm changes how the six operators are conﬁgured. Depending on the conﬁguration, you can get a very pure, soft sound, or some extremely harsh metallic noise — and just about everything in between.

1 Select and start one of the Patterns.

2 Press the ALGORITHM [TYPE] button.

3 Change the Algorithm Type.

Use the [DATA] knob to select different Algorithms. A total of 32 are available. You can also use the [TYPE] button to step through the Algorithms one-by-one.

Depending on the selected Algorithm, the Voice may sound mufﬂed or go absolutely silent. If this happens, simply select a different Algorithm.

• Work with Modulator and the others

The true power in the Algorithm control is how it affects and is affected by the other FM controls — Modulator, Harmonic, FM Depth and Decay. All of these are interdependent, so tweak them together and listen carefully to hear how they interact. Better yet, explore Tips 42, 43 and 44 to ﬁnd out more about changing the FM sound.

Algorithm Type

Determines the combination of the six FM operators, and whether a particular operator is used as sound-generating “carrier” or as a sound-shaping “modulator.” (For more about Algorithms and FM Synthesis, see page 116.)

To change the press the ALGORITHM [TYPE] button and use the [DATA] knob. Pressing [TYPE] repeatedly advances through the Algorithms.

Range

1 — 32

Page 54

Chapter 11 Advanced Sound Shaping Controls

42 Shifting Harmonics

Now that you’ve tried out a few different Algorithms (in Tip 41 above), tweak the FM sound some more with the Modulator controls. These give you enormous control over the sound of the DX200 Voices — letting you add a rich spectrum of harmonics to the sound, and/or radically change the basic pitch.

1 Select a Pattern and enable the keyboard for playing

the Voice.

2 Press the MODULATOR [SELECT] button to select one

of the Modulator settings: “3”, “ 2”, “ 1”, or “ALL.”

3 Now, tweak the [HARMONIC] knob.

Hear how the sound changes? Notice the change in pitch and the added harmonics you get when you twist the knob.

If the sound doesn’t seem to change much, try a different Modulator setting (in Step 2 above). Also try selecting a different Algorithm Type (Tip 41), and see what wild sounds you can generate with just these controls.

• Work with FM Depth

FM Depth has a huge impact on how the Harmonic control works. For best results, you’ll want to tweak both these knobs in turn. Check out Tip 43 and discover the broad spectrum of sound-shaping possibilities they give you.

• Fine tuning

Since the sound and pitch can radically shift with even the slightest knob tweak, you may want to use the [DATA] knob instead. This lets you control Harmonic much more slowly. Make sure you turn [HARMONIC] knob ﬁrst, so that Harmonic is called up for the [DATA] knob.

• Bring in the highs

When using Modulator and the FM-related knobs to craft a Voice, make sure to adjust the VCF controls to appropriate settings, so that you can hear all of the high harmonics being generated. Remember, you can always back off on the knobs later if the sound is too “edgy.”

Modulator Select

Determines which group of Modulators in the Algorithm is selected for control by the [HARMONIC], [FM DEPTH], and [DECAY] knobs. The actual effect of this and which Modulators are actually selected depends on the Algorithm setting (page 53). (For more about Modulators and FM Synthesis, also see page

116.)

To select, press the MODULATOR [SELECT] button. There are three groups of Modulators, to which one or more Modulators are arbitrarily assigned. Selecting “ALL” gives you control over all three of the Modulator groups, for the greatest amount of harmonic change.

Settings

Selects the third group of Modulators.

Selects the second group of Modulators.

Selects the ﬁrst group of Modulators.

ALL

Selects all Modulators.

For a chart showing all 32 algorithms and the Modulator groups, see page 123.

Harmonic

Determines the frequency of the selected Modulators. First, select the desired group of Modulators (in Modulator Select above), then tweak the [HARMONIC] knob.

Range

-64 — 63

Page 55

Chapter 11 Advanced Sound Shaping Controls

43 Mellow or metallic — FM Depth

Depending on the other settings, FM Depth can be very subtle, adding harmonics or changing the pitch — almost imperceptibly at times. Keep in mind that it works interdependently with the other Modulator controls, so you’ll need to factor these in as well. (By the way, did you notice the lines on the panel connecting the MODULATOR [SELECT] button with the [HARMONIC], [FM DEPTH], and [DECAY] knobs? All these controls are related.)

FM Depth can also create harsh, metallic, non-pitched sounds — perfect when you want to add some industrial edge or noise percussion to your tracks.

1 Select a Pattern.

2 Press the MODULATOR [SELECT] button to select one of the Modulator

settings: “3”, “ 2”, “ 1”, or “ALL.”

You may want to select “ALL” for this, since tweaking all of the Modulators at once makes for more dramtic sound changes.

3 Now, tweak the [FM DEPTH] knob.

Try setting the knob to around 3:00 or 4:00, and hear how the sound gets brighter and more brittle. Turn the knob down towards 8:00 or 9:00, and hear how the sound becomes softer and more pure in pitch. Also, try turning it very slowly as you play the keyboard and hear how the Voice changes. Depending on the other settings, FM Depth changes can be very subtle — or extreme and harsh.

If you can’t hear much of a change, try a different Modulator setting (in Step 2 above) and/or a different Algorithm Type (Tip 41). These can set you on some very unusual sound-creation paths.

• Work with Harmonic

Harmonic (Tip 42 above) and FM Depth are two sides of the same sound-shaping coin. For best results, you should tweak one then the other to hear the effect they have on each other.

• Work with Decay, too

Decay is also an important component in the FM Synthesis sound, and directly affects the FM Depth. Try setting it to different values as you tweak the other two Modulator-related knobs, then go on to Tip 44 below and learn more about the control.

• Take it slow

Since even the slightest knob move can send the sound wildly careening off into space, you may want to slow things down by using the [DATA] knob. Just turn the [FM DEPTH] knob a bit (to select the parameter), then slowly tweak the [DATA] knob.

FM Depth

Determines the level or volume of the selected Modulators. First, select the desired group of Modulators (in Modulator Select above), then tweak the [FM DEPTH] knob. Some settings can result in a metallic sound with no discernable pitch; some settings completely change the pitch.

Range

-64 — 63

Page 56

Chapter 11 Advanced Sound Shaping Controls

44 Controlling the FM Decay

Decay is a simple EG-like control (remember Chapter 10?) that lets you control how quickly the volume of the Modulators dies out. This gives you additional control over the tone or timbre of the sound.

Keep in mind that the Modulators’ level is controlled by FM Depth, so make sure that FM Depth is set to an appropriately high value. Otherwise Decay will have little effect on the sound.

1 Press the MODULATOR [SELECT] button to select one of the Modulator

settings: “3”, “ 2”, “ 1”, or “ALL.”

2 Set FM Depth to around 2:00 or 3:00.

3 Play with the [DECAY] knob as you play the keyboard.

• Percussive sounds

Decay is great for instantly programming percussive attacks, such as hammer-like clangs or breath noises at the beginning of a Voice. Try experimenting with this example setting: Set MODULATOR [SELECT] to “ALL,” [HARMONIC] to around 10:00 and [FM DEPTH] to around 2:00. Then, play with the [DECAY] knob — especially around 10:00 or 11:00 — to create some “noisy” attacks. Try other Harmonic and FM Depth settings, too.

45 Noise Level

Here’s another nifty little knob. This one’s great for throwing some grunge and bite into the basic wave — letting you dirty up the Voice with some noise.

Why add noise? Why not use the Distortion effect? And what good is “dirt” in the sound, anyway? (We could hear those questions coming...)

Decay

Determines the decay time for the selected Modulator group’s level, or how quickly the level dies down to zero. Keep in mind that this primarily affects the timbre of the Voice, not its volume.

First, select the desired group of Modulators (in Modulator Select above), and set the [FM DEPTH] knob to a suitable value. (If FM Depth is set too low, Decay will have little to no effect.) Then, tweak the [DECAY] knob.

Range

-64 — 63

Well, besides the obvious Lo-ﬁ and Industrial music applications — such as making noise percussion — noise is great for adding harmonic content all along the frequency spectrum. And that harmonic content added at the beginning of the signal ﬂow makes the sound more interesting when you work with the ﬁlter (VCF) section later on. Much more interesting, in fact.

Use it judiciously, however — too much noise can mask the basic pitch and character of the sound.

Try selecting a Pattern with a relatively “pure” and soft Voice. Then, work the [NOISE LEVEL] knob to hear how different degrees of noise affect the sound. And go on to Tip 46 below, to see how you can use different types of noise, too.

Noise Level

Determines the level of the noise signal added to the sounds.

Range

0 — 127

Page 57

Chapter 11 Advanced Sound Shaping Controls

46 All kinds of noise

Maybe you thought that if you’ve heard one kind of noise, you’ve heard them all. Not true. The Noise Oscillator on the DX200 gives you quite a choice of noise makers — sixteen in all!

As we pointed out in Tip 45, noise can be very useful in crafting sounds. Try selecting different noise types here and listen for the difference in sound.

1 Press the MODULATOR [SELECT] button, repeatedly if

necessary, to select “ALL.”

Noise Oscillator Type

2 Set both FM Depth and Decay to the minimum (-64).

Doing this takes all the high harmonics out of the sound, and leaves you with a relatively pure tone. Also select both the AEG and FEG (with EG [SELECT] button), then set the EG Attack to the maximum. This gives the main sound a very slow ramp up — letting you better hear the noise.

3 Turn the [NOISE LEVEL] knob up to a respectable

level, such as 2:00 or 3:00 (around 90 - 110).

This lets you clearly hear the noise. Turn it up even more if you want.

4 Press the NOISE OSC [TYPE] button repeatedly to

select different noise types.

Better yet, press [TYPE] and turn the [DATA] knob. That lets you access ALL sixteen of the noise types — including the “hidden” ones.

Determines the type of noise for the noise oscillator. Press the [TYPE] button repeatedly; use [DATA] knob to select “hidden” noise types (indicated by asterisks below).

Settings

(Asterisks (*) indicate “hidden” types, selectable by [DATA] knob.)

The "Up" settings sweep the pitch (frequency) of the noise up at different rates, while the "Down" settings sweep the pitch down at different rates. The "Pitch" settings feature different noise effects that follow the keyboard; in other words, high keys play high pitches and low keys play low pitches. The "Variation" settings feature additional noise effects.

White (UHtE)

* Pink (Pin))

Up 1 (uP-1) * Up 2 (uP-2) * Up 3 (uP-3)

Down 1 (dUn1) * Down 2 (dUn2) * Down 3 (dUn3)

Pitch 1 (PCH1) * Pitch 2 (PCH2) * Pitch 3 (PCH3) * Pitch 4 (PCH4)

Variation 1 (<Ar1) * Variation 2 (<Ar2) * Variation 3 (<Ar3) * Variation 4 (<Ar4)

Page 58

Chapter 11 Advanced Sound Shaping Controls

47 Fat, phatter and phattest!

How phat do you want to get?

Key Assign lets you conﬁgure the DX200 in either Poly or Mono operation, for full chords or single-note lines. Combined with the Unison setting, this function brings the humongously phat sounds of vintage synthesizers to the digital realm — letting you beef up the FM Voices the old analog way.

1 Call up a Pattern and press [KEYBOARD].

Try to select a Pattern that has a relatively thin, sustained Voice. Let’s see where we can take it.

2 Press [KEY ASGN], repeatedly if necessary, to set this

to Poly (PoLY).

With the Poly setting, you can play and sustain full chords — up to sixteen notes at the same time.

3 Press [KEY ASGN] again to call up Mono (mono).

In the Mono setting, you can’t play chords — just one-note lines. But that’s just ﬁne, because Mono is ideal for leads and solos as well as bass lines.

Play some notes and listen for the effect. Notice how the notes trade off with each other? This is great for rapid trills, and also for funky bass parts — especially when you add a touch of Portamento (Tip 40).

Also try holding down one note with your left hand while you quickly play a ﬂurry of other notes with your right. Notice how each note changes the pitch without retriggering the attack? That’s because Mono keeps the EG consistent throughout all notes, as long as you hold the ﬁrst one down.

4 Let’s give the sound some serious attitude now. Call

up one of the Unison settings (u.PLY or u.mno) — using [KEY ASGN] or the [DATA] knob.

The Unison settings let you fatten up the sound, for either Poly or Mono. Unison takes maximum advantage of the DX200’s full polyphony by ganging the notes together in one huge, phat layer — four notes in Unison Poly and Unison Mono.

Key Assign

Determines how the Voices respond to the keyboard (or MIDI), and how they use the available sixteen-note polyphony. To set, press [KEY ASGN] and use the [DATA] knob.

Settings

Poly (PoLY)

Plays Voices with full sixteen-note polyphony.

Mono (mono)

Plays Voices monophonically, maximum one note at a time. Successively played notes do not retrigger the PEG, FEG, or AEG — resulting in a smooth note-tonote sound.

Unison Poly (u.PLY)

Plays four polyphonic notes in unison — for chords of up to four notes. This means you can play chords, yet still take advantage of the rich unison sound.

Unison Mono (u.mno)

Plays four polyphonic notes in unison — in a monophonic, one-note layer. In other words, the response to the keyboard is monophonic, but the number of notes actually sounding is polyphonic.

Page 59

Chapter 11 Advanced Sound Shaping Controls

48 Creating your own original Scenes — and saving

them

The exciting and powerful Scene feature lets you create and use two different Voices within a single Pattern. Most importantly, it lets you instantly switch between them or gradually “morph” from one to the other — all in real time.

You tried out some preset Scenes in Tip 23, and heard just how effective, dynamic, and ultimately hip the function can be. Now, it’s time for you to create a Scene or two of your own.

1 Press SCENE button [1]. This is the Scene you’ll be

working on ﬁrst.

2 Work the controls and get the sound you want for

Scene 1. Any and all of the Synth knobs can be used.

Only button [1] is lit.

• Only the Voice-related panel knobs can be used for recording to the Scenes; button switch settings (such as LFO Detail and Key Assign) are ignored.

• Octave cannot be changed for the Scenes. In other words, both Scenes will always be kept at the same octave setting.

• Remember that you’ll need to store your ﬁrst Scene before you can create the second Scene. Switching or morphing to a new scene automatically and irrevocably erases any changes you’ve made.

3 While holding down [STORE], press SCENE button [1].

Scene 1 has just been stored. Now let’s go on to Scene 2.

Make sure keep holding [STORE] until you’ve pressed SCENE button [1] or [2]. Otherwise, the DX200 will switch to the Store Pattern operation (page 79).

4 Do the same operation for Scene 2 — repeating Steps

1 - 3 above with SCENE button [2] this time.

Indicates new settings have been stored to Scene 1.

Scene Recording

Allows you to program two different synth sounds as Scenes, and use the SCENE controls to switch or crossfade between them.

Press SCENE [1] to select Scene 1, and change the sound as desired. Store Scene 1 by holding down [STORE] and pressing SCENE [1]. Repeat the operation for Scene 2, using SCENE [2]. When ﬁnished, store the Pattern (page 79).

Page 60

Chapter 12

Free EG

Here’s another ultra-cool power tool for the control freak in you. The DX200 is packed with an endless supply of sonic mayhem and wild, shifting synthesizer textures, but you can keep it all under control — with Free EG.

49 Free EG

The DX200 has so many real-time control features, it’s hard to get a grip on them all. Feel you need an extra pair of hands? Or maybe an extra two? No problem. Just use the amazing Free EG feature. The DX200 is packed with a lot of powerful recording functions — but none are quite as impressive as this.

Free EG gives you up to four tracks for recording your knob moves — letting you incorporate real-time sound changes and knob moves as a part of the Pattern. So every time you play the Pattern, your knob changes play right along with it — just as you recorded them.

We call this “Free EG” because it allows you to create unique, complex, continuous parameter changes that would be impossible to achieve with conventional EGs.

1 Call up the desired Pattern, and press the red Record

button.

You may want to set the Length (Tip 64 below) in this step. Do it BEFORE pressing the Record button, however; Length cannot be set during Free EG recording.

2 Select the Free EG track you want to record.

Press the appropriate FREE EG button, [1] - [4]. The button lights to indicate the track is ready for recording.

Indicates recording is in standby.

Normally, [1] will be lit — so if you want to record to Track 1, you don’t have to do anything here. If any track buttons you DON’T want to record to are lit, press them to turn them off.

Remember, you can record to more than one track simultaneously by pressing the appropriate buttons. (See Power Hints below.)

Page 61

3 Start the Pattern, and make your moves.

Press the Start/Stop button.

The metronome clicks to lead you into the recording, so you can start your knob moves right with the start of the Pattern.

Remember the rule: One knob, one track. Once you record a certain knob, no other knob can be recorded to the track (unless you start the whole Free EG recording again). Any tweaking of other knobs is ignored.

The display number indicates the current measure number. If you’ve set Length (see Tip 64 below) to “2,” the Pattern loops two times for recording, and the display changes accordingly.

4 To stop recording, press the Start/Stop button.

If you want to re-record the track or record moves to other tracks, go back to Step 2 above and start all over again.

5 To hear your Free EG recording, make sure that the

appropriate track buttons are on, then press the Start/Stop button to play the Pattern.

Remember to save your newly edited Pattern! (See Tip 61.) All your Free EG track recordings will be saved right along with it.

• Recording to more than one track at a time

Press the appropriate Free EG Track buttons. During recording, the DX200 automatically assigns each knob you move to the next available track. For example, let’s say you’re recording to Tracks 1 and 2. You move the CUTOFF knob ﬁrst, and that’s recorded to Track 1. Then, while tweaking Cutoff, you move [FEG DEPTH] — which records to Track 2.

• Take your time and let the Pattern loop!

In a variation of the above hint, you can set all the tracks to record, then tweak each one separately as the Pattern loops. Each of your moves is properly recorded to a separate track, and you can hear the effect of your last knob tweak as you record the next.

• Use the four tracks to your advantage

Record your tweaking of one certain knob to all four tracks, then choose the best “take” from the four. Just make sure to turn off each button after you record to it — so it doesn’t play back and disturb your recording of the next button. Listen to each track in turn by turning the appropriate button on.

• Change the way your Free EG tracks play back

The Type parameter (see Tech Talk below) gives you four different ways to loop the Free EG tracks. Try these out when playing your Pattern and hear the interesting things they do to your tracks.

Chapter 12 Free EG

Free EG — Type and Trigger

Type

Determines the type of loop for Free EG playback. Press the [MODE] button repeatedly until “tYPE” appears, then use the [DATA] knob to change the setting.

Settings

oFF

No loop.

FUd (Forward)

Free EG sequence loops from start to end.

FUdH (Forward Half)

Free EG sequence loops from the middle to the end.

ALt (Alternate)

Free EG sequence loops from start to end, then end to start.

ALtH (Alternate Half)

Free EG sequence loops from middle to end, then end to middle.

Trigger (“triG”)

Determines how playback of the Free EG tracks is triggered. Normally, this should be set to Free (“FrEE”), so that the tracks play back when the Pattern is started. Setting this to MIDI (“midi”) lets you start Free EG playback from a connected MIDI keyboard or sequencer.

Press the [MODE] button repeatedly until “triG” appears, then use the DATA knob to change the setting.

Settings

FrEE (Free)

Triggers playback of the Free EG tracks from a random start point, when a Note On message is received from a connected MIDI device, or when a key on the DX200 is played, or when the Pattern is started.

midi (MIDI in Notes)

Triggers playback of the Free EG tracks from the start, when a Note On message is received from a connected MIDI device, or when a key on the DX200 is played.

ALL (All Notes)

Triggers playback of the Free EG tracks from the start, when a Note On message is received from a connected MIDI device, or when a key on the DX200 is played, or at the ﬁrst recorded note of the Pattern (which may or may not be the start of the Pattern).

Strt (Sequencer Start)

Triggers playback of the Free EG tracks from the start, only when the Pattern is started.

Page 62

Chapter 12 Free EG

50 Changing the Length of your Free EG tracks

The ﬂexible little Length feature works both ways — both in recording and playback. It lets you set how long (in measures) your Free EG moves are recorded for, and it lets you separately set how long it takes for them to play back.

Set Length before recording any Free EG tracks. Speciﬁcally, set it BEFORE you press the red Record button (but after you’ve selected the Pattern) in Step 1 of Tip 49 above.

Press the [LENGTH] button repeatedly to step through the settings. (Or press [LENGTH] and use the [DATA] knob.) The number in the display indicates the Length in measures.

If you want to record your knob moves over two measures (two repeats of the Pattern), set this to “2.” If you want your tweaking to stretch over eight measures, set it to “8.”

Once your tracks have been recorded, you can set Length again just before playback. This controls how long all four tracks take to play.

• Take your time

Want to make some really slow changes? How about a gradual ﬁlter sweep that builds to a climax over several measures? Set a low Length for recording (for example, “0.5”), then before you play back the Pattern, set a high Length, such as “8.”

• Make it snappy

For really fast changes, just do the opposite of the above. Set a high Length for recording and a low Length for playback. Keep in mind that each track can be recorded with a separate Length.

Free EG Length

Determines the time of the Free EG — for both recording and playback. Each track can be set independently for recording; however, the playback setting affects all tracks together. Since Free EG is based in measures, changing the playback bpm (tempo) automatically changes the actual time of the Free EG as well. To set, press [LENGTH] repeatedly.

Settings

0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 (measures)

Page 63

Chapter 13

51 Hit the top of the Pattern!

Here’s an effect that’s long been a staple in dance and techno music. The Top function lets you instantly retrigger the entire Pattern from the top — so you can produce all those cool stutter effects and create awesome dynamic hits and accents.

Pattern Power Tips

It’s time to put your DX200 know-how and experience to work — and delve into these Pattern Power Tips.

The first couple of Tips introduce you to some important tools for working with the Patterns, such as copying and erasing data. They’re basic nuts-andbolts stuff, but don’t ignore them. You’ll need them for the fun things to follow — like creating your own original Patterns!

Select and start a Pattern. Then, while the Pattern is playing, hold down [SHIFT] and hit the red Record ([TOP]) button.

Keep holding [SHIFT] while you hit (press and release) the Record button.

Play the button in time with the rhythm, on every beat — like this:

ONE two three four

Watch your timing and keep the beat! Of course, you can get different effects by playing the button way ahead or way behind the beat, if you want. (We’ll show you some fancy rhythmic tricks with this in later Tips, too!)

Still, it’s best to hit the button right on the downbeats (“one,” “two,” “three,” and “four”), and stay in the groove. When you’ve got it right, you’ll feel it.

Top

Instantly returns to beginning (top) of Pattern during playback. Ideal for creating “stutter” effects, partial measures, hits, and accents.

While Pattern is playing, hold down [SHIFT] and press red Record (TOP) button. Release button and repeat for each time you want Pattern to start from the top.

Page 64

Chapter 13 Pattern Power Tips

52 Shake, Retrigger, and Roll!

In Tip 51, you saw how to use the Top function to play your own stutter hits. Here’s a nifty variation on that function — it’s called Retrigger & Roll.

Retrigger & Roll does just as its name suggests. It retriggers notes of the Synth track, and repeats them — like a drum roll.

Select a Pattern and start it up. As the Pattern’s running, hold down [SHIFT] and simultaneously press and hold the Start/Stop button.

Hear the “roll”? And did you notice how the Rhythm tracks keep chugging along, while the Synth track spins its wheels?

Try this function at various points in the Pattern — the top, the end, the middle — and listen to what happens. Just keep holding down [SHIFT], and press/hold the Start/Stop button at different points in playback.

Keep in mind, Retrigger & Roll differs from Top in three important ways:

1) It only affects the Synth track.

2) It grabs and hits only a few notes — depending where in the Pattern you

press the button.

3) It automatically repeats the hits for you while you hold the button down.

You’ll ﬁnd that Retrigger & Roll is a slick way to break the rhythm up a bit, without losing the ﬂow. It’s also great for throwing hip, “what-was-THAT?” glitches and stutters into your tracks.

Retrigger & Roll has three different settings. To change the setting:

1) Keep the Roll going (simultaneously hold down [SHIFT] and Start/Stop

button).

2) Grab the DATA knob. Make sure you keep holding [SHIFT] and Start/

Stop — and turn the knob to change the setting.

While the Pattern is cycling, hear how the different settings affect the sound. And try changing the settings in time with the Pattern as well. There are a lot of cool rhythmic tricks you can create — just by hitting different settings on the beat.

Retrigger & Roll

During Pattern playback, this stops the Synth track at the point of execution and loops one, two, or four notes (depending on the Roll type below). The Rhythm tracks are not affected. While a Pattern is playing, simultaneously hold [SHIFT] and press/hold the Start/Stop button.

Roll Types

Determines how many notes are used for Retrigger & Roll — one, two, or four. The more notes used, the slower the roll effect.

While the Pattern is playing and while holding down both [SHIFT] and the Start/Stop button, use the DATA knob to change the setting.

Settings

Lo (Lo)

One note or step (corresponds to 16th notes).

mid (Mid)

Two notes (corresponds to two 16th notes, or half of a beat). However, when Beat (page 18) is set to “12,” this becomes three notes.

Hi (Hi)

Four notes (corresponds to a full beat in a measure).

Roll Types (in Utility)

The default Roll setting can also be changed from the Utility parameters. Hold down [SHIFT] and press button [16], repeatedly if necessary, until “roLL” appears in the display. Use the [DATA] knob to change the setting. (Settings are same as above.)

Page 65

Chapter 13 Pattern Power Tips

53 Selecting a Voice (Copy Voice)

One important step you can take in creating a Pattern is to select the Voice you’ll be using for it.

Keep in mind that each Pattern includes a Voice, and that strictly speaking, Voices CANNOT be selected separate from their Patterns. However, this function lets you select a Voice that you like from one Pattern, and copy it to another Pattern.

1 First, select the source Pattern — the one that has the Voice you like.

2 Simultaneously hold down [SHIFT] and press [12]

(COPY SEQ/VOICE).

You may have to press the button more than once to call up the “CPY.<” display.

3 Next, select the destination Pattern.

This is the Pattern you’ll be copying the Voice to. Use the DATA knob.

4 Copy the Voice.

The [12] button should be ﬂashing. Press it once again (the button stops ﬂashing and stays lit). At the “Y£n” (“Yes or no?”) prompt, press it a third time to actually copy the Voice to the selected Pattern number, or press [EXIT] to cancel.

Copy Voice

Allows you to copy a Voice from one Pattern to another. Select the source Pattern, then use [SHIFT] and [12] to call up “CPY.<” (Copy Voice). Select the destination Pattern, and press [12] twice to execute.

54 Starting a Pattern on a different note

Here’s an interesting way to change the character of a Pattern — without actually changing any of the notes! The Move Note function simply lets you start playback from any individual step in the Pattern.

For example, in a 16-step Pattern, selecting a value of “-4” moves the Pattern “back” four steps — making Step 5 the starting point of the Pattern.

1 While the Pattern is stopped, simultaneously hold

down [SHIFT] and press [13] (MOVE/PITCH).

You may have to press the button more than once to call up the “mo<E” (Move Note) display.

2 If you want, select the particular track (Synth or

Rhythm) you want to move.

Each track can be set independently — just hold down [SHIFT] and press the appropriate number button [1], [2], [3], or [4].

3 Release [SHIFT] and press [13] once again (the button

stops ﬂashing and stays lit).

At the “Y£n” (“Yes or no?”) prompt, press it a third time to actually change the value, or press [EXIT] to cancel.

4 Start the Pattern to hear the changes you’ve made.

• Keep in mind that any changes you make to the Pattern with this function are cumulative. For example, if you change the setting by -4, then make a second setting of -3, the actual value (compared to the original Pattern) will be -7.

• This CANNOT be used while the Pattern is playing back.

Move Step

Determines the starting step of the Pattern, shifting the Pattern back or forward by the speciﬁed number of steps. All steps of the Pattern play as normal; only the starting point changes. Use [SHIFT] and [13] to call up “mo<E” (Move Step). If desired, select the track to be moved; hold down [SHIFT] and press the appropriate number button [1], [2], [3], or [4]. (Skipping this step automatically selects all tracks.) Use the DATA knob to change the value and press [13] twice to execute.

Range

-15 — 0 — 15 (steps)

Page 66

Chapter 13 Pattern Power Tips

55 Transposing the pitch of a Pattern

Try this cool editing tool on your tracks. The Transpose Pattern function lets you change the overall key (pitch) of a Pattern — including the Rhythm tracks. Shift the pitch way up, or bring it way down — there’s a lot of range here to work with.

1 While the Pattern is stopped, simultaneously hold down [SHIFT] and

press [13] (MOVE/PITCH).

You may have to press the button more than once to call up the “PtCH” (Transpose Pattern) display.

2 If you want, select the particular track (Synth or Rhythm) you want to

transpose.

Each track can be set independently — just hold down [SHIFT] and press the appropriate number button [1], [2], [3], or [4].

3 Set the pitch change of the tracks by using the [DATA] knob.

The pitch change value is in semitones. (There are 12 semitones in an octave.) For example, if the original Pattern is in the key of C, a setting of “5” would change the key to F.

Keep in mind that this changes the pitch of the Rhythm tracks as well as the Synth track.

4 Transpose the Pattern.

Press [13] (the button stops ﬂashing and stays lit). At the “Y£n” (“Yes or no?”) prompt, press it again to actually change the value, or press [EXIT] to cancel.

5 Start the Pattern to hear the changes you’ve made.

• This CANNOT be used while the Pattern is playing back.

Transpose Pattern

Determines the overall key of the Pattern, shifting all notes in all tracks of the Pattern up or down in pitch by the speciﬁed number of semitones. Use [SHIFT] and [13] to call up “PtCH” (Transpose Pattern). If desired, select the track to be transposed; hold down [SHIFT] and press the appropriate number button [1], [2], [3], or [4]. (Skipping this step automatically selects all tracks.) Use the DATA knob to change the value and press [13] twice to execute.

Range

-24 — 0 — 24 (semitones)

Page 67

Chapter 13 Pattern Power Tips

56 Copying a Pattern (Sequence)

Earlier in this section, in Tip 53, you learned how to copy a Voice from one Pattern to another. Here you’ll learn how to copy a Sequence (the Pattern’s notes) from one Pattern to another.

1 First, select the source Pattern — the one that has the Sequence you like.

The word “Sequence” is used here to describe the recorded notes or steps of a Pattern. (“Pattern” actually is a blanket term that refers not only to the recorded notes, but the Voice, the Scenes, and the Free EG settings as well.)

2 Simultaneously hold down [SHIFT] and press [12] (COPY SEQ/VOICE).

You may have to press the button more than once to call up the “CPY.S” (Copy Sequence) display.

3 Next, select the destination Pattern.

This is the Pattern you’ll be copying the Sequence to. Use the DATA knob.

Copy Sequence

4 Copy the Sequence.

The [12] button should be ﬂashing. Press it once again (the button stops ﬂashing and stays lit). At the “Y£n” (“Yes or no?”) prompt, press it a third time to actually copy the Sequence to the selected Pattern number, or press [EXIT] to cancel.

Allows you to copy a Sequence from one Pattern to another. Select the source Pattern, then use [SHIFT] and [12] to call up “CPY.S” (Copy Sequence). Select the destination Pattern, and press [12] twice to execute.

Page 68

Chapter 14

57 Erasing a Pattern — and starting from scratch

The ﬁrst thing you’ll need to do when you make your own Pattern is to make room for it on the DX200. To do that, you’ll have to erase or clear one of the factory preset Patterns.

Don’t worry, you won’t be permanently erasing this Pattern. All this operation does is give you a blank slate on which to create your own Pattern. You can restore the original Pattern by simply re-selecting it (with the [DATA] knob), or by turning the DX200 off and back on again.

1 Select the Pattern to be cleared.

2 Simultaneously hold down [SHIFT] and press [11] (CLEAR SEQ).

Pattern Recording

By this point, you’ve built up a lot of experience twisting and tweaking the Voices, and playing around with the Patterns. Now it’s time to strike out on your own — and create some Patterns yourself. Let’s get started...

The button ﬂashes, and “CLr” (Clear) brieﬂy appears in the display.

We’ve labeled this function “CLEAR SEQ” (Clear Sequence) on the panel to distinguish it from the DEL PTN (Delete Pattern) function, at button [10].

Clear Sequence — Deletes the note data from a Pattern. Delete Pattern — Deletes the Pattern number from a Song (see Tip 90).

3 Release [SHIFT] and press [11] once again.

The button stops ﬂashing and stays lit; the display prompts you by asking “Yes or no?” (“Y£n”). Press it a third time to actually clear the Pattern, or press [EXIT] to cancel.

• Tweak an existing Pattern

Naturally, if there’s a preset Pattern you like and simply needs a bit of tweaking to ﬁt your speciﬁcations, you don’t need to completely clear the Pattern — just edit it, using the tools described in Tip 60, Step Recording.

Clear Sequence (Pattern)

Allows you to clear the note data of a Pattern. Select the Pattern, then use [SHIFT] and [11] to call up “CLr” (Clear). Press [12] twice to execute.

Page 69

Chapter 14 Pattern Recording

58 Setting the Metronome lead-in

When you record your parts in real time, you’ll need a rhythmic guide — a metronome click — to lead you into the recording, and keep you in time. Here, you can set the length of the Metronome lead-in — in other words, how long the Metronome clicks before Real-time recording actually starts.

1 Simultaneously hold down [SHIFT] and press [16] (UTILITY SETUP).

You may have to press the button more than once to call up the “mtro” display.

2 Use the DATA knob to change the setting.

For a one-measure lead-in before recording starts, set this to “on1.” For a two-measure lead-in, set this to “on2.”

You can also turn the Metronome off here, by setting this to “oFF” — in which case, recording starts immediately (without a lead-in), as soon as you press the Start/Stop button.

When done, press [EXIT] to return to normal operation.

Metronome

Determines the length of the Metronome lead-in for Real-time recording. To turn the Metronome (and the lead-in) off, set this to “oFF.” Set this to “on1” for a one-measure lead-in, and “on2” for two measures.

Metronome is set in the Utility parameters. Hold down [SHIFT] and press button [16], repeatedly if necessary, until “mtro” appears in the display. Use the [DATA] knob to change the setting.

Settings

oFF

No lead-in metronome click.

on1

A one-measure lead-in before recording.

on2

A two-measure lead-in before recording.

Page 70

Chapter 14 Pattern Recording

59 Recording a Pattern in real time

Up until this point, you’ve been working with the preset Patterns of the DX200. Now, here’s your chance to create some Pattern magic yourself — by recording your own original Patterns.

We’ll give you the basic procedure to get you started. You supply the creative ideas and talent. And the DX200 will provide the sonic horsepower you need to produce some truly hip and happening tracks.

1 Select a blank Pattern — a clean slate for recording your own notes.

(Have you cleared a Pattern for this yet? If not, go back to Tip 57 and do it now.)

2 Make the Beat setting for the new Pattern: 16, 12, or

Hold down [SHIFT] and press [SWING] (BEAT). Then, turn the DATA knob to change the setting.

You should make this setting BEFORE recording, since it determines the number of steps you’ll have available in the Pattern.

A setting of “16” gives you sixteen steps or spaces you can record notes to; a setting of “8” is obviously half that — eight steps. The “12” setting gives you twelve steps, of course, but also lets you create a triplet feel — count: “ONE, two, three, TWO, two, three,” etc.

3 Select the track for recording — Synth or one of the

three Rhythm tracks. Press [SYNTH TRACK] for Synth, or [RHYTHM TRACK] (repeatedly) for Rhythm tracks 1, 2, or 3.

4 Set a comfortable bpm for recording.

Hold [SHIFT] and press the [TAP] button, then use the [DATA] knob.

Keep in mind, you can always change the bpm later. Right now, it’s important to set the bpm so that it’s fast enough to capture the feel you’re after, yet slow enough to let you easily enter the notes. (Make sure to press [EXIT] when you’re done.)

5 Press [KEYBOARD] to enable the DX200’s keyboard.

Did you know you can use a MIDI keyboard to record the notes? If you’ve got one, see Tip 87 for info on setting it up.

6 Enable recording — press the red Record button.

Page 71

Chapter 14 Pattern Recording

7 Start recording.

Now, let’s get down to business. Press the Start/Stop button. While listening to the metronome, play the keys on the keyboard.

The DX200 has a nifty “Loop Recording” feature that immediately and automatically plays each note you record as the Pattern repeats (loops). This lets you hear the Pattern as you’re recording — making it much easier to “feel” your way to a great recording.

What’s more, the DX200 automatically corrects the timing of the notes you play. This may not always give you the results you expect — but it will ensure that ALL your notes play back in perfect sync with the rhythm.

8 Delete your mistakes or unwanted notes.

We know, you probably didn’t make any any mistakes. But just in case you want to know, here’s how you can patch up your tracks.

While the Pattern is still recording, simultaneously hold down [SHIFT] and press one of the Step buttons. (Again, avoid Step buttons [1], [4], and [8] — they won’t have any effect.) Listen closely to the playback and press the appropriate Step button at the right time — right as the note plays. You can erase more than one note by continuing to hold down [SHIFT] and the Step button — for as long as you want to erase. Since it may be difﬁcult to precisely erase the offending notes, try slowing down the bpm (page

17) during recording.

9 Stop recording.

Press the Start/Stop button.

10 Finally, save your precious work to the DX200’s internal memory — with

the Store function.

(Actually, you’ll have to see page 79 for info on storing Patterns — we’re running out of space here... Besides, the Store function deserves it’s own Tip.)

• Lay down the drums

Generally, it’s a good idea to record your Rhythm track ﬁrst. In fact, you may want to record just a very simple drum pattern to start with, and build up from there. You can later embellish that basic track, or even erase it and come up with an entirely new drum part — once your other tracks start to take shape.

• Loop Recording

Take advantage of the Loop Recording feature and play just one note or sound at a time. For example, when building a Rhythm track, start out with just a kick drum sound (select octave C2 with [OCT <<], and press [9]) — and play it on the “one” and “three” beats. With the kick looping, play button [3] for a snare drum. Then, go back to octave C3 and use buttons [14] and [7] to add a rapid-ﬁre hi-hat pattern.

Get the idea? Keep building your tracks part by part in this way until you’ve got just what you want.

• MIDI keys

Have you bought yourself a MIDI keyboard yet? One that’s at least ﬁve octaves long, has touch sensitive keys, and features Pitch Bend and Modulation wheels? If you haven’t, you’re missing out on a very easy and powerful way to record! Just hook one up (see Tip 87) — and lay down your best keyboard licks.

Real-time Recording

Allows you to record the notes to a Pattern in real time, as opposed to entering them oneby-one (in Step recording; see page 72).

Select a blank Pattern and set the Beat (below). Select a track with [SYNTH TRACK] and [RHYTHM TRACK], and press [KEYBOARD]. Press red Record button to enable recording, then press Start/Stop button to start, and play the keyboard.

Beat

Determines the number of steps for the Pattern. Hold down [SHIFT] and press [SWING], and use the DATA knob to change.

Settings

16, 12, 8 steps

Page 72

Chapter 14 Pattern Recording

60 Step Recording

In Tip 59, you learned how to record a Pattern in real time, by playing the notes on the keyboard as the Pattern was looping. Now, you’ll learn a completely different method — Step recording.

Real-time recording is like using a tape recorder — whatever you play is recorded as you play it. Step recording, on the other hand, allows you to enter each note individually — like writing down the notes on a sheet of music paper.

With Step recording, you not only enter the note itself (Pitch), but its length (Gate Time) and its loudness (Velocity) as well.

Step recording is ideal for precision — making the placement, rhythmic value, and velocity of each note exact and consistent. This is great for recording individual drum parts in a rhythm pattern, or single notes in a syncopated synth bass part. Step also gives you precise control in recording fast or complex passages that would be difﬁcult or impossible to record in real time.

Last but not least, use Step Recording to edit Patterns. This is a great way to customize existing Patterns and tweak them to ﬁt your needs — or twist them into completely new tracks.

There’s a lot to be learned here, so take a deep breath — and dive in!

■ Setting Up • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

The ﬁrst three steps below show you how to set up a Pattern for Step Recording.

1 Select a Pattern and clear it.

Call up a Pattern that has the Voice you want to use for your new, original Pattern. Clear the Pattern by holding down [SHIFT] and pressing [11], then pressing only [11] twice again.

Remember that the Pattern isn’t really erased — you can get it back by simply turning the DX200 off and back on again.

2 Make the Beat setting for the new Pattern: 16, 12, or

Hold down [SHIFT] and press [SWING] (BEAT). Then, turn the DATA knob to change the setting.

You should make this setting BEFORE recording, since it determines the number of steps you’ll have available in the Pattern.

3 Here, you’ll be recording the Synth part, so select the

Synth track.

Press [SYNTH TRACK] (the button lights).

By the way, you can also step-record the Rhythm tracks — but we’ll show you how to do that a little later on.

Page 73

Chapter 14 Pattern Recording

■ Entering the Notes • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

In this section, you’ll be entering the notes (pitches) for each of the sixteen steps. We’re going to show you a quick way to do this. The results here may not be very musical — but they’ll get you started fast and point you in the right direction.

4 Turn all the Steps on.

In this condition, all the buttons are probably off. (Remember? You cleared the Pattern...) Go down the line, and press each button so that they are all lit.

Why do this? Generally, when you’re recording the Synth track, it’ll be easier to create a Pattern if all Steps 1 - 16 are on. This will create a busy Pattern, but you can always take out notes later.

5 While holding down [SHIFT], press [STEP 1-8].

Do this repeatedly, if necessary, to select Pitch entry.

This operation actually accomplishes two things:

1) It selects Steps 1 - 8 for recording.

2) It selects the event type (in this case, Pitch).

Also, notice the ﬂashing [1] button. This indicates that Step 1 is ready for recording.

6 Now, with the PITCH indicator selected, use the knobs above the buttons

to set the Pitch for each Step, 1 - 8.

Each knob corresponds to the Step directly below it. For example, the PORTAMENTO knob controls entry for Step 1, the HARMONIC knob for Step 2, and so on.

Set the knobs (roughly) to the positions indicated above. No, you don’t have to be exact. In fact, you can set these any way you want. We just ﬁgured that twiddling them around 11:00 to 1:00 is easy to do. You won’t wind up with an earthshakingly memorable melody, but it should at least give you a listenable set of pitches to work with.

Notice that when you tweak a knob, the corresponding Step button ﬂashes.

7 Now, let’s work with Steps 9 - 16.

Press button [9].

We just showed you the fast way to select Steps 9 - 16 for editing:

1) Edit Steps 1 - 8 ﬁrst, then

2) Press button [9] to edit the same parameter for Steps 9 -16.

An alternate way is to hold [SHIFT] and press [STEP 9-16], repeatedly if necessary (like you did in instruction Step 5 above).

Page 74

Chapter 14 Pattern Recording

Enter the notes for these Steps in the same way as you did with Steps 1 - 8 above, but use the setting guide below:

Again, this is ONLY a guide — make your own settings, if you want.

8 Finally, press the Start/Stop button — and hear your new masterpiece.

■ Gate Time • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

In the next few steps, let’s work with Gate Time and lengthen some of the notes.

9 Hold down [SHIFT] and press [STEP 1-8], until the GATE TIME indicator is

lit.

10 Set the knobs as shown.

Set knobs [1] and [5] to around 12:00. (The display value should be around 200.) Set knobs [2], [3], [4], [6], [7], and [8] to around 9:00. (The display value should be around 70 - 75.)

11 Do the same again for Steps 9 - 16.

Press any one of the bottom row buttons (this automatically selects Steps 9 - 16 for editing the same parameter, Gate Time), then set the knobs to roughly the same positions as shown above.

12 Press the Start/Stop button to hear your stunning new arrangement.

■ Velocity• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

No matter what unnatural, machine-like melody you’ve programmed above, you can make it sound much better by putting in a few choice accents — with Velocity.

13 Hold down [SHIFT] and press [STEP 1-8], until VELOCITY is selected.

14 Maybe you’ve noticed that you can change any and all of the events

while the Pattern is running. If you HAVEN’T noticed this, press the Start/ Stop button to play the Pattern, and make the changes below.

Page 75

Chapter 14 Pattern Recording

15 Set the knobs as shown.

Set knobs [1] and [5] to around 2:00. (The display value should be around 90 - 100.) Set knobs [2], [3], [4], [6], [7], and [8] to around 11:00. (The display value should be around 40 - 50.)

Or, make your own settings. After all, you’ve mastered the process now. Plus, since you can hear what you’re doing — AS you’re doing it — you can come up with some amazing ideas of your own.

■ Step Mute • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

We’ve covered this function before (in Tip 29), but let’s check it out again. It’s a handy editing tool that helps you create great sounding tracks.

16 Is the Pattern still going? If not press the Start/Stop button again.

17 Press some of the Step buttons to mute certain Steps. Try out the exam-

ples below, then experiment with your own settings.

Press buttons [5], [7], [11], and [13]. Listen to the sound of the Pattern as these Steps drop out.

Now, turn them all back on and mute these: [6], [7], [12], [14], and [16].

You’ve got your basic Synth track — now, continue crafting and adding to the Pattern by working on the Rhythm tracks below.

• Fine tuning

Here’s a smart and easy way to work! Use the “Step” knobs (above each Step button) to select the Step and make a rough, ‘round about’ setting, then use the DATA knob to tweak and ﬁne-tune the setting.

• Swing

Don’t forget to use Swing. It might not be right for all of your Patterns, but it doesn’t hurt to try it out. A little Swing may be just what the doctor ordered... Remember, the Swing setting affects all tracks equally. (See page 37.)

• Other tools

Feel like hearing a different Voice? Call up the Copy Voice function (page 65), and dial in a new Voice for your Pattern. Pattern Move (page

65) and Pattern Pitch (page 66) are also useful tools you can apply to your tracks.

• Copy Pattern

If you’ve crafted a really hip Pattern, and you’d like to make a few more variations — use the Copy Sequence operation (page 67). Once you have some copies of the Pattern, you can tweak them and change them around, until you’ve got a whole palette of similar beats and riffs to work with — for live performance (page 95), or for Song recording (page 82).

• Mix your methods

Real-time and Step recording are two separate methods — but they can also be used together. Not at the same time, of course, but in tandem. For example, you could record a basic beat to Rhythm Track 1 with Step, then use Real-time to improvise a bass line on the Synth Track. Or you could combine both methods on a single track — recording a basic part with Real-time, then using Step to edit it. Which method you use and how you use it depends partly on the type of music you wish to create and partly on your own personal preference.

Page 76

Chapter 14 Pattern Recording

Rhythm T racks

The DX200 is ﬁlled to the brim with an enormous variety of drum, percussion, and special effects sounds. Put these to good use with the Step Recording features — and create your own awesome beats and smokin’ rhythms.

■ The Basics — Rhythm Track 1 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

In the next few steps, we’ll walk you through the basics — and give you a quick way to edit. Get these steps down, and you’ll be whizzing through the tracks in no time.

18 Turn on the Steps you want to record.

Press the buttons shown to turn them on.

19 Select the Instrument Select parameter.

While holding down [SHIFT], press [STEP 1-8]. Do this repeatedly, if necessary, to call up Instrument Select. (The “INST SEL” indicator lights.)

Instrument Select is only available for the Rhythm tracks. As you may recall from Tip 11, the Rhythm tracks contain a huge variety of bass, drum, percussion and other sounds — each assigned to a different key. Instrument Select is the place you go to choose these sounds for Step recording.

Notice that a cryptic name appears in the display. This indicates the selected sound. For example, the display below indicates that Snare Drum #14 is called up.

For a complete list of the sounds and their display abbreviations, see page 145.

20 Enter a bass drum sound for all the steps.

Press button [1], then hold down [SHIFT] and turn the [PORTAMENTO] knob to select “bd05.” All steps 1 - 16 are instantly and automatically set to the same value.

Remember, you can use the [DATA] knob instead for ﬁner control. Just press the appropriate number button, then tweak the [DATA] knob to dial up the desired sound.

Press the Start/Stop button to hear the new track — a bass drum pulse that will be the foundation of this new rhythm.

In the Fast Lane — Working Smart

Once you get to know your way around the controls, you can Step Record your tracks fairly quickly. The trick is in getting the system down to a routine. So, here’s the routine!

1) Select the desired track.

Press [SYNTH TRACK] or [RHYTHM TRACK].

2) Turn on the desired Steps.

Press the appropriate Step buttons, so that they light.

3) Call up the desired parameter.

Hold [SHIFT] and press [STEP 1-8] to call up Instrument Select, Pitch, Gate Time, or Velocity.

4) Press the desired number button and change the value.

Use the knob directly above it, or use the [DATA] knob.

While editing you may want to turn other Steps on or off. To do this quickly and return to editing:

1) Press [EXIT] (to leave the current parameter).

2) Turn the desired Steps on or off.

3) Press [STEP 1-8] or [STEP 9-16] (to return to current parameter).

And remember — at any point in the operation, you can:

• Select a different track.

Press [SYNTH TRACK] or [RHYTHM TRACK].

• Play the Pattern to hear your edits.

Press the Start/Stop button.

• Mute or un-mute individual tracks.

Hold [SHIFT] and press [1], [2], [3], or [4].

Yamaha DX200E User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual