LISTENING TO YOUR PATCHES Chapter 6 Auditioning Sounds This chapter discusses how to Òplay" music so that you can audition (hear) the patches in your Banks. It assumes you have already installed a Driver for your synth, and that you understand how to connect your synth to The PatchMeister by adjusting its MIDI route in The PatchMeister window. NOTE > This chapter shows you how to send notes to your synth, but if your synth is not set up to "receive" these notes it will not be able to play them! Chapter 4, "Drivers: Talking to Your Synths" is devoted to helping you establish communication with your instruments. Also, Chapter 7. Banks, will explain how to use the Bank window TO SYNTH button to send individual patches to your synth. What Synth Shall I Play? The active window determines what synth you will be playing. If you click within a DX-7 Bank window, the MIDI route associated with that window will be followed so that you are playing your DX-7. If The PatchMeister window is the active window, you will be playing the instrument that is currently highlighted in The PatchMeister window. Playing Music The PatchMeister uses a rather different technique to audition patches. This is to allow you to generate musical phrases with real-time flexibility, much like you can when you sit down at your synththesizerÕs keyboard. As a matter of fact, you can think of your Amiga keyboard as a synth keyboard! We have divided the Amiga keyboard into two (2) rows of keys: the QWERTY keys and the ZXCVBN keys. The row of keys immediately above the QWERTY keys handles the QWERTY sharps and flats, while the row above the ZXCVBN keys handles the ZXCVBN sharps and flats. Pitches are generated as follows: 23 56 7 90 =\ QWERTYUIOP[] will generate pitches: # # ### ## CDEFGABCDEFG and SD GHJ L; ZXCVBNM,./ will generate pitches: ## ### ## CDEFGAB CDE. The QWERTY and ZXCVBN keys function as two (2) separate entities, and you can assign a different octave (pitch range) and velocity (loudness) to each row of keys. If you like, you can have the QWERTY keys playing high pitched notes very softly and the ZXCVBN row playing low pitched notes at the maximum volume. HereÕs where the numeric keypad comes into play. 789 456 (Located to the right of 123 the Amiga keyboard) 0 If you want to hear the note you just played at different velocities, press any of the numeric keys on the right-hand side of your Amiga keyboard. The lower the numeric value, the softer the note will be played. From this point forward, any note you play on the same row of keys will be played at the velocity of the last numeric key that was pressed. In other words, to change the volume of the QWERTY keys, press any key located in the QWERTY row. Then begin pressing keys in the numeric keypad until you find a suitable volume. Next return to the QWERTY keys and you will find that all of the notes being generated are at the new volum. Notes generated by the ZXCVBN keys will be unaffected. Octaves can be adjusted in the same manner, but require that you hold down the key while you are typing in the numeric keypad. For example, to change the octave of the ZXCVBN row of keys, press any note in the ZXCVBN row. Then, hold down the key while you press keys in the numeric keypad. The higher the number, the higher the pitch. When you have located a suitable octave, return to the ZXCVBN keys and you will find that the notes being generated are in the new octave. Notes generated by the QWERTY keys will be unaffected. The QWERTY keys will default to play pitches in octave 5 (numeric key 5) with a velocity of 64. The ZXCVBN keys will default to play pitches in octave 4 (numeric key 4) with a velocity of 64. To give you a point of reference, octave 5 begins with middle C, and a velocity of 64 is the mid-way point between loud and soft. Auto Audition You may want to use the Settings menu Auto Audition option. When this menu item is checked, an arpeggio will automatically be played each time a Bank item is sent to your synth through use of the Bank windows TO SYNTH button (See Chapter 7, "Banks". Of course you can still use your Amiga keyboard to further audition that Bank item. NOTE > The arpeggio will be played in the octave assigned to the QWERTY keys. Hanging Notes Remember, the key can be used to turn off hanging notes in all but the most stubborn cases!