Yamaha Corporation After Touch Magazine Archive Apr/May 1989 Issue Aftertouch 04 05

Yamaha Corporation AfterTouch Magazine Archive Apr/May 1989 Issue AfterTouch-1989-04_05 Yamaha Corporation - AfterTouch Magazine Archive - Apr/May 1989 Issue

Yamaha Corporation AfterTouch Magazine Archive Apr/May 1989 Issue aftertouch-1989-04_05 Yamaha Corporation - AfterTouch Magazine Archive - Apr/May 1989 Issue

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~TM

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE YAMAHA USERS GROUP
--------.

&
F

IRST OF ALL, We would like to announce
a change in Publishers for AfterTouch. It's a
long story, so let's begin at the beginning:
We've received many letters and calls from
readers inquiring about the status of AfterTouch
magazine. The interruption of this Yamaha publication did not go unnoticed! You've been asking us if the publication still exists, and if it
does, when you can expect to receive it. We
apologize for the delay in getting AfterTouch out
to all you readers, since you have always been so
patient and involved with the magazine.
Yamaha Corporation of America has long
supplied extended literature and educational
materials for their instruments, free of charge.
Anyone working with a Yamaha Digital Musical
Instrument, or even people who've simply
wanted to increase their understanding of
today's instruments and their many possibilities,
have been able to receive AfterTouch magazine
free of charge, just by asking. Yahama hoped
this extended support and information would
enable all level of musicians to fully enjoy and
utilize the equipment to its ultimate capability.
The appreciation and support of all of the
readers of AfterTouch magazine has always been
gratifying. The people at Yamaha wanted to
keep the publication going to maintain this special channel of communications they had developed between themselves and the readership
they had discovered with AfterTouch.
At the same time, the cost of providing this
publication free of charge was no longer economically feasible. Due to increases in paper
costs, printing, and mailing charges, Yamaha
had to consider an alternative way to keep the
publication going. These considerations took
much time, and are in large part responsible for
the interruption of publication over the last few
months.
After much consideration, Yamaha Corporation of America has decided to turn its usersgroup publication over to Tesladar Communications, which is headed by the editor of their
former publication, Tom Darter.
Dr. Tom Darter has been involved with the
communications and music industries for over

AFTERTOUCH/Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

15 years. Besides receiving his Doctorate in
music composition from Cornell University,
Tom presided as the Editor of Keyboard Magazine
for its first 10 years, before his promotion to
Director of Publications for GPI (which also
published Guitar Player Magazine, Frets Magazine, and other educational publications at the
time). Tom also taught an Electronic Techniques In Film Music class for four years at
USC, and orchestrated two albums worth of
material for the Kronos Quartet. In addition, he
has been a studio keyboardist on music scoring
sessions for such films as Explorers, Pretty In
Pink, lnnerspace, The 'burbs, and Star Trek V.
As the Editor of AfterTouch (since its first
issue) and as a musician who works as a professional on different music projects, Tom is definitely someone who understands the many levels of musicianship that AfterTouch has tried to
explore throughout its years of existence.
Under the valued and expert technical and
musical direction of Dr. Tom Darter, AfterTouch
will continue to be a monthly publication that
strives to provide information that can help
people of all levels to utilize their Yamaha
instruments to their fullest potential.
Therefore, starting with the July '89 issue,
AfterTouch will become a "paid-for" publication. It will be published independent of
Yamaha Corporation of America by Tesladar
Communications, at a cost of $12.00 per year.
For this $12.00, you will receive 12 monthly
issues of AfterTouch . Each issue will be at least
36 pages in length, almost twice the old issue
size (and the same size as the special double issue you are now reading). Each issue will definitely include pages of Questions and Answers,
pages of Hot Tips, pages of reader patches,
MIDI columns, an in-depth artist interview,
material on new Yamaha products, coverage of
older Yamaha electrical musical instruments,
and more.
Please understand, we need to receive your
new subscription requests by August 15 in order
to keep you on the AfterTouch mailing list and
insure that you won't miss any issues. We will
Continued on page 34

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Editor
Tom Darter

Volume 5, Number 4~5
Issues #43~44

April/May 1989

Questions & Answers
Answers to questions from readers. By Steve Deming and
Tom Darter.

TX81Z Voices
"Classic Syn" and "Happy Chord," two new TX81Z voices by
Eric E. Ogier.

TX81Z Voices
"Grand Piano," a new TX81Z voice by Stan Varnas, and "Steel
Drums," a new TX81Z voice by Dave Joyce.

Operations
Sibyl Darter
Production
Sibyl Darter
Tom Darter
Editorial Board
Steve Deming
Charles Feilding
Bob Frye
John Gatts
J.P. Lincoln
Phil Moon
Jim Smerdel
Gerry Tschetter
Steve Thatcher
Cover Photograph
Neil Zlozower

DX7 II Performance
"Stereo Airport," a new DX7 II performance by Dan Linehan.

DX7 II Voices
"Basilica" and PrcEnsemble," two new DX7 II voices by John P.
Mikowychok.

WX7 & TX81Z

Cover photo: Chick Corea in
his home studio with
(clockwise from top right)
Yamaha V50, Yamaha MIDI
grand, Synclavier, Yamaha
KX88.

Creating custom WX7 sounds from preset (ROM) TX81Z
voices. By Gregory W Yasinitsky.

V50 Applications
Understanding the VSO sequencer, part 1. By Chris Cotton.

Chick Corea
A musical giant talks about his new film score, his Elektric
Band, his Akoustic Band, and his work with the Yamaha MIDI
grand. By Tom Darter.

SPX Professional Series
An introduction to Yamaha two new professional multi~effects
processors: the SPX900 and the SPXlOOO. By Tom Darter.

Hot Tips
Reader tips for the SPX90 II, CXSM, and more.

32 C1 Users Central
From the Finder to DOS, part 2. By Scott Plunkett.
© 1989 Yamaha Corporation of America. No part of rh1s publication may be reproduced, stored m a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronically, mechanically, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Yamaha Corporation of Amenca.

AFTERTOUCH is published monthly. Third class
postage paid at Long
Prairie, MN and additional
points of entry.
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
Address subscription correspondence to AFTERTOUCH, P.O. Box 7938,
Northridge, CA 913277938. POSTMASTER:
Send form 3579 to P.O.
Box 7938, Northridge, CA
91327-7938.

Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5/ AFTERTOUCH

&
Answers To
Questions From
Readers. By
Steve Demming
& Tom Darter.

TXBIZ FM digital tone

generator.

My TX81Z does not respond to control messages (breath controller, modulation wheel, and
so on) when in Performance mode unless I set
all of the voices to Omni. I've tried setting Control Change to both Normal and Global modes,
but nothing seems to work. This prevents me
from having individual control over the voices,
which is a serious limitation of the machine. Am
I at fault, or is my TX81Z defective??-Brian
Clevinger, Lawrence, KS.
Setting Control Change to Global should take
care of your problem-it allows control change
messages from one MIDI channel to affect all of
the instruments in a Performance. In order for
this to work, the Global MIDI channel has to be
the same as the MIDI channel of the instrument
that is sending the Control messages.
I have been trying to get a cassette interface
cable for my DX2 7. Where can I find something
that will work?-James Bohn, Manitowoc, WI.
What you need is the Yamaha cassette interface
cable, part #MI551160. For more information,
call the Yamaha Electronic Service Division Parts
Department: 1-800-443-3548.
We have both the Yamaha CP35 and the CP25
electronic pianos in stock. Do you know of anyone out there who can MIDlfy them? We have
already checked with J.L. Cooper, Forte Music,
and Eddy Reynolds. They don't know of anyone
who can help. Do you?-Ron's Penguin Music,
Toledo, OH
No. Unfortunately, we don't know of anyone who
does a MIDI modification for the CP35 or CP25.
If any readers kow of someone who provides this

AFTERTOUCH/Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

service, please let us know, and we will pass the
information along to everybody.
I enjoy the versatility of the Yamaha RX 17, especially its MIDI implementation. However, for
more than a year now, I have been trying to get
the RX17 System Exclusive format from the
International MIDI Association (IMA), since I
am an IMA member. Every time I call, they tell
me that Yamaha has not sent them the Sys Ex
documents for the RX17. What's the problem?Paul Kovitz, State College, PA
Anyone who wants RX17 System Exclusive information, or System Exclusive information on any
Yamaha MIDI product, can request it directly
from the Yamaha Electronic Service Division.
Calll-800-854-3619, and ask for extension 1.
I have a few questions concerning the SPX90 II:
1 ) Why is it that the Pitch Shift programs are
not accurate? Some notes are correct, and some
aren't. I've tried adding chorus, and have
changed the l/0 levels to attain a better sound.
Nothing works. 2) On Pitch Shift programs, the
unit seems to glitch with Feedback levels above
69%. This also happened with the original
SPX90. I know of others who have experienced
the same problems. Please help.-Todd Mizenko, ·
Columbus, NJ
Unfortunately, the problems you have uncovered
are due to limitations in the unit itself. The
SPX90 is not designed to be Pitch Shifter or Pitch
Transposer, per se-these presets appear on the
unit as effects. On some sounds, you won't notice
the glitch in the pitch shift at all, because the
complexity of the sound will mask it.

Earlier this year I bought an RXS, and have enjoyed using it. However, recently, I bought a
sequencing software package for my IBM
compatible called "Cakewalk," produced by
Twelve Tone Systems. The RXS does not want
to cooperate with the software. Here is the
problem.
The sequencer will store the data transmitted,
but it does not store any information regarding
detuning of specific instruments. If I have the
RXS set in MIDI Voice Mode, none of the
instruments will be detuned, but otherwise will
play the song as it should. If the RXS is in MIDI
Pitch Mode, the song will not be played back unless I am in the Song mode and have the song in
memory previous to playback, which cancels the
whole purpose of having a sequencer! Also, if I
am in MIDI Pitch Mode, whatever instrument is
set on the MIDI channel I am using will automatically play all of the parts the rest of my
instruments play. The only way to rid myself of
this problem is to set the volume of that instrument to zero. Can you help me with this problem?-Rob Coddington, Chicago, IL
Well, we can explain the problem, and perhaps
offer some helpful advice.
In MIDI Voice Mode, each instrument voice in
the RXS is assigned to one MIDI note number.
Therefore, even if you have a pattern where
you've set up an entire bass line using the Multi
Voice function (Job #03) in Key Assign, the RX5
will output all of those different pitches as the
same MIDI Note number (because that bass voice
is assigned to only one MIDI note number).
If you want to access the RXS's ability to assign
different pitches to its voices, you need to use the
MIDI Pitch Mode. In this mode, up to sixteen of
the instrument's voices can be used: each one of
the sixteen is assigned its own MIDI channel, and
each one responds to different MIDI note numbers sent to it on its own MIDI channel.
In order to take advantage of MIDI Pitch
Mode, it is necessary to program the RXS from an
external MIDI keyboard. Pick your sixteen instruments and assign them each to a MIDI channel.
Then, progrctm your patterns, playing the voices
one at a time; remember, you have to change the
MIDI channel on the MIDI keyboard each time
you want to access another RX5 voice.
If you progrctm patterns in this way, you can
send them from the RXS to your external sequencer, and the sequencer will record all of the
pitch changes you played using the MIDI keyboard. In order to take advantage of this
approach, you need to use a sequencing program
that will record more than one MIDI channel on
a single track; you will also need an interface that

has multiple MIDI OUT jacks, and your
sequencing program must be able to assign specific tracks to specific outputs. If you have these
capabilities, you can assign the RXS (in MIDI
Pitch Mode) to one track, assign that track to a
specific output, and keep the RXS data separate
from the other MIDI data. Otherwise, since the
RXS responds to all 16 MIDI ch;cmnels in MIDI
Pitch Mode, there will be problems.

RX5 digital rhythm
/JTogrammcr.

I am a teacher who owns an Apple IIGS computer because of its compatibility with the
school-owned computer in my office. I am
desparately trying to find an editor-librarian program that will work with my DX7s, but am having no luck. I would also like editor /librarian
programs for the TXSI Z and RXS that will operate on the Apple IIGS. Do such programs
exist? -David Harbart, Strongsville, OH.
We do .not know of any such programs for the
Apple IIGS. However, that doesn't necessarily
mean that they don't exist. If any readers know of
a company that offers such programs, please let us
know, and we will pass the information along to
everybody.
I own a QXI, which I can operate with ease.
However, when it comes to using the RXS drum
machine, I have many problems. First of all, can
you explain how to save an edited voice to a
Copy voice location? Next, can you tell me why,
when I change tempo on a pattern using the
Tempo slider, it changes all of the pattern tempos
in the machine? And finally, why, when the
RXS is in Internal Sync mode, do patterns play
via MIDI from the QXI? -Paul Whiting, San
Francisco, CA
Lots of questions here. Let's get started:
The procedure for Editing a voice and then savVol. 5 Nos. 4-5/ AFTERTOUCH

ing it to a Copy location is a little bit complex,
because the Copy Voice function is Job # 09 in
Key Assign mode, while all voice editing takes
place in Voice Edit mode. In order to copy an
edited voice to a Copy location , you have to store
your edited voice before leaving Voice Edit mode
for Key A ssign mode. Follow these steps:
1) Go into Voice Edit mode, and pick the voice
you want to edit using Voice Edit Job #01
(Select Voice for Edit).
2) Edit the voice to suit your needs, using Voice
Edit Jobs #02-#06 (Pitch, Envelope, Pitch
Bend, Level, and Loop On/Off) as desired
3) Once you have the desired voice edit, store it
using Voice Edit Job #07 (Store Voice).
4) Now, go to Key Assign mode, and use Job #09
(Copy Voice) to store your edited voice to
the Copy location of your choice.
5) At this point, you have two versions of the
edited voice; one in the original location,
and one in the Copy location. Since you
want the original, unedited voice back in
the original location, you still have work to
do. Return to Voice Edit and select the nowedited voice using Voice Edit Job #01
(Select Voice For Edit).
6) Finally, use Voice Edit Job #07 (Initialize
Voice) to recall the original, unedited voice
from the RX5's permanent ROM memory
and install it again in the RX5 's Play/Edit
memory. At this point, you have the original
voice in its original location, and the edited
voice in the Copy location you selected.
If you know what voice you want to edit in
advance, it is easier to copy the voice to a Copy
location first (using Key Assign Job #09), and
then perform your voice edits on the voice in the
Copy location. Two things to remember here: 1)
In order to be available for voice editing, the
voice must be ass igned to an instrument key;
therefore, after you copy the voice to a Copy locaTXl P piano cone generator.

AFTERTOUCH!Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

tion , you must assign that Copy location to an
instmment key (using Key Assign Job #01). 2)
After you perform voice edits on the voice in its
Copy location, you must store it (using Voice Edit
Job #08) before leaving Voice Edit mode.
())ncerning the tempo setting and patterns:
The RX5 does not store a particular tempo with
any pattern. Tempos are stored only in Song
mode. When you are in Pattern mode, the RX5
plays at the tempo you set with the tempo slider
or with the Tempo button and the numeric
keypad.
Finally, the RX5 will respond to a MIDI Start
message even when in Internal Sync mode. So, if
you have it connected to the QX1 and start the
QXI , the RX5 will respond to the Start signal it
receives, and will play the currently selected pattern or song.
I am writing to inquire if there is any follow-up
or backup material on the CHX-1 organ. This is
a great instrument, but a new owner could use
some suggestions and more explicit instructions
than those provided in the manual. Can you help
me?-Kenneth Satterlee, Cedar Falls, lA
There are no supplemental materials currently
available on the CHX-1. For more information,
contact the Yamaha Electronic Service Division's
Product Information service: call 1-800-854-3619,
and ask for extension 1.
Is it possible to modify the velocity scaling of the
TXlP to make it more compatible with a variety
of keyboard controllers?? -Martin J. Brien,
Cambridge, MA
Yes, it is possible, but you need a ROM update.
Have your local dealer or technician contact the
Yamaha Electronic Service Division Parts Department, which will send them the latest ROM version. It will come complete with an owners manual supplement explaining how to access the new
features (including changing the velocity scaling).

DX 11 FM digital synthesizer.

I am a proud owner of a OX 11 keyboard. I read
in AfterTouch of a manual for the "DXll System," but my dealer told me it doesn't exist.
What's the story? Also, I heard of a proposed
Yamaha sound cartridge for the DXll. How can
I obtain one?-Jean Pierre, Jr., Cambria Heights,

on the TXSIZ that have different transpositions
relative to the keyboards of the MESO, and these
Performances can be called up quickly from the
TXSI Z's front panel. Use the Note Shift parameters in the TXSI Z's Performance mode to create
the desired transposi tions.

NY
Your dealer was wrong. The OXll System manual
does exist; it can be ordered by writing to Yamaha
Corporation of America , SG D Di vision, Literature Department, P. O. Box 6600, Buena Park,
CA 90622-6600. On the other hand, your other
information is also wrong: at present, Yamaha
offers no sound cartridges for the OX 11.

I have a Yamaha MESO organ that I use and enjoy very much. I would like to know if you can
control voices on the TX81Z tone generator
separately from the MESO's upper manual,
lower manual, and pedals? Also, is it possible to
transpose the TX81Z from the MESO, or does
that have to be done separately?-John G.
Luerssen, Baltimore, MD.
The MESO neither sends nor receives any MIDI
co ntrol ch an ge messages -it just sends and
receives MIDI, not messages. The upper manual
sends and receives on MIDI channel 1, the lower
manual sends and receives on MIDI channel 2,
and the pedals send and receive on MIDI channel
3. Therefore, to control voices separately on the
TXSI Z from the different keyboards, you have to
set up Performances on the TX81Z that assign the
desired voices to the three MIDI channels that
the MESO uses.
Since the MIDI implementation on the MESO
involves only MIDI note messages, it is impossible
to transpose the TX81Z from the MESO. However, it is possible to set up different Performances

I recently purchased an RX17 drum machine,
and am very pleased with it. Does Yamaha offer
data cassettes with additional patterns. If not, do
you know of any third-party software developers
who offer any such patterns for the RX 17?Peter Tsakle, Methuen, MA
Yamaha does not offer any additional patterns for
the RX 17, and we are not aware of any companies
that do. However, there are a lot of companies out
there offering this kind of support, so continue to
check advertisements and announcements. If we
hear of any companies offering cassettes with new
patterns for the RX 17, we will pass the information along to our readers.

RX17 digital rhythm
programmer.

Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5 / AFTERTOUCH

"Classic Syn"
& "Happy
Chord!' Two

NewTX81Z
Voices By Eric
E. Ogier.
Notes:
To lower distortion, decrease
output ofOP #2 to around
80, and decrease the output of
Op. #4 to about 70. Lowering the output of Op # 2 to 70
and raising the output of
Op. #4 to 93-95 gives a bell
sound with a distored sweep.

z
1
OPERATOR~0~
-==-==~~

on/off
out level
freq. type
fix range
freq. coarse
freq. fine
detune

RTO

RTO RTO

255 255

255 255
13
13

-3

-1

1. 00

~ 0. 50

~ 4. 00

~ 4 . 00

ENVELOPE------------~.

attack rate 25
23
25
22
decay 1 rate
7
0
8
6
decay 1 level 12
15
12
9
decay 2 rate
3
7
2
6
release rate
6
6
6
6
eg shift OFF OFF OFF OFF

SCALING/SENS - - - - - .

In these diagrams, the numbers listed for both Frequency
Coarse and Frequency Fine do
not represent the actual
settings-instead, they represent a value level within the
range of values available for
both parameters. To set each
operator's frequency value
properly, start with the Frequency Coarse and Frequency
Fine both at their lowest possible values; then, go to Frequency Coarse and Increment
the value the number of times
indicated by the number in the
chart; finally, go to Frequency
Fine and increment the value
the number of times indicated
by the number in the chart.
The actual frequency values
for each operator as shown
within dotted boxes at the bottom of the Operator portion of
the chart.

rate
2
1
3
3
level
0
2
30
40
ams on/off OFF OFF OFF OFF
sens eg bias
0
0
0
0
key vel
5
1
7
7

1
OPERATOR~0~
~=-~~~.

on/off ON ON ON ON
out level 99
99
99
90
freq. type RTO RTO RTO RTO
fix range 255 255 255 255
freq. coarse 35
26
26
9
freq. fine
0
o 0 o
-3
....... ......detune
i.....
...+3
""i ••• ····:·)·:·.
""""i+0
.•••.• ·:·;j:·+3
..... .
:·1·~

11.30 ~ 8.48

~ 8.48

~ 2.82

attack rate 23
29
29
29
decay 1 rate 31
31
31
31
decay 1 level 15
15 15 15
decay 2 rate
8
6
6
5
release rate 15
10 10
9
eg shift OFF OFF OFF OFF

SCALING/SENS

--------~.

rate
1
1
1
1
level
0 25
46
21
ams on/off OFF OFF OFF OFF
sens eg bias
0
0
0
0
key vel
5
1
5
5

AFTERTOUCH/VoL 5 Nos. 4-5

LFO-----~--------~.

waveform~

sync OFF
delay 3
speed 28
amp mod depth 0 sens 3
pitch mod depth 13 sens 4

FUNCTION-------------..
mode POLY mid C = c 3
portamento FULL rev rate 2
pb range 2
porta time o
········· vol 99 ········· pitch 50
amp 41
~pitch 0
......... amp 0 :"'-1' eg bias o
L.. ..... p bias +0

~ p~~~~

voice name:

HappyChord

algorithm no. 6
feedback 6

··:·:a·~·

ENVELOPE----------~

Switching Op. # 3 to frequencies of5.65, 11.30, or
14. 10 will change the sound
a bit.

algorithm no. 3
feedback o

·······:·1·~·····T······:·;a·~·····T······:·)·~·····T······~·;j:·······

A note on the diagrams:

Notes:

voice name: ClassicSyn

LFO----------------~

waveform~

sync OFF
delay 14
speed 28
amp mod depth 0 sans 3
pitch mod depth 78 sens 2

FUNCTION-------,.
mode
portamento
porta time
········· val

~pitch

~
·········

mid C = FU
rev rate 7
pb range 2
········· pitch 99
~
amp 0
:"'-1' eg bias 0
L.. ..... p bias +0

POLY
FULL

0
99
0

amp o
pitch 99
amp o

"Grand Piano!'
OPERATOR~0~1 ~~~~~
on/off ON ON ON
out level 97
85
68
freq. type RTO RTO RTO RTO
fix range 255 255 255 255
4
22
freq. coarse
4
13
freq. fine
0
0
0
0
+0
+0
-2
+2
.......:·s:·;.....detune
T......:·2·;......
i.......:·)·;..... T...... .......
1. 00 ~ 4 . 00 ~ 7 . 00 ~ 1. 00

voice name:

GrandPiano

Varnas.

algorithm no. 3
feedback 7

Notes:

;·~·:

ENVELOPE------------~

24 . 29
attack rate 26 22
1
decay 1 rate
7
1
4
0
decay 1 level 13 12
0
4
decay 2 rate
3
3
3
1
1
1
release rate
2
eg shift OFF OFF OFF OFF

SCALING/SENS
rate
2
2
1
3
level
0 99
86
5
ams on/off OFF OFF OFF OFF
sans eg bias
0
0
0
0
1
key vel
1
4
1

LFO,-------------------waveform
speed
amp mod
pitch mod

sync OFF
delay
o
35
depth 0 sans o
depth o sans o

on/off ON ON ON ON
out level 99
70
79
75
freq. type RTO RTO RTO FIX
fix range 255 255 255 255
freq. coarse
4
1
8
58
freq. fine
0
4
7
9
-3
-3
+3
detune +3

This one is a nice piano
sound. If you've tried others
and they didn't sound exactly
right, this is the one to try.

FUNCTION------------~

mode POLY mid C = C 3
portamento FULL rev rate o
pb range o
porta time o
:........
vol 99 r....... pitch o
~pitch 0 ~ amp o
......... amp 0 ~eg bias 0
pitch 0 L...... p bias +0
......... amp 0

"Steel Drums!'

0 1

OPERATOR~~~~~~~

ANewTX81Z
Voice By Stan

voice name:

Stee1Drums

ANewTX81Z
Voice By Dave
Joyce.

algorithm no. 3
feedback 5

Notes:

.......:·s:-;..... T......:·2·;..... T......:·)·;..... T...... .......
;·~·:

1.00

~ 1.05

2.43

l 233H

LFO------------------~

ENVELOPE------------~

attack rate
decay 1 rate
decay 1 level
decay 2 rate
release rate
eg shift

11
12
12

18
9
13

11
3

OFF

16
10
12
12

21
31
12
22

OFF

S CALl NG/S ENS -------------,
rate
1
1
0
0
level
o 0 0 0
ams on/off OFF OFF OFF OFF
sans eg bias
o 0 0 0
key vel
o 0
0
0

waveform~

sync OFF
delay o
o sans o
0 sens o

speed 35
amp mod depth
pitch mod depth

FUNCTION------------mode
portamento
porta time
:........
vol

~pitch
.........

POLY mid C = C 3
FULL rev rate 4
pb range o
0
40 ......... pitch o

amp 0

~ p~~~ ~

While in college l had the
opportunity to play some real
steel drums. This is the closest
I have been able to come to
replicating that sound.
This voice is particularly
useful with an arpeggiator,
playing one note at a time.
The arpeggiator, when set at
the appropriate speed, mimics
the rolling of the mallets one
hears with steel drums.

amp o
eg bias o
L.. ..... p bias +0

Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5/ AFTERTOUCH

"Stereo Air..
port!' A New
DX7 II Perfor..
mance By Dan
Linehan.

··-~-~=~=~---~-~-~~~~-~

...........

voice- mode S I NGLE
e-g forced damp OFF
total volume

PAN------....
mode- A/8
range 0
select LFO

I I>. and 8
A: JelRoar II
8: JelRoar II

voice I 0 1 I 0 1
note shift + 0 + 0

Notes:
This voice sounds best when
played monophonicially nrar
C3.

sustain fs (64)
foot switch (55 l
CS 1 [drl• 14]
CS 2 [ctrl• 15]

181
181

tuning select

181

181
181
0

PORTAMENTO
NO EFFECT
NO EFFECT

.... ~=-~~~~!:: ... L~ ....J alg
transpose C 2
feedback 7
sync ON

key mode U POLY
unison detune 4
random pitch 1

r. ·~it-~h....·;~·~~~....o. . j
~

step 0

~ mode NORM

level 1

1 0
2 25

1
1

~
~

L............l.... . . . ..J

LFO

wave~

sync ON pms 5
speed 99
pmd 5 ........... ams ...........
de lay 99
amd o
0 0 0 0 0 0
mode S I NGLE

4 21 \

3 87

PO 1 EQUAL TEMPER

....----------.-----------,. r

~·:~ I~L--··r-·-···!21

arnrnmrnrn

6
5

r-FREQUENCY/OUTPUT
on out ,.......... freq ..........,
, .....................................,
off lev crs fin mode
portamento
CD ON 99 15 . 00 X
J........
11) ON 75
0. 50 X
(I) ON 99
0. 50 x
mode RETAIN
(i) ON 50
0 . 50 x
step 0
® ON 72 9 . 772 Hz
time 0
ON 99 100 . 0 Hz

.........................................:j ·····································'

ve 1
det sens
+ 0 0
- 7
0
- 7 0
+ 0 0
- 7 0
+ 7 0

SCALING--------,. ,..... EiNNV~E~LODiPP:Ef=========~
R 1 L1 : R2 l2: R3 L3 R4 L4 RS
left
break right
CD
14 8o 1 17 99. 37 o 37 o o
mode ; dep crv point crv dep
Ill 99 99 1 99 99 99 99 99 0 0
CD NORM ; 0 / A- 1 ""' 0
14 8o 1 15 95 3o 10 99 o o
11) NORM
0 /
A- 1 ""' 0
14 99 1 3o 99 25 99 39 o o
(I) NORM
0 /
A- 1 ""' 0
15 5o 1 23 85 15 95 1o o o
(i) NORM
0 /
A- 1 ""' 0
1o 94 1 5o 97 99 99 37 99 o
® NORM 0 / A- 1 ""' 0 ® "Cj'Cj'"gg''~''gg"'8'3"l'""'()'"58"~""'()'"5'8"l""()''
NORM
0 /
A- 1 ""' 0
p range Boct
p vel sens OFF

rn
m
rn

AFTERTOUCH/Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

....~~::.~.L~.~~.......... Jalg

"Basilica" &
"PrcEnsmble!'
TwoNewDX7
II Voices By
John P.
Mikowychok.

,_LFO
wave~ sync OFF pms 2
speed 1
pmd 4 ........... ams ...........
delay 0
amd 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
mode MULTI

transpose C 3
feedback 0
sync OFF

arnrnm®oo

~FREQUENCY/OUTPUT

f"""~~·;t~-~~·~t~'""'~

key mode POLY

m
rn
rn
! modto RETA IN ! m
l step 0
l
l ...................................
time 0
l
, ®
~

random pitch 0
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . uoooo

pitch range 2

1 ,

sttop
: mode NORM

on
off
ON
ON
ON
ON
@) ON
ON

~
1
:

:. .........................................:

J.-_,..r

,,,

out ,.......... freq·· ........,
lev crs fin mode
99
0.50 X
99
3.03 X
99
1.00 X
75
1.00 X
58 16.00 X
71 25.00 X

det
4
4
+ 3
+ 7
1
+ 1

vel
sens
0
0
0
0
0
0

Notes:

~scALING--------------~-EiNVVFEL~OrnP~E~:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=~
left
break right
dtop crv point crv dep

mode

m NORM
rn NORM
rn NORM

14 '\._
45 (
99 '\._
NORM 32 '\._
@) NORM: 72 /
® NORM~ 49 '\._

0 3
3
A#2

""'\. 21
""'\. 0
./ 99

B 4
F 3

. / 32
~ 99
""'\. 63

0#2

.... ~~~~~::~~-~.~ . ..J alg

R 1 L1 R2 L2
99 99 99
75 99 99 99
7 1 99 99 99
7 1 99 99 99
@) 73 99 99 99
® 80 99 99 99

m o5

rn
rn

p range 8oct

rn
rn NORM
m NORM
([) NORM

NORM

47, R4

p vel stons OFF

-FREQUENCY/OUTPUT
on
off
ON
ON
ON
ON
([) ON
® ON

portamento

rn
rn

J_.,.....r

out ,.......... freq ..........,
lev crs fin mode
99 2.570 Hz
44 20.80 X
99 1.862 Hz
70
1.00 X
70
1.00 X
99
1.02 X

vel
det sens
- 0 0
+ 0 0
1 0
- 3 0
+ 7 0
+ 1 0

mode RETAIN
64
step 0
0
time 2
0
____
..._...._... ....
__
...._...._...._..............~ E:iiNVVEULCioiiP~E~=======~

left
break
right
dep crv point l crv dep

0 /
0 /
0 /
0 /
0 /
99 .....__

arnrnm®®

pitch mod 44
amp mod
0
eg bias
0

m NORM
NORM

41, R3 = 42, L3
=57, L4 =55.

wave~ sync OFF pms 3
speed 33
pmd 0 ........... ams ...........
delay 33
amd 0
mode SINGLE
0 0 0 0 0 0

random pitch 1

mode

Here is an optional Pan setting
for use in a Performance
memory: Range = 45, Select
= LFO; Pan EG: RI = 59,
Ll = 63, R2 = 30, L2 =

l
® ··9·9...so'T'99...5.0''1 ...9.9...sa·T·99...5.o"1 ....o..

key mode POLY

~SCALING

L3 : R4 L4: RS
99 45 o 1 o
99 5 1 o 1 o
99 4o o 1 o
99
o o1 o
99 45 0 0
99 53 0 ~ 0

~LFO

transpose C 3
feedback 4
sync ON

R3
99
99
99
99
99
99

This voice is scaled so reed
qualities are emphasized in the
low and high octaves, while
/night pipe qualities are emphasized in the mid-range.
It includes built-in reverb.

R1 L1 R2 L2, R3 L3, R4 L4, RS
99 a2 991 65 76 1 57 o 1 o
99 99 o 7 as 1 55 2 1 1 99 o 1 o
7 1 99 4 1 95 1 54 92 1 53 o 1 o
55 99 13 9o 1 s 94 1 27 o 1 o
@) 79 99 99 82 l 92 90 l 26 0 l 0
® 80 99 60 82 ~ 43 28 ~ 24 0 ~ 0

m 99

rn
rn

F#2 './ 51
0 2 ..../ 61
c 3 ""'\. 0

G 2
c 3
G# 1

® "9'4'"57'T'85...4.2"1 ...9.5...sa·T·5a...4.8"1 .....,...

""'\. 15
""'\. 0
""'\. 11

p range 2oct

Notes:
This is a /night attack, "wet"
sound with a built-in delay. It
is reminiscent of a patch on
the Police's "Wrapped Around
Your Finger," bred with a
PF 10. It is good for chord
accompaniment. Have a good
speaker for the low overtones.

p vel sens OFF

Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5/AFTERTOUCH

1Z
Creating Cus ..
tomWX7
Sounds From
Preset (ROM)
TX81Z Voice.
By Gregory W.
Yasinitsky.

UMEROUS WOODWIND ARTISTS
have enthusiastically adopted Yamaha's
WX7 MIDI wind controller because of the
instrument's capacity to respond to subtle
changes in breath pressure. With a WX7, it is
possible to play phrases with a wide variety of
breath controlled dynamics, and to play sounds
whose tone colors (timbres) are controlled by
the intensity of a performer's air stream.
The WX7 works well when MIDled with
Yamaha's economical TX81Z tone generator.
The TX81Z boasts a great deal of power and
flexibility, and these qualities make this tone
generator an ideal partner for the WX7. Special
breath sensitive voices, created with the WX7
in mind-such as those in Sal Gallina's Expressive FM Applications and the Yamaha
Demosoft for the WX7-provide performers
with sounds that will react to subtle changes in
air pressure. Unfortunately, though, most preset
(ROM) TX81Z voices are not programmed to
respond to this sort of breath control. If WX7
players want to get the most out of their
TX81Zs, then they will need to modify the
breath control parameters of those preset
(ROM) voices.
The Setup
Before customizing stock voices, 1t 1s Important that your WX7 and TX81 Z are set up properly. Here is the suggested Dipswitch setup for
the WX7:
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8

(AT): on
(Vol): off
(Eb): whatever you prefer
(Bb): whatever you prefer
(Key): off
(Hold): on
(Curve): off
(Loose): on

Also, the four rotary pots for Wind Zero, Wind
Gain, Lip Zero, and Lip Gain should be
adjusted to your playing style. A suggested procedure for setting dipswitches and pots can be
found in "Getting Acquainted With Your

AFTERTOUCH/Vo\. 5 Nos. 4-5

WX7" [AfterTouch, March 1989, page 14] by
this author.
The suggested setup for the TX81Z involves
setting the Master Tune to 0 and making the
following MIDI control settings:
Basic Rec Ch: 1
Transmit Ch: 1
P. Change: com
Cont. Change: norm
Exclusive: on
Note on/off: all
Pitch Bend: norm
A. Touch-BC: on
Save Your I Bank

If you like any of the customized sounds presented in this article, the only way you will be
able to save them is by transferring them to your
I (Internal) bank; see your TX81Z owners manual for details. This transferring process, however, will erase voices that you currently have
stored in your I bank. So, an important step
before you begin any programming is to save
your current I bank to cassette. Follow the
directions outlined in your TX81 Z owners manual for saving data. Store your I bank to cassette
and then, to be safe, make an additional copy.
About The Customized Voices
My goal in reprogramming preset (ROM)
TX81Z voices was to make them more responsive to the WX7, without changing their basic
voice characteristics. In working towards this
goal, I discovered that different "families" of
voices required somewhat different
reprogramming techniques. These techniques,
described below, are the result of numerous
hours of experimentation, but they should not
be viewed as gospel. As with all musical matters, the success of these customized voices must
be determined by one's own ear. My hope is that
WX7 /TX81Z performers will use the following
programming suggestions as starting points in
their individual searches for more perfect
voices.

WX7 MIDI wind controller.

Keyboard Sounds

To begin with, let's try voice A17, PercOrgan.
It is a nice jazz organ sound, but one that is difficult to play with a WX7. PercOrgan does not
respond to breath control, and if you play fast
passages, the sound seems to be lagging behind
your fingers. This lagging occurs because
PercOrgan is a Poly Mode voice. A Poly Mode
voice is one that retriggers every time you
change notes, whether you rearticulate or not.
Play a scale and tongue each note, then play a
scale and slur. You will hear very little difference because it is impossible to slur with a
Poly voice.
To change this situation, follow these steps:
Press edit, and then use the right parameter to
key to scroll until you see "Function?" on the
screen. Press the right data entry key; the screen
should now read "Poly Mode." Press the right
data entry key again; the screen will read "Mono
Mode." Now play-some passages tongued, and
some passages slurred. Voila! The lagging problem is gone. In Mono Mode, a voice will only be
retriggered when you rearticulate. Tonguing,
slurs, and note groupings will be based entirely
on your playing style. Thus, by changing one
parameter (Poly Mode to Mono Mode), we
have transformed A 17 PercOrgan from an unstable sound into an expressive jazz organ voice
that articulates like a wind instrument.
Now let us modify PercOrgan so that it will
respond to your breath controlled dynamics.
Press the right parameter key and scroll until
you see "C EG Bias= 0" (breath control envelope generator bias equals 0) on the screen.
Press the right data entry key and hold it until 0
changes to 99. This will enable the force of your
airstream to control the output of the operators.
Press the left parameter key and scroll until you
see "sensitivity." Press the right parameter key
and scroll until you see "EBS 0 0 0 0" (EBS
stands for "envelope bias sensitivity"). The zeros represent the amount of breath control that

each operator has been set to receive (0 is low, 7
is high). To change the volume of a voice with
breath control, the EBS value of the carriers
must be raised.
The algorithm of PercOrgan is Alg 8-all four
operators are carriers. Thus, to breath control
the dynamics (volume) of PercOrgan, the EBS
values of all four operators must be raised. With
the cursor keys, select operator # 1, and, with
the right data entry key, change the EBS number from 0 to 5. Use the same procedure to
select operators #2, #3, and #4, and, with the
right data entry key, raise the EBS numbers of
all operators from 0 to 5, until the screen reads
"EBS 55 55."
Now you have something special:. a jazz organ
that articulates like a wind instrument, with
breath controllable dynamics. You could raise
the EBS values of the carriers further, from 5 to
7, but if you did that, you would discover that
this voice would lose much of its keyboard quality, and it would cease to sound like an organ.
My experience with keyboard voices is that the
EBS of the carriers should not be raised above 5.
(Remember to save this edited voice to an I
(Internal) bank location before proceeding.)
Next, let's customize an electric piano voice,
A13 Dynomite EP (Alg 5). Change the mode
from Poly to Mono, raise the BC EG Bias from 0
to 99, and raise the EBS values of the carriers
(operators #1, and #3) from 0 to 5. You now
have a breath controllable electric piano voice.
The playing response of this altered voice can
be further improved by modifying the KVS (key
velocity sensitivity) values of the operators.
This step was not necessary in our modification
of PercOrgan because the original preset
· PercOrgan was not programmed for KVS. Most
other keyboard sounds, however, are programmed to be touch sensitive, and my experience is that these touch sensitive keyboard
sounds are much more responsive to the WX7
after their KVS levels have been lowered. A formula I use to modify keyboard voice KVS levels
is to lower the KVS value of each operator by
Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5/AFTERTOUCH

Continued from page 13
the lowest KVS number of the four operators.
Let's adjust the KVS values of our altered
Dynomite EP voice. The screen should still read
"EBS 5 0 5 0" from our last operation. From
EBS, press the right parameter key; the screen
will then read "KVS 2 3 3 3." Of the four operators, operator #1 has the lowest KVS value-2;
so, all of the operators should be lowered by a
factor of 2. Change the KVS values to 0 1 1 l.
Now play; you will find that you have a unique,
expressive electric piano voice. To get the most
from this voice, (or from any other Mono voice
with a short envelope), you will need to use
fairly constant articulation. Remember, a Mono
voice will not retrigger unless you rearticulate.

Guitar, Percussion, And Harp-Style Voices
The procedure described above for customizing keyboard voices also works well for other
voices with sharp attacks and short envelopes,
such as guitar, percussion, and harp-style
voices. To customize one of these voices,
change the mode from Poly to Mono, raise the
BC EG Bias from 0 to 99, raise the EBS of the
carriers from 0 to 5, and lower the KVS values
of all operators by a factor equal to the lowest
KVS number of the four operators.

Brass Voices
One of my favorite preset voices is B03
Flugelhorn (Alg 3). Although Flugelhorn does
not sound much like a real brass instrument, it is
an excellent "electronic brass" voice, similar to
those heard in much of today's pop music.
My first step in customizing Flugelhorn was to
reprogram the voice so that its volume would be
breath controllable. First, I raised the BC EG
Bias from 0 to 99. Then, after some experimentation, I determined that brass voices are
most responsive dynamically when EBS values
of their carriers are raised to their maximum
levels. Since the algorithm of Flugelhorn is Alg
3-only operator # 1 is a carrier- I raised the
EBS value for operator # 1 from 0 to 7, to its
maximum level. After more experimentation, I
found that brass voices responded best when
they were programmed for little or no KVS; so I
lowered KVS values for Flugelhorn from KVS 2
2 2 2 to KVS 0 0 0 0. After these modifications,
Flugelhorn was easy to play, and responded well
to breath controlled dynamics. The sound,
however, was much too bright.
14

AFTERTOUCH!Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

The next step was to modify this customized
Flugelhorn voice so that its timbre (brightness)
was controlled by breath. To breath control timbre, it is necessary to raise the EBS values of the
modulators. This procedure must be done by ear.
I played Flugelhorn with the EBS values of its
modulators-operators #2, #3, #4-set to various levels before I arrived at the settings that
worked best for me: EBS 7 6 7 6.
I also experimented by playing my new
Flugelhorn voice in Mono Mode and Poly
Mode. Although Mono Mode responded to my
articulation better, I found that Poly Mode was
more suited for Flugelhorn. To my ears, Poly
Mode's retriggering of each note added an essential quality to this electronic brass voice.
For brass voices in general, I recommend raising BC EG Bias to 99, and EBS of carriers to 7.
Lower the KVS values as much as possible and
experiment with EBS values of modulators until
you find settings that suit you. Then, play your
modified voice in both Mono and Poly Mode to
determine which mode sounds best to you.

Wind And String Voices
The general principles outlined above for
customizing brass voices will also work well for
reprogramming wind and string voices. As with
brass voices, EBS values of modulators must be
set by ear for wind and string voices.
Modulators of brass voices often require high
EBS values (5, 6 or 7), modulators of wind
voices generally need to be set in the middle (3,
4 or 5), and modulators if strings voices often
sound best when values are set low (0, 1 or 2).

Voices With Echoes
Some of the most beautiful TX81Z voices are
those with echoes, such as 003 Krstl Choir (Alg
7). Generally, when a voice has an echo, it is
best to leave it in Poly Mode. BC EG Bias
should be raised to 99, EBS values of carriers
should be raised to 4 (higher than 4 and the
echo characteristics of the voice are lost), and
EBS values of modulators should be left at 0.
KVS of all operators should be reduced as much
as possible.
The algorithm for Krstl Choir is Alg 7-operators #1, #2, and #3 are carriers. Thus, for
Krstl Choir, EBS values are changed from EBS 0
0 0 0 to EBS 4 4 4 0. Since preset KVS values
are all at zero, they can be left alone.

HIS IS THE FIRST in a series of articles
designed to help you make the best use of
the sequencer section of the Yamaha V50 synthesizer. To get the most out of these articles, it
would be best for you to read the V50 owners
manual first, and have a basic understanding of
the instrument. However, it will be possible to
use these articles as a quick and painless guide
to the use of the VSO's sequencer.

Understanding The VSO Sequencer
The sequencer on the V50 is capable of playing eight individual instrument parts simultaneously. Each instrument part goes on a track.
The V50 sequencer has 8 tracks, which can all
play together as a sequence or a song. The 8
tracks, are accessed and monitored from buttons
TR1-TR8 in the Edit area. The rhythm part is
located on a 9th track that is completely independent of the 8 sequencer tracks. When in the
Sequencer mode, the rhythm part is accessed
and monitored from the RHY button in the Edit
area.
The 8 tracks of the V50 sequencer are like an
8-track tape recorder. You record one instrument or group of instruments on each track. For
instance, the bass line would be on Track 1, piano on Track 2, the horn section on Track 3,
and so on. Each of the 8 tracks in the sequencer
are related to the 8 instrument voices in a Performance . A Performance has 8 voice slots,
each one of which contains an instrument
Instrument
TRACK 1

Bass

TRACK 2

Piano

TRACK 3

Horns

TRACK 4

Strings

TRACK 5

Guitar

TRACK 6

Synth 1

TRACK 7

Synth 2

lntro
(8 bars)

fr.tt.&tw.:l

TRACK 8 Percussion

RHYTHM

Verse 1
(16 bars)

voice. The instrument in each slot of the Performance is played from the same-numbered track
in the sequencer. Therefore, each song on the
VSO can have up to 8 instrument parts, plus the
independent rhythm part that plays
concurrently.
Since instrument parts are usually not as
repetitive in nature as rhythm parts, instrument
tracks do not have patterns that are linked
together to make a song. Instrument tracks are
linear. This means that they are constructed
from beginning to end: there are no patterns to
be looped or repeated. If, however, an instrument part such as a bass line is very repetitive, it
is possible to record the part once and then
Copy it any number of times. For instance, if
the verse of your song is 126 bars long and the
bass line is a 2-bar phrase or riff which repeats 8
times, you may record the part once in measures
1 and 2, and then Copy measures 1 and 2 to
measures 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, and so on up
to measure 16. If the piano part on the next
track is very expressive and melodic, it probably
will be played over the entire 16 bars without
copying. In this way, it is possible for each
instrument part to be created independently
with different recording techniques, depending
on the type of instrument phrasing and the style
of music being created.
In the accompanying diagram, you will see a
graphic example of a song on the V50 sequencer, showing how the instrument voices
and tracks are utilized. In the example, you can

O.orus 1 Verse 2 Chorus 2
(8 bars) (8 bllrs) (16 bllrs)

lw!f.lfql
M1¥F I

Bridge Verse 3
(8 bars) (8 bars)

Understanding
The V50 Se..
quencer, Part 1.
By Chris
Cotton.

Chorus 3
(16 bars)

Here is a graphic example of a
song in the V50, showing how
the instrument voices and
track~ are utilized.
Tag Ending
(16 bars)

I¥@M'f !Mw.w.al

IMb.b'ki'ft*JwP.MW"JMt~MI

~~~~J.Mit:mw~?:'l

l%i&:W3AW1?.&~1@4MfJfMWMI

lllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

lllllllllllllllli!lllllllllllllllllllllll

Drums

KEY:

Ill! 11!!!1 Repetitive Pan

Not Playing
Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5/AFTERTOUCH

Continued from page 15
see that different instruments (tracks) are utilized at different times in the song. Also, each
instrument uses different types of playing styles
in each section of the song.
It is important to realize this concept in your
own music in order to use the VSO sequencer
most efficiently. The methods you use to create
parts on the VSO sequencer will be determined.
to a degree by your level of keyboard playing
ability. For example, if you are an advanced keyboard player, you will be more likely to create
tracks in longer segments in real time. This
makes it less necessary to Copy and Paste short
parts. However, if you are a less advanced keyboard player, it is often easier to record shorter
parts, and Copy them whenever they are repeated. This way, when you get it right once,
you can use it as many times as you need. The
recording technique that is best for your application will also be dictated to a large degree by
the type of music you are creating, and whether
it is repetitive or non-repetitive in nature.
Using A Performance
In order to create a song with the VSO sequencer, it is necessary for this song to have a
Performance that accompanies it. This Perfor-

Here is an example of a typical
configuration of instrument
settings that would be stored
in a Sequencing Performance.

INST 1

INST2

INST3

mance will contain the instrumentation
settings for the Sequence. If you are familiar
with the song you will be sequencing, you may
be able to set up the complete Performance at
the start; otherwise it may be better to set up
the Performance as you go. For instance, if you
know exactly what you are going to create, you
can probably determine the different instruments you will need and their settings before
you begin the sequencing process. This way, the
actual recording of the sequence will be easier
because the Performance instrumentation will
be pre-determined. On the other hand, if you
are using the VSO sequencer as a compositional
tool or writing and arranging as you go, it is better to create your instrument Performance as
you record your sequence.
The VSO has a very powerful feature, which is
its ability to change the instrument Performance settings in a real time as the sequence
plays. This makes it possible to select and mix
your instrument voices in context, as they play
their respective parts. This application will be
discussed in more detail in a later installment in
this series. For now, just understand that it is
not necessary to be overly concerned with the
Performance setting as you begin sequencing.
Most of the values will probably change before

INST4

ASSIGN MODE
NOTES
VOICE NUMBER

INST6

INST7

INST8

DVA
0

POl

122

I40

I 86

Pll

I 61

I61

P37

RECVCH

INSTS

LIMIT/LOW

C-2

LIMIT/HIGH

INST DETUNE

-I

NOTE SHIFF

-12

+12

VOLUME

OUfPUf ASSIGN

L+R

OTHERS

OFF

VIB

LF02

LFO 1

OFF

LF02

OFF

EFFECT

OFF

AFfERTOUCH!Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

VSO digital synthesizer.

you finish the song. It is important, however, to
allocate a Performance number to the sequence
you will be creating. This Performance location
will contain basic settings for the sequencing
process, and serve as a dedicated Performance
area to accompany your sequence or song.
The VSO is capable of initializing a Performance location for sequencing. When this feature is used, the currently selected Performance
can be configured for one or two basic
sequencing setups, "SEQ4" or "SEQ8." Which
of these two setups you use will depend on the
kind of song you will be sequencing. If you need
only 4 tracks or fewer to create your song,
"SEQ4" will set up tracks 1-4 for instruments.
If you need more than 4 tracks, "SEQ8" will set
up all 8 tracks for up to 8 instruments. Generally, using SEQ8 is a good idea to start, because it initializes all 8 tracks for instrument
parts just in case you need more than 4.
Initializing a Performance using the SEQ4 or
SEQ8 setup will delete any existing data in the
Performance location currently selected {0099).
When the lnit function is performed, the
selected Performance location will become a
basic instrument template or "palette" to start
from, with individual MIDI channel, instrument on, volume, note limit, and so on already
set at basic values. This is very useful to begin
sequencing, because you will only need to make
adjustments as they are necessary. When a Performance is initialized for sequencing, the Performance Name becomes the same as the lnit
template you have chosen. For example, when
SEQ8 is selected for a Performance, the name of
that Performance becomes "SEQUENCERS."

To initialize a Performance location in your
VSO, follow these steps. First, choose a Performance location (00-99) that is blank or
expendable. Next, press the Others button in
the Utility area on the VSO, select the INIT
function in the LCD, and finally select the
SEQ8 option in the LCD. For more information
on this feature, see page 177 of the VSO owners
manual, "Performance Initialize." Also, there is
a chart of all of the basic instrument settings for
the different INIT templates, including SEQ4
and SEQ8 , on page 125 of the VSO owners
manual.
If you use the SEQ8 Performance as a template to begin sequencing, tracks 1-8 are
already set up for up to 8 individual instruments
on MIDI channels 1-8. Therefore, to start, all
you need to do is plug in the Voice number of
each instrument as you create each part. You
may also want to adjust other settings for each
instrument as you go, such as Note Shift, Volume, Output Assign, and so on. However, since
you can adjust these settings while the sequence
plays, it is often better to create your parts with
the basic default settings {except for Voice number) and fine tune the settings later, so you can
hear the effect of each change in context as the
sequence plays.

Next month, we will continue our series on
the use of the VSO sequencer, by looking at
tracks in more detail. We will also talk about
using the VSO's rhythm section in conjunction
with the sequencer.

Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5/AFTERTOUCH

HICK COREA needs no introduction to
AfterTouch readers. In his varied projects
over the years, including his legendary work
with Return To Forever, he has captured the
musical hearts of millions. He continues to do
so now with his two current bands, the Elektric
Band and the Akoustic Band, both of which
record on GRP.
For this interview, we caught up with Chick
at his home studio, where he had just finished
work on his first film score. The movie, called
Cat Chaser, stars Kelly McGillis and Peter
Weller, and is scheduled for a fall release.

How did you get involved with the movie Cat
Chaser?
It has been a desire of mine for years to get
involved with films. I flirted with a bunch of
offers through the years, but they always fell secondary to my touring schedule, my concert
schedule, and my recording schedule. So, for a
long time, nothing ever materialized. But one
came along this year that fit into the overall
plan. It was timed right, and there were a couple
of months to do it, so I thought it would be a
good opportunity to get started.
Did you record the entire score in your home
studio?
Yeah. It was a solo deal. It was a score that .
needed to be done very quickly. As a matter of
fact, I received the final cut about two weeks
before they needed the final score. I had done a
bit of work on themes and so forth before that,
but nothing really falls into place for me until I
can put it to the film. It's one thing to read the
story, look at a rough cut, and write some
things; but it really starts to come together
when I see the music locked up with the film
and see how well it works-that's what I found.
It's mostly an all-synth score. Mark Isham came
and played flugelhorn on a couple of things; he
added nice, lyrical melodies.
Did you have many people working with you at
the studio!
It was basically a two-man show: me and my
equipment man Mick Thompson.
Was Mick running the recording?
Here's the way we worked it: Mick would help
18

AFTERTOUCH/Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

A Musical
Giant Talks
About His New
Film Score, His
Elektric Band,
His Akoustic
Band, His
Work With
The Yamaha
MIDI Grand,
And More. By
Tom Darter.

me set up the synthesizers a particular way for
whatever I was going to work on. Then he'd go
home and sleep and I'd come in and do the
composing on the sequencer (like we usually do
when I compose). Then I'd leave him a note
before I went to bed about new things that I
needed put up, or any maintenance that needed
to be done, or any documentation of any stuff
that I'd already done. When we finally got
around to recording, we rented a 24-track Otari
for the studio, and Mick did the recording: he
actually took the sounds I had set up via the
sequencer and transferred them track-by-track
to the tape recorder.
Was all of the sequencing done on your
Synclavier?
Yes, it was the master. And then I used a
menagerie of sounds. And this time, I added
some analog sounds into the feeling of the texture, as well as the digital sounds I've been
working with over the years.
What are your main digital sounds instruments?
The Synclavier, for one: I did a lot of work
with the polyphonic sampling, and also with its
FM. My two Yamaha TX816s still took a bulk of
the load- they're an easy access for me to a lot of
different kinds of stuff. I guess those were the
main digital sounds. I used some Kurzweil modules for some sweetening here and there-some
tympani sounds, some drum sounds, and other
various things. And then I added in other
sounds.
About how much music is there in the movie!
I don't know how much total time. We filled
up an album, and that was with about 75 percent of the cues. So, there's at least 50 or 60
minutes of music in this. There were about 25 to
28 different cues.
Do you have another film lined up, or are you
just considering other possibilities now?
There are a couple of possibilities. I don't
know if there is any point to mentioning them
now, because if they didn't happen .... But there
are possibilities that would be nice. One in particular would give me an opportunity to combine synths with orchestra, which I would really
like to do.
Next time, are you going to set it up so that you
have more than two weeks to compose the music?
Oh yeah. Well, I'm told by my friends who

are experienced and have done lots of movies
that it's not uncommon to be squeezed down to
a couple of weeks. Of course, I can't envision
doing something as extensive as a full orchestral
score for a whole movie in two weeks, and then
fitting it to the film-that would be a little bit
too much. But, for me, it did prove that a very
quick solo score can be done. It's a lot of work,
but it can be done.
How long have you had the Yamaha MIDI

grand?
I think I first came across it a year and a half
ago, and really didn't get close to it and use it on
one of my projects until last year, for the Eye Of
The Beholder touring season. I used the 7' 4"
model like this one. And it was great to marry
the two worlds. It's one of the nicest master keyboard controllers for synthesizers that I have
played. So, that combined with a really nicesounding acoustic piano was very comfortable,
to say the least. On the Eye Of The Beholder tour
we used it everywhere. I mean, we got a different one in different areas, but I finally integrated it into the keyboard system, and it just fit
in great because of the MIDI implementation
and the fact that it addresses all of the
synthesizers.

The next tour you're doing is with the Akoustic
Band?
Yeah. This year, after making the Akoustic
Band record, which was kind of a last minute
decision. Even the album wasn't a heavily
planned thing to do at first. It all started when I
wanted to take advantage of the fact that we
were going to play a week at the Blue Note for
New Year's week. The trio had played several
short tours before and after the Elektric Band's
recording and touring last year. So, the trio was
kind of happening, and I knew that it would be
a blowing affair at the Blue Note. So, we
arranged to have it taped. But that turned into a
desire from Larry Rosen at GRP to make a
record. We ended up actually doing it in the studio, after the Blue Note gig.
So, this is going to be a year of Akoustic Band
gigs, this summer and fall. I'm giving the
Elektric Band a little bit of a breather, to help
me develop new ideas and new compositions for
it, so that when we record the new record in
November, I will have had some time to
develop some new stuff. Because I've been on
sort of a no composing-time schedule for three
years. Well, I've composed, but there's not a lot
of practice time in between. We've gotten home
and had just enough time to write the music and
make the next record, and then go out on the
road again. It's been fun, but I felt I needed to
take a little bit more time to prepare the next
record.

Corea playing his Yamaha
MIDI grand; Yamaha KX88
and Sync/a vier in background.

So, after the Akoustic Band tour you'll have time
to work on things for the Elektric Band?
Yeah. In October will be my preparation time
for the next Elektric Band record. I'm just kind
of scratching the surface of that kind of live performance thing. I didn't spend that much time
last year in putting my live keyboard performance setup together, so I stayed pretty well
confined to a certain number of sounds. Next
year, with the Elektric Band, I'm going to have
more preparation time, to put together some
synthesizer sounds that I'm going to be able to
play live.

Does some of that include trying to figure out
exactly what instruments you're going to have in
your setup, or have you figured that out already?
I'm not sure how I'm going to approach it this
time. I mean, generally, if I had more time, I
could think about how to plan a keyboard setup
that would work for the recording and then
translate itself directly into a live performance.
But usually the way it works is that when I
arrange the recording, I don't think at all about
how I'm then going to turn it mto a live performance- I just go completely for the record. And
then, after that I prepare the live show. I choose
what the music will be on the new tour, and
then set up the keyboards to accommodate that.

At one Elektric Band concert, I had the feeling
that you were focusing more on the composing side
of things-the showcase was more on the composiVol. 5 Nos. 4-5/ AFTERTOUCH

Continued from page 19
tions and some of the other band members. You
played solos, but it seemed like the spotlight was on
you a little bit less as a performer. Was that a conscious choice, or just a false impression I picked up?
No, no: I think that is the case. I think that's
the case generally with the Elektric Band, and
has been with most of the Elektric Band. It was
the case with Return To Forever too. I think my
strongest performance is more in the area of
acousic piano when I'm a solo performer, so I do
put more emphasis in the band on arranging
and composing and having keyboard parts held
strongly. Plus, the synthesizers, in the style of
music that I'm writing so far for the Elektric
Band, don't always lend themselves to becoming melody lead instruments. It's just a matter of
me developing an electric keyboard performance setup, which I've never really done,
thoroughly.

Is that something you want to do?
Yeah, I do. It's something that I'm going to
develop into the Elektric Band. I've got a lot of
elements going now, in the Band, and this is
one that I'm going to go for. It's a matter of preparation time. It's a matter of sitting down and
getting the sounds on the keyboard, and getting
the combinations together, and then putting
them into practice. I mean, it's one thing to do
it in your practice room, but it's another thing
to turn it into a real powerful voice by taking it
out and performing with it. I want to develop a
more fluid keyboard performance.
I think part of the problem for trained pianists is
that, while piano is always going to be there, elec-

tronic instruments present a whole new vista every
six months. There is always something new that you
have to check out in order to keep up with what's
happening. Does that seem like a pressure, or is it
just something exciting to explore?
It doesn't feel like a pressure, but sometimes it
feels like a confusion to me. That's why, when I
first put the Elektric Band together, I just took a
certain amount of time playing around with
new electronic instruments and new synthesizers. But then I made a cut-off point to that, and
I stayed with several main instruments: the
TX816s, two sets of 816s, which are still in my
setup, became a staple; the Synclavier became a
staple; and, at the time, the Kurzweil 250
became a staple. Now it's the Kurzweil KlOOO
modules that I'm using. And these instruments
haven't changed for me, for years. So, in that
sense, there's been a bit of stability. But, even
within that limited set of instruments, there is

AFTERTOUCH/Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

what seems to be an infinity of possibilities. So
yes, the new instruments can be a confusion,
but I don't want them to stop. I don't want the
development to stop. It's too creative, and it's
too fun. The other problem seems to be that
you look for the instruments that give you most
choice and most possibility, but sometimes
companies have to put instruments together
that appeal to a more nonprofessional marketplace. Not all of the developments are in the
forward direction; they're more in the marketing
impact direction.

That's true. Do you think there are people who
have developed a pretty fluid keyboard
performance?
Vangelis has. I only know Vangelis' music
from a distance. I know a few of his film scoresBlade Runner, which is one of my favorite
scores, and the one he became best known for,
Chariots Of Fire. I also know the music that he
made with Jon Anderson. Vangelis is an
example, it seems to me, of a musician who has
really developed as a multikeyboardist, through
the years. It's his sound, and his choice of orchestrations and instruments that are recognizable; they don't vary much from project to
project: He has created a sound for himself in
that way. And Patrick Moraz has, as well. But
there are not an overwhelming number of musicians who develop a multikeyboard sound like
that.

That's true. I think most people would say that
you have a recognizable style electrically and
electronically, but you're talking about trying to
develop it so that it is able to cover all of the musical
bases you want to cover.
Yes, I'm just going to take it and see where it
goes. Because I spent so many years of development as a pianist, my best performance and
strongest statements as a soloist usually come
out on a mechanical keyboard, like a piano or a
Rhodes or something like that, and then also on
monophonic solo-voice synthesizers like the
early Minimoog that I used, and now the KXS
that I use for a similar kind of sound and
approach. So, for me, even though I've used
synthesizers for years, it's still new terrain to
develop performance using other sounds: sustain sounds, string sounds, more orchestral
sounds. And, if you're working in a band like I
am, these things take it immediately out of the
realm of being a soloist and put it in the realm of
orchestration. This is the way I hear it as a composer, unless I take ten minutes in a concert and

develop some kind of electronic solo piece. But
I'm going to go for it, and take it where I can
with my music. I did have a nice opportunity to
make multikeyboard music doing Cat Chaser.

Did you feel that you were essentially doing electronic orchestration for that?
It depended on the cue, but sometimes the
most effective thing I found was to set up a
multikeyboard setup and play it live, rather than
layering things sound by sound. So it got into a
bit of performance, as well, on the movie, in
addition to composing a piece by layering each
track with one sound at a time.

Was it the kind of film where there was a lot of
requirement for very precise timing with events on
the screen, or did it call for more of a throughcomposed sound that doesn't mimick the action?
There's a bit of both used in Cat Chaser.
There was some music that just depicted the
emotion and kept rolling and let the action
alone; and then there was some music, a couple
of things that actually "spiked" the action, that
I thought helped the scene. In a couple of
scenes, it was specifically asked for by the
producer.

You mentioned things like the Rhodes. Are you
still using the MIDI Rhodes in your setup at all, or
are you planning to?
I don't know what the next setup actually will
be. I didn't use the Rhodes sound on this particular movie. It's interesting how a sound like
that, so unique as it is, gets dated very easily in
people's minds. It sounds like the 70s, and so
forth, although it has a certain punch. So, I'll
have to find a way to reintroduce the Rhodes, so
that it has a good effect.

Have you ever used any of the zillions of digital
Rhodes imitation sounds that the DX7 and most of
the other instruments have?
Yeah, but it's interesting: As soon as you try
to copy the Rhodes sound-not copy it, but get
something similar to it-then it takes it right out
of the ball park. If it's not the actual punchy
Rhodes, it has a different effect, and a different
flavor. And the essential elements of the
Rhodes sound are so basic, anyway: You've got
this mellow sustain sound, you've got that highpitched attack, and then there is something
that's a little bit more gritty, as you bear down
on the keys. That's an essential part of any kind
of a Rhodes-like performance. And you can
take that concept, and develop millions and
millions of Rhodes variations on it.

What kinds of instruments do you see in your
new setup!
One of the things I'd like to do for the next
setup is use MIDI master controllers that have
the kind of flexibility that the Yamaha MIDI

The Chick Corea AkoU5tic
Band (L w R): bassist John
Patitucci, Corea, drummer
Dave \Xkckl.

grand piano has, the KX88 has, and the MIDI
Kurzweil Midi Board has. They're powerful, you
know: They can send program changes, and
they can give you different kind of setups with
various kinds of split keyboards. And then, because of the way the KX88 or Kurzweil Midi
Board is configured, it's easy to change from
setup to setup, so you can have one setup for one
tune and application, and another setup for a
different one.
So, would you set it up with those master key-

boards on stage, and put the rack-mount stuff offstage, so you wouldn't have to look at it all!
It would be nice. Now you're ahead of where I
am in my planning- I'm not sure what we're going to produce for this next stage, the 1990s
stage. I would like that. We went in that direction last year, where we removed the bulk from
my keyboard area, and put things I didn't need
to put my hands on back in Mick Thompson's
area. He eventually ended with three or four
times the equipment that I gathered around me
on stage.

What master keyboards do you think you will
use?
I think the master keyboards will be the
Yamaha KX88, the Kurzweil Midi Board, and
probably the Yamaha MIDI grand.

Do you think you'll be touring with the
Synclavier also?
That "also" is dependent on location, transportation, and
of that kind of thing. I now
have a two-pronged approach: If the transportation is easy enough to do, I can take the full
Synclavier with me; if there are some places
that are harder to reach with all the gear we
have, I record the Synclavier sequences on OAT
tape and leave the Synclavier at home. I used
that approach last year.
Continued on page 22

all

Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5/ AFTERTOUCH

Continued from page 21
Did it work out well?
It worked out okay. We had a handful of sequencer pieces that we used, and actually it was
very reliable. The only thing about it, of course,
is that once it gets mixed, that's it-there's no
way to change the mix on tour, which is one of
the down sides. But the up side is that it's very
reliable. It works every time, you don't have to
worry about MIDI connections or any of that
sort of thing.
All the stuff that keeps everyone busy for two
hours before the concert.
I'm looking forward to a wireless setup. I'm
looking forward to all of these connections going either through the air or through another
technology that's being used now, fiber optics.
One of the most troublesome areas of a band
setup is wires. They get stepped on, and plugs
get pulled. If you want to look anyplace to
troubleshoot something that's not working, one
of the first things you do is test wires.
V\kll, we've got three different kinds of wires now:
AC wires, audio wires, and MIDI wires.
That's right, and many different kind of connectors: Cannon connectors, phone jacks,
RCA jacks, MIDI jacks, and so on. It's pretty
complex. I've heard about some very wild things
being done with fiber optics. Between that and
using computers, I know that we have the capability now to really streamline an electronic
setup.
It would be nice. You have a Macintosh computer
in your studio. Do you use it to do a lot of synthesizer voicing?
Yes I do. I have most of the OpCode programs
that relate to the instruments I have. So, any
time I have editing to do, I normally call up the
editor on the screen. I mean, since it became a
necessity to have instruments with small LCD
readouts and put menus on top of menus, it is
really a necessity to have the whole thing put on
a screen, so that you can see what you're doing.
That's one of the things I miss about the good old
analog days: there was a always a knob for
everything?
Absolutely! One of the things I like very
much about the Synclavier keyboard, the way
it's arranged, is that it's got all of the essential
buttons in front of your hands, and you can
work very quickly.
I know that you have been very interested in getting the Yamaha VSO synthesizer. My impression is
that the reason for this was that you wanted a unit
you could compose with while on tour.
22

AFTERTOUCH!Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

Yes. It's very portable, and it's a "work station"
kind of instrument. The idea of a work station is
really great. I mean, they should have made one
of these things ten years ago. It's finally come
around to have all the things in it that you need
to make a piece of music, including reverb. As
any musician knows, reverb is a must when
you're working with electronic sounds. There
are a lot of manufacturers, and it took them
years to find that out!
But the VSO is great-especially for these long
road trips. You can feel very, very unproductive
on the road. Even through we're playing to
thousands of people every night, and are having
great fun making music, all of that occurs in a
three-hour period during the evening. And
then there's the rest of the day, the sluggish day
that goes on. There is "Airport Hell," and getting from one place to another.
So, when we're on the road, we find means of
trying to keep productive, reading books and listening to music. But the main thing that drops
out for me when I'm on the road is composing. I
can't compose when I'm on the road. I mean, I
can sit down and work with things in my mind
and set them down on score paper, but I can
never develop an idea far enough for it to be
useful. Work stations like the VSO will allow me
to do that, with the 8-track sequencer, the
rhythm section, the sounds, and the memory. It
allows you to pick up where you left off.

What are your current feelings about acoustic
pianos?
I've recently gone more and more towards
using Yamaha pianos in concert. I've had experiences playing solo piano that showed me that
the best brand name on a piano can be meaningless if it shows up in bad shape, or if the
technician is not good. But especially if the piano is old, it doesn't matter whether it's a a
Steinway or a Bosendorfer; it can be a real drag
to play. What I found was that, however it was
organized, when the Yamaha CF3 would arrive,
it was always in great shape for me, and it was
there more reliably for me to use.
Beyond that, the CF3 has qualities that I like
from the Steinway, and it has qualities that I
like from the Bosendorfer. It is a real tight,
bright piano, with a very friendly action-a
lighter action that I really like. So, I got into
using the 9' CF3 grand last year on the few solo
dates that I did, and I had a great time. I also
used it on the Akoustic Band record. Even on
the 7'4" Yamaha grand that I have in my studio,

which is the MIDI grand, the acoustic part of it
is really nice. It's tight, and has a wonderful brilliance that is very attractive.

What things attract you to the CF3?
I know that there are differences in what
materials are used, and there's a difference in
craftsmanship, in how the action is regulated,
and in how it's put together. I think it's a piano
that rivals the very best pianos. By the way, I
still love the Bosendorfer Imperial that I've had
for years and years-they're just completely different instruments.

Is the action similar?
No, the actons are not at all similar. The
Bosendorfer action is not as friendly as the
Yamaha is. It takes a little bit more effort to get
those keys to move down.

Stiffer, do you think?
I wouldn't call it stiff; it's just that they're
heavier. Not stiff, at all-they're very fluid, and
once you get rolling on it, it becomes one of the
factors of the piano. But for overall performance, I like a lighter action.

Do you sometimes enjoy having the challenge of
meeting up with pianos that have totally different
feels? Does it bring out a different kind of music?
It does. And that's why the differences between the Bosendorfer and the Yamaha, for instance, are an aesthetic thing. I mean, I like any
piano that sounds good, any piano that's in
good shape and good tune and has an even
action. Every piano will feel different to play;
and yeah, it does bring out different things. For
instance, because the Bosendorfer has so much
sonic power, its strings really resonate and
there's no cutoff point for its upper frequencies.
So, there's a different approach when I play the
Bosendorfer. It's a very different instrument,
and I have to restrain myself from striking the
piano in certain ways, because it can produce
nasty sounds where I don't want nasty sounds,
just because of the response.

When you use the TX816, do you usually use it
in the mode where you're playing all 8 modules at
once and getting the big, massive sound, or do you
use the eight modules separately for different things?
I do both. When putting a sequence
together, you can use each module as a different
synthesizer, with a different MIDI channel. I do
that sometimes: I'll use one module for flute and
another module for bass, and so forth. I find,
because of the way I've got my Cooper MIDI
Boxes set up, that I can be very flexible with itit doesn't take a lot of patching, and I can do it
quickly. But I also use it to get 8-module sounds,
and make them thicker and detune them, and
make one slightly different from the other, and
get a chorusy kind of things going.

The Chick Corea Elektric
Band (L toR): drummer
Dave Weeki, guitarist Frank
Gambale, Corea, saxophonist
Eric Marienthal, and bassist
John Patitucci.

Do you work with available sounds or work out
your own?
Well, there are a lot of sounds available. I'll
tell you, though: in the last couple of months,
as I worked on this movie project, I found a very
mysterious thing about synthesizer patches.
Actually, my thinking got spurred on this by
reading an interview Vangelis did years ago in
Downbeat. He said something, and I agreed
with it, and I thought, "Yeah, I've never heard
anyone else say that." The point is this: When
you finally sit down with a patch and play it,
whatever it is-it is how you think about it at
that moment, your consideration of how powerful it is, or how beautiful it is or isn't, that
does it. I mean, you know how you can sit down
with a patch, and it immediately inspires vou;
you get into making that new musical phrase,
and it's just the right sound for the phrase? Well,
that patch could be on a consumer-model synthesizer. It could be a one-voice sound. It could
be a sine wave. It could be anything. Do you
know what I mean? It doesn't have to be some
elaborate overlaid thing. But when you have
found a use-musical use-for that particular
sound, then you've got a winner. That's it.
So, I found that I can go through bank after
bank of sounds that a friend has laid on me, or
that I've found somewhere else, that are obviously the result of hours and hours of programming work-but, because it doesn't apply to
what I'm trying to do at that moment, or it's not
along the creative line that I'm trying to go, it
will sound wrong to me. Too high, or too low, or
sound too synthy, or too not synthy. So I found
this funny little principle-that when I take the
extra little bit of time to take a sound that's
Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5/ AFTERTOUCH

Continued from page 23
close to what I want, or to start from scratch and
program something myself, I always come out
with the usable sound. Or, when I occasionally
find that patch that's from the factory, or from
wherever, that totally fills the bill, it inspires me
to make the phrase. Then I'm home. But I've
long since given up on the idea that the ultimate patch is out there, in the world, because
it's not. It's a matter of your application and
what you want. There are millions of sounds out
there but I like to tweak them a bit. As soon as I
start to work with them, even a little bit, I find
that they come out more into what I want. I
mean, I can just take one or two parameters and
change them very slightly, and all of a sudden,
I'm feeling more comfortable.

Do you fell equally comfortable tweaking sounds
on all the instruments you have, or are there some
that you feel more at home with than others?
Well, you know, I'm a user-friendly advocate.
I like it when it's easy and accessible. So the
instruments that are easier and more accessible
have tended to become more my friends, obviously. Instruments like the Roland D-50 or the
Korg M-1 are popular, but their technologies are
not immediately accessible to me; so it will take
me longer. The Synclavier is a very user-friendly
programming instrument. And I've been working long enough with the Yamaha OX, with the
FM system, to know how to get around on it
and do things with it.
What is your feeling about the DX7 II, the new

version?
Well, as soon as I heard the DX7 II, my
immediate response was, "Wow, this is step up
from the DX7; it sounds better." So, my reaction
was, "Convert my DX7, babe." And, "Get my
816s and do it to them." But that wasn't in the
offing. So, I use the DX7 II. I like it, and it's got
very good sound potential. But I only wish that
I could get the sonic improvement into the
816s. Then I'd be happy as a lark.
I've learned that you can't deny your
strengths. If you do, you weaken youself. If you
develop a strength, why deny it? I've made that
mistake, I think, in my life. I would try to get
away from my strengths, to look for new ground,
just because it was more fun and more of an
adventure, and there seemed to be more of a win
at the other end-to win with something that
was unfamiliar rather than something that was
familiar. But, in actual fact, after you spend
time to build a strength and an ability, it becomes another strength and ability to know

AFTERTOUCH/Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

how to use the power that you've already developed, you see. I think Yamaha developed a
strength and an ability with their FM synthesis,
and the children of FM synthesis were the DX7
and the TX816s. And that was their strength in
the keyboard department. It still is.
Just before the Elektric Band started, you were

writing a fair amount of chamber music.
Right. The Sextet, the Septet, and finally
the Piano Concerto. The Concerto never did
make it to a recording; it might someday.
Was the problem logistics, or was it too expensive

to record?
Not really. It was more a matter of wrong timing. I went down the road of chamber music and
small group playing for a few years, and it ended
off with my involvement in some of Mozart's
music in several projects. The last project I did
was my Piano Concerto together with the
Mozard D Minor Concerto on several concerts
in New York and Japan. But I found myself uncomfortably away from home base. The experience was good for me; it was like practice, and a
refreshing look into another area, via classical
music and chamber music. But I really missed
having a band on the road, so I came back to
what I felt was more "home ground" for me,
which was the Elektric Band.
So, you don't have plans to do any more chamber

music composing in the near future?
Well, I hope movies will afford me the
chance to do the unusual orchestrations, which
is one of the reasons that I want to get into
them. Depending on what's needed for the film,
it may be possible for me to use my abilities with
orchestra and chamber music as well as my
abilities with synthesizer, and combine them in
some way.
Earlier, before we started the "official" interview,
you were talking about a couple of books you've

read recently that have to do with marketing. You
said they talk bout things that, as a musician, your
first thought is, "No, I don't want any part of this!"
But you also said that it was useful information,
because it was true. I was wondering if there's anything you've gotten out of those books that will help
you in dealing with that side of music, with the business/marketing side of a music career?
Well, the books were actually recommended
by L. Ron Hubbard in his management
writings, which I've done a study of through the
years, as an interested amateur. One of the
books is called Positioning, and the other is
Continued on page 36

AMAHA HAS INTRODUCED TWO
new digital multi-effects processors in its
highly-successful SPX line, the SPX900 and
the SPX1000. Both units were specifically
designed for the demanding needs of professional audio, broadcasting, recording, post production, and live performance users. Both units
utilize a second generation Yamaha proprietary
LSI processing integrated circuit, the DSPII,
which yields many new benefits, including
enhanced processor performance and "simultaneous processing"-with up to 5 effects at one
time in both "series" and "parallel" combinations.
Both the SPX900 and the SPXlOOO are one
rack-unit high. They feature 16-bit linear quantization, a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz, a 90
dB dynamic range, and full frequency response
on all effects from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
Both units come with a number of preset
effect programs, which will be listed later. Any
of these presets can be edited, re-titled, and
stored in one of the RAM (user memory)
locations.
Each program has a total of four parameter
groups, for great programming versatility. Each
preset program has a range of "main" parameters
that tailor the effect to any application, individual two-band parametric EQ and dynamic filter
parameters are also provided for each effect program. In addition to these, the units offer a
group of "internal parameters," which provide
fine-tune control over each effect. Finally, a

group of level parameters allow precise balancing between the direct and effect sound.
In both units, MIDI control reaches a new
level of sophistication. Of course, all programs
can be selected via MIDI, but now they can also
be controlled via MIDI: For each program, any
two parameters can be selected for real-time
control over MIDI, or they can be controlled
using either an external rocker pedal or
footswitch. In addition to a MIDI IN jack, both
units have a switchable MIDI OUT /THRU
jack; when switched to OUT, edited programs
stored in internal RAM can be dumped to a second unit or to a MIDI data recorder.

An lntroduc..
tion To
Yamaha's New
SPX900And
SPXlOOO. By
Tom Darter.

SPX900
The SPX900 comes with 50 preset effects
programs, as follows:
1) REV
2) REV
3) REV
4) REV
5) REV
6) REV
7) REV
8) REV
9) REV
10) REV
11) REV
12) REV

1 HALL
2 HALL & GATE
3 ROOM 1
4 ROOM 2
5 ROOM 3
6 WHITE ROOM
7 VOCAL 1
8 VOCAL 2
9 PLATE
10 PLATE & GATE
11 TUNNEL
12 CANYON
Continued on page 26

SPX900 professional multieffects processor.

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VoL 5 Nos. 4-5/AFTERTOUCH

13) REV 13 BASEMENT
14) PERCUSSION ER
15) GATE REVERB
16) REVERSE GATE
17) PROGRAMMABLE ER
18) DELAY L, R
19) DELAY L, C, R
20) STEREO ECHO
21) STEREO FLANGE
22)CHORUS1
23) CHORUS 2
24) STEREO PHASING
25) TREMOLO
26) SYMPHONIC
27) ADR-NOISE GATE
28) PITCH CHANGE 1
29) PITCH CHANGE 2
30) PITCH CHANGE 3
31) MONO PITCH
32)FREEZE
33) PAN
34) TRIGGERED PAN
35) COMPRESSOR
36) DISTORTION
37) EXCITER
38) MULTI (ECH & REV) 1
39) MULTI (ECH & REV) 2
40) MULTI (CHO & REV) 1
41) MULTI (CHO & REV) 2
42) MULTI (CHO & REV) 3
43) MULTI (SYM + REV) 1
44) MULTI (SYM + REV) 2
45) MULTI (SYM + REV) 3
46) MULTI (EXC & REV) 1
47) MULTI (EXC & REV) 2
48) PLATE+ HALL
49)ER +REV
50) ECHO+ REV
In addition, the SPX900 has 49 RAM (user
memory) locations, where edited and re-titled
programs can be stored for later use.
An optional Remote Control Unit, the
RCX1, has been designed specifically for use
with the SPX900. The RCX1 allows direct control of all SPX900 functions, and features its
own backlit LCD, so control and programming
information is right where you need it. The
RCX1 actually enhances the SPX900's own
control capabilities by providing a fast, efficient
data entry dial. This new feature lets you spin
through memory locations and parameters fast

AFTERTOUCH!Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

and with greater control. The RCX1 is ideal for
convenient console-position control of the
SPX900.
The stereo inputs and outputs on the SPX900
can be switched to match - 20dBm or + 4dBm,
providing compatibility with a broad range of
sound equipment.
The SPX900 professional multi-effects processor is now available from authorized Yamaha
Professional Audio dealers, at a suggested retail
price of $995.00. The suggested retail price of
the RCXl remote control unit is $295.00. For
more information, contact Yamaha Corporation of America, Professional Audio Division,
P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600.

SPXlOOO
The SPXlOOO comes with 40 preset effects
programs, as follows:
1) REV 1 HALL
2) REV 2 ROOM
3) REV 3 VOCAL
4) REV 4 PLATE
5) REV 5 ECHO ROOM
6) EARLY REF. 1
7) EARLY REF. 2
8) EARLY REF. 3
9) GATE REVERB
10) REVERSE GATE
11) DELAY L, C, R
12) STEREO ECHO
13) STEREO FLANGE A
14) STEREO FLANGE B
15) CHORUS
16) STEREO PHASING
17) TREMOLO
18) SYMPHONIC
19) ADR-NOISE GATE
20) PITCH CHANGE 1
21) PITCH CHANGE 2
22) PITCH CHANGE 3
23) FREEZE 1
24) FREEZE 2
25) PAN
26) TRIGGERED PAN
27) DISTORTION
28) MULTI (CHO & REV)
29) MULTI (SYM + REV)
30) MULTI (EXC & REV)
31) PLATE + HALL

32)
33)
34)
35)
36)
37)
38)
39)
40)

ER + REV
ECHO + REV
CHORUS + REV
PAN + PAN
COMPRESSOR
LOW LVL EXPANDER
EXCITER
STEREO PITCH
STEREO FREEZE

In addition, the SPXlOOO has 59 RAM (user
memory) locations, where edited and re-titled
programs can be stored for later use.
The SPXlOOO offers unprecedented interfacing versatility, with both analog and Yamahaformat digital inputs and outputs, plus a movable digital insert point. The stereo analog
inputs and outputs can be switched to match
- 20dBm or + 4 dBm, providing compatibility
with a broad range of sound equipment. The
digital inputs and outputs permit direct interfacing with Yamaha digital equipment such as
the DMP7 digital mixing processor, and DEQ7
digital equalizer, and with other digital equipment via an appropriate format converter (such
as the Yamaha FMCl format converter). Of
course, two SPXlOOOs can also be digitally cascaded for extra signal processing power. Direct
digital interfacing provides improved overall
sound quality, because intermediate AID and
D/ A conversion stages are eliminated.
The SPX 1000 also allows selection of a number of Digital 1/0 modes, which determine the
operation and position of its analog and digital
inputs and outputs, as follows:
• In ANALOG mode, the digital In connector
is inactive, and the SPXlOOO receives
input via the analog L and R input jacks.
Both the analog L and R and the digital
Out connectors are active, so that the
SPXIOOO's output can be fed simultaneously to analog and digital equipment.
• In PRE mode, input is received via the analog
input L and R jacks. The digital In and
Out jacks function as a pre-effect insertion
point. A second SPX 1000 or other
Yamaha-format digital device can be inserted into the signal path prior to both
the input selector and effect processor.
Output is delivered via the analog output L
and R jacks.
• In POST mode, the SPXIOOO receives input
via the analog input L and R jacks. The

digital In and Out jacks function as a posteffect insertion point. A second SPXIOOO
or other Yamaha-format digital device can
be inserted into the signal path after the
effect processor. Output is delivered via the
analog output L and R jacks.
• In DIGITAL mode, the analog input Land R
jacks are inactive, and the SPXlOOO
receives input via the digital in connector.
Both the analog output Land Rand digital
Out connectors are active, so that the
SPXIOOO's output can be fed simultaneously to analog and digital equipment.
In addition to the digital l/0 configurations,
the SPXIOOO offers a choice of input modes that
provide increased system flexibility. Stereo Normal is the standard mode of operation, in which
the left-channel and right-channel signals are
passed on to the SPXlOOO processing section on
the same channels on which they were received.
In Stereo Reverse, the left-channel input is fed
to the right-channel processor, and the rightchannel input is fed to the left-channel processor. In Mono R mode, the input signal received
at the input R jack is fed to both processors,
while in Mono L mode, the input signal
received at the input L jack is fed to both
processors.
The SPXlOOO professional multi-effects processor is now available from authorized Yamaha
Professional Audio dealers, at a suggested retail
price of $1, 795.00. For more information, contact Yamaha Corporation of America, Professional Audio Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena
Park, CA 90622-6600.

SPX 1000 professional multieffects processor.

Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5/AFTERTOUCH

Readers Tips

For The SPX90
II, CX5M, And
More.

Setting Up Synthesizers And Tone Generators
To Respond Correctly to G 10 Velocity Curves
By John McEnary
The Yamaha G 10 MIDI guitar controller
allows for intricate adjustment of picking sensitivity, velocity curves, and many other parameters that control the resulting MIDI output.
This is a wonderful thing, but it requires some
careful planning to get the best response from
the instrument. After carefully analyzing the
G lO's MIDI data output with a MIDI monitor
program, I have discovered what I feel to be the
best way to set up the G lO's velocity curves, as
well as something equally important-the best
way to set up the connected MIDI synthesizer's
response to velocity.
When I first used the 010, it didn't seem to
be tracking everything I was playing. Some of
the softer notes I played-especially soft trillswere not sounding. When I looked at the G lO's
MIDI output, I noticed that it was sending some
notes with a MIDI velocity of l. Very few key-

G 10 Midi guitar system.

AITERTOUCH/Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

boards send MIDI velocities as low as I. Therefore, most synthesizers and tone generators don't
respond to velocities that low, or, if they do, the
sound they produce is barely audible. That
explained why some notes were not "tracking"
properly. The G 10 was sending everything I
played, but some notes were being sent at a velocity too low to hear.
I assumed that I could just adjust the G lO's
velocity curves and everything would be fine.
So I did some experimenting with the velocity
curves. The G 10 has eight velocity curve levels.
They are displayed in Parameter # ll (System
Setup of the Utility Mode). As a test, I set all
eight levels to the same value, to see if the G lO
would send the same MIDI velocity value for
each note played-like a MIDI keyboard that is
not velocity sensitive. When I viewed the GlO's
MIDI output, I discovered that, while most of
the notes were at the same velocity, some were
much lower. The G lO was again sending some
notes with a MIDI velocity of I. Either some
notes were being muted (even though I had the
Mute parameter set to a minimum value of l) or

the G 10 has a ninth velocity curve level that is
not programmable and always sends a velocity
of 1.
My solution was simple: limit the velocity
sensitivity of the receiving synthesizer or tone
generator. I set the G lO's velocity curve to a
smooth linear curve starting at an imaginary
value of 1 and going up to 99. With FM synthesizers or tone generators (such as the DX7 II
FD or the TX802 ), I lowered the key velocity
sensitivity on all of the carriers and optionally
lowered the key velocity sensitivity on the
modulators. (The carriers are the bottom row of
operators on the algorithm chart-they affect
output volume; the modulators are the upper
row(s) of operators-they affect timbre.)
With LA synthesizers (such as the Roland D50), I lowered the velocity in the TVA (amplifier) for each partial in a patch. On the
Kurzweil K1000, I lowered the dynamics on
each layer of a program to about 24db. Every
synthesizer manufacturer uses different terms,
but the effect is the same.
This approach takes a great deal of time,
since every synthesizer patch must be edited and
saved, but it is definitely worth it. I can now
hear every note that I play-including all of the
wrong ones! Because the GlO is sending data
over the entire MIDI velocity range, lowering
the velocity sensitivity of the receiving synthesizer or tone generator does not limit my
ability to play with a wide range of dynamics. In
fact, I'm probably playing with a wider dynamic
range than ever, because I'm confident that,
whether I play softly or loudly, whatever I play
will be heard.

Creating Song Chains Using The QXS

Now Exchange Track 1, which is blank, with
Macro 1 (which contains song 1). Play Track 1
to see how many measures it uses. At the end of
Track 1, go into Measure Edit and create enough
measures to cover Macro 2 and Macro 3. Then
go to Event Edit at the end of the first song and
put in a different tempo (if need be) followed by
Macro 2. At the end of the first song, Macro 2
(which is the second song) will begin to play. At
the end of the second song, go to Event Edit
again to insert whatever tempo change is
needed and Macro 3 (which is the third song).
All three songs will end up playing in
succession.
The interesting thing about this procedure is
that the measures created after the first song can
be in any time signature. The first song could be
in 4/4, the next in 3/4, and the third in 12/8 or
whatever. By changing the tempos, you can
make an interesting chain.
In order to store the chain, you have to store
it in two parts, unless you use a cassette. I have
found that three or more songs contain more
memory than the CXSM II will hold in one
lump. However, when you load the two parts
back into the QXS, it remembers where everything fits in Track 1, and the Macros will all be
in their correct place.

QXS digital sequence
recorder.

By AI White
I own a QXS, and use a CXSM II with
TWEO 1 ROM update for storage. One disadvantage that I tried to overcome with the
QXS was the inability to chain songs. I have
found a way to chain three or four songs
together, depending on how much memory is
needed.
Load the first song in from the computer and
mix down all of the tracks to Track 1, and store
that to Macro 1 (leaving all of the tracks blank).
Then load the second song, and use the same
procedure to store it to Macro 2. The third song
is stored to Macro 3.

Building Front Legs For Yamaha Electronic
Pianos
By Bruce L. Hammond
The Yamaha Clavinova and PF2000 series of
electronic pianos each weigh about ninety to
one-hundred pounds, and are quite stable on a
tile or wood floor. On a thick carpet with padding, however, some slight wobble can be experienced when using the pedals or when playing
rapid, forceful passages. While this slight instability does not affect the sound quality, it is

Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5/AFTERTOUCH

Continued from page 29
noticeable if you are accustomed to playing an
acoustic piano.
Most of this wobble can be eliminated by
fabricating simple front legs for these pianos.
For about five dollars and an hour's labor,
matching black legs can be built and installed.
The additional support under the relatively
heavy key action easily relieves the movement
of the stand on the carpet.
First, purchase a six-foot section of
unwarped, 2-by-2 pine. Measure the distance
from the floor to the undersurface of the piano
at the front left and right corners. Now carefully
saw the 2-by-2 to the correct lengths to create
the two spindles (front legs).
Next, remove the small screws that are
already installed in the front corners of the piano, and insert steel or aluminum 1-by-1 corner
braces (used in furniture construction) using the
existing screws. Now, insert the spindles under
the front corners to test for the proper fit. If
necessary, use coarse sandpaper to remove
excess from the spindle to create a perfect fit.
Now sand and paint the finished spindles
using a latex gloss finish to match the piano.
Install the spindles with the small braces facing
the rear of the instrument. The vertical portion
of the corner brace should lie on the back side
of the spindle. Install them with the screws provided with the instrument, using 1" wood
screws to secure the spindles to the braces. Most
people will think the new front legs were part of
the original instrument.

Four New CXSM Voices

By P.J. Otto
The complete parameter listings for these
four new voices are given in the accompanying
diagrams. Here are a few notes on each program:
eguitar: This is an authentic electric guitar
sound. Setting the AMS to 2 creates a
classic tremolo effect.
th pia: This is a thick electric piano sound. It
works well with sustain.
e organ: This is a powerful electric "pipe organ" sound.
fbsynth: This is a feedback synthesizer
sound. Increasing the decay of the first
two operators increases the speed of the
feedback effect.

AFTERTOUCH!Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

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Creating A Vibrato/Tremolo Effect With The
SPX90 II
By Todd Mizenko
For a long, long time, 1 (as well as other
guitarists) have been looking for a vibrato/ tremolo effect created without the hindrance of
modulation. The effect I was searching for was
similar to the 60's Ventures sound.
Well, after much searching, I ended up at the
Compressor program of the SPX90 II. This program is ideal because there is no modulation.
The first important element in this tremolo program is setting the Attack and Release times to
the same value. The lower the value, the faster
the vibrato. The second important element
involves the settings of the Trigger Mask and
Hold Time parameters: Hold Time regulates the
time between vibrations, and Trigger Mask sets
the time that must elapse before the signal can
be triggered again.
Here are two possible tremolo programs:
Medium Tremolo (From preset #19)
Trigger Level: 1
Trigger Delay: 0 ms
Trigger Mask: 150 ms
Attack: 19 ms
Hold: 55 ms
Hold Level: Oo/o
Release: 19 ms
MIDI Trigger: OFF
Slow Tremolo (From preset #19)
Trigger Level: 1
Trigger Delay: 0 ms
Trigger Mask: 260 ms
Attack: 32 ms
Hold: 90 ms
Hold Level: Oo/o
Release: 32 ms
MIDI Trigger: OFF
One of the great things about sound is that
the application of simple mathematics can keep
things sounding good. For this effect, some of
the parameter value are preset amounts apart,
but as a general rule the Trigger Mask value
should be in about a 2. 7-to-1 ratio to the Hold
time. Also, the Hold time should be in about a
3-to-1 ratio to the Attack and Release rates.
Sometimes the tremolo effect will cut out
when ending. This will usually occur when the
Trigger Mask drops below a certain level for a
given set of parameters. For example, on the
Medium Tremolo program above, the tremolo
effect will cut out if the Trigger Mask drops
below 87 ms (this also occurs on the Slow Trem-

olo program when the Trigger Mask drops below
150 ms). One solution is to recall the program
and go through it with trial and error. Another
solution is to judge how fast a tremolo you want,
set a base value on one parameter (like Trigger
Mask), and obtain the rest of the values mathematically.

Four New Harmonizer Patches For The
SPX90II
By Brian W. Hunsberger
I would like to share some of the patch programs I've developed for the SPX90 II. These
are all harmonizer effects, which vary from a
slight pitch change to a full octave above and
below the input signal. Also utilizing delay,
these programs work great with guitar and a stereo amplifier setup, or by 'going direct to a mixer
and panning the two channels right and left.
You will find that these patches are superb for
both the studio and the stage:
Angel's Flight (from preset #23)
L Pitch: +0
L Fine: + 10
L Delay: 7. 7 ms
R Pitch: +0
R Fine: -10
R Delay: 7. 7 ms
Eloquently (from preset #23)
L Pitch: +0
L Fine: +8
L Delay: 5.0 ms
R Pitch: +0
R Fine: -8
R Delay: 50.0 ms
Lower Horizons (from preset #23)
L Pitch: -12
L Fine: +0
L Delay: 5.0 ms
R Pitch: +0
R Fine: +0
R Delay: 25.0 ms
Balance: 65%
Divided We Stand (from preset #23)
L Pitch: + 12
L Fine: +0
L Delay: 125.0 ms
R Pitch: -12
R Fine: +0
R Delay: 25.0 ms
Balance: 40%
Vol. 5 Nos, 4-5/AFTERTOUCH

C1
From The
Finder To DOS,
Part 2. By Scott
Plunkett.

AST MONTH we took a look at how MSDOS duplicates some of the common tasks
of the Mac Finder-checking disk contents,
changing the default disk drive, and creating
folders (or subdirectories, as they're known in
DOS). This month we'll finish our quick tour of
DOS by examining ways to move files and navigate through subdirectories.

and then you'll see "1 File(s) copied" before the
DOS prompt reappears.
You could just take DOS's word for it that the
file was correctly copied and delete the original
version of the file-if you like living dangerously.
A better plan would be to actually check that
the correct file has been copied and that the
original and copy are the identical size before
doing anything too drastic to your original file.

Moving Files
Changing Directories
On any computer, moving files is a fairly
common practice. For instance, when you create a new folder on the Mac, you usually wind
up moving files into it from other folders. The
procedure is simple: you just select the desired
files with the mouse and drag them over.
Unfortunately, this procedure is slightly more
difficult in DOS because there isn't a single
command that moves files from one directory to
another. Instead, moving files is a two step process, where you first copy the files to the new
directory and then delete the original files.
When we finished last month, we had just
created a subdirectory called NEWIDEAS
(remember, subdirectories are simply the DOS
equivalent of a Mac folder and can pretty much
be treated the same way). Now, let's say we're in
the root directory of the same disk and we've got
a file named SONGLSEQ that we want to
move to our NEWIDEAS subdirectory. The
first step of this process is to copy the file to the
NEWIDEAS subdirectory using the DOS Copy
command.
The Copy command has a fairly logical
form-you type the world copy, followed by the
name of the file and then the destination for the
copy. You must always remember to insert a
space after the word copy and between the
filename and destination. So, in order to make
a copy of the SONG I. SEQ file you would type
copy songl.seq newideas, which, translated
into English, is something like "copy the file
SONG 1. SEQ
to
the
subdirectory
NEWIDEAS." When you press ENTER there
will be a small pause as the copying takes place,

AFTERTOUCH/Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

In order to see the contents of a subdirectory
(which is like opening a Mac folder), you have
two choices. You can use the Directory command and check the contents by typing dir
newideas, or you can actually change the current directory to the NEWIDEAS directory.
To move to a different directory, you use the
Change Directory command. From the root
directory, you would type cd newideas, and
press ENTER to make NEWIDEAS the current
directory. How do you know you actually have
changed directories? Type dir. You'll see the
SONG I. SEQ file sitting by itself in the directory to give you your first clue. If you look just
above it, though, you'll see the message "Directory of A: NEWIDEAS" to confirm that you
have indeed changed directories. Whenever
you're in doubt about what directory you're currently working in, type dir and check the
"Directory of. .. " message above the filenames.
Before you return to the root directory to delete the original version of the file, check the
number that follows the SINGI.SEQ filename.
This is the size of the file in kilobytes. If the
copy was successful, this number should match
the number that follows the original filename in
the root directory. After you've checked, go
back to the root directory by typing cd \and
pressing ENTER.
Deleting Files
The second step of the file move procedure is
to delete the original file. First, type dir and

check the number following the SONGl.SEQ
filename to make sure it matches the size of the
copied file you checked a moment ago. If the
size matches, you're ready to delete the orginal
file using the DOS Delete command. At the
DOS prompt, type del songl.seq and press
ENTER. You'll see the upper disk light go on for
a moment and then the DOS prompt will
reappear. Type dir to confirm that the file is
actually gone.
As you typed the Delete command, it may
have occurred to you that there were two files
with the SONGl.SEQ name on the disk. You
certainly don't want to delete both your original
and copied file, but how will you know which
file DOS will erase? Most DOS commands look
only in the current directory for filenames typed
at the DOS prompt, so you must make sure
you're in the right directory before you use
them. For instance, you might decide to rename
your SONGl.SEQ file to SONGOLD.SEQ. If
you tried to use the Rename command from the

root directory by typing ren songl.seq
songold.seq (in English- "rename the file
SONGl.SEQ to SONGOLD.SEQ"), you would
see the error message "Duplicate file name or
File not found" when you pressed ENTER,
becaue DOS can't find SONGl.SEQ in the root
directory. You would hav:e to change the current
directory to NEWIDEAS before you could successfully execute this command. If this seems a
bit strange to you, keep in mind that it really
isn't all that different from the way you deal with
file manipulation on other computers. On the
Mac, for instance, you have to open the proper
folder before you can rename or delete files.
Beyond DOS
Now that you've gotten a feel for what it's like
to work with DOS, next month we'll be looking
at a· few programs that make your DOS work a
little simpler.

Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5/ AITERTOUCH

Continued from page 2
not be able to send the publication to unpaid
subscribers beginning with the July '89 issue.
Make your checks and money orders payable to

AfterTouch .
Yamaha Corporation of America wants to
thank you all for the support you've given to
AfterTouch in the past few years. We encourage
all of you to stay on top of your music and your
Yamaha instruments by supporting this continuing Yamaha users-group publication, now from
Tesladar Communications.
Yamaha Divisional Name Change
As most AfterTouch readers know, Yamaha
Corporation of America is a very large music
company; and, as is necessary with most large
companies, Yamaha has always been divided
into a number of Divisions. Without these corporate subdivisions, it would be impossible for
Yamaha employees to monitor the needs of the
customers interested in one particular line of
musical products.
Earlier this year, Yamaha merged its DMI
(Digital Musical Instruments) Division with
other former Divisions, to create the new SGD
(Synthesizer, Guitar, and Drum) Division. This
was done to better serve the common ground of
customer need and demand found in these previously separated Divisions.
Increased AfterTouch Coverage

AfterTouch began as a publication serving the
needs of the customers of Yamaha's DMI (Digital Musical Instruments) Division. Given the
recent change in Yamaha's Divisional structure,
it will not continue as a publication devoted
solely to the needs of the new SGD (Synthesizer, Guitar, and Drum) Division. In addition, Yamaha's Pro Audio Division (makers of
such wonders as the SPX90 and the DMP7) has
joined the AfterTouch family. Therefore, from
this issue forward, AfterTouch will be an official
users group magazine for customers of the
Yamaha SGD (Synthesizer, Guitar, and Drum)
and Pro Audio Divisions.
V50 Video
The SGD Division of Yamaha Corporation of
America has begun distribution of a promotional video demonstrating its recently introduced VSO digital synthesizer. "VSO Private Ses-

AFTERTOUCH!Vol. 5 Nos. 4-5

sion," available at authorized Yamaha SGD
dealers, highlights the complete production
capabilities of the VSO. Filmed in a musician's
home studio, the video details the step-by-step
creation of a musical composition using the
VSO's professional quality synthesizer, sequencer, PCM drum machine, and digital
effects systems.
"VSO Private Session" was produced by
Killingsworth Presentations of Long Beach,
California. J.P. Lincoln provided the script,
soundtrack, and musical performances. For
more information on "VSO Private Session," see
your local authorized Yamaha dealer.
V50 Guidebook Set
A collection of Guidebooks for the VSO is
now available. Combining a Performance
Voicing Guidebook, a Rhythm Programming
Guidebook, and a Sequencing Guidebook, this
new collection covers all basic aspects of VSO
operations. It comes complete with a demonstration Data Disk. For more information, see
your local authorized Yamaha dealer, or contact
Yamaha Corporation of America, SGD Division, Literature Department, P.O. Box 6600,
Buena Park, CA 90622-6600.
V80FD Dropped
The V80FD digital synthesizer, which was
announced in the January, 1989, issue of
AfterTouch, has been dropped by Yamaha. The
instrument will not be put into production, and
therefore will not be available in stores.
After listening to much valuable feedback
concerning the V80FD at the Winter 1989
NAMM Show in Anaheim, California,
Yamaha decided that it would be more efficient
to incorporate what it learned into its next generation top-of-the-line synthesizer, rather than
spending months to build changes into a unit
that would become obsolete with the introduction of that next generation. Watch the pages of
AfterTouch for more information on the successor to the V80FD.

AFTERTOUCH

P.O. Box 7938
Northridge, CA 91327,7938

Bulk Rate
U.S. Postage

PAID
Long Prairie, MN
Permit 'No. 33

Continued from page 24
called Marketing Warfare. It's not a subject that a
musician naturally studies. Marketing and management are different viewpoints, sometimes
ones that conflict with the creator and the
founder and the artist-the one who creates the
product. As a musician, you don't normally
think about your image, or, I don't anyway, or
what's eventually going to happen to the song
I'm going to wt:ite, or if it is going to be called
jazz or fusion or classical. Do you know what I
mean?
But, these are considerations, they're very
real considerations, that you would hire a business manager to take care of, or hope that someone handling your record or your tour can take
care of. Because, the overall intent is to communicate. Art is a communication. So there must
be an audience. And, in the world, there are
techniques and technologies focused on how to
bring things to people-how to present it to
them, how to develop public relations, how to
advertise, and so forth. Which is, to me, kind of
a new subject, and something I'm interested in.
I wouldn't propose to give anybody any advice,
though, at this point.

But you do think it's not a bad idea to look into it,
to find out how that kind of thinking works?
· Well, here's what any artist should be able to
understand, and where I basically come from on
this subject. You make music. If you have an
intent to share it, to communicate it, to get it
across the some people, then you have to see
that process through: whether it's through a
business manager or as something you do yourself. And I think the more I can learn about
every part of my life, the more effective I can be.
So, since our intent as musicians is to communicate, it is a good idea to know at least
something about the business side of our lives,
and especially how to finalize the process of the

AFTERTOUCH!Vol. 5 No~. 4-5

song that we wrote, of the band that .we put
together, of the record that we made-to insure
that it gets into the listener's hands in a way
that's going to create the effect we want to
leave.
And the effect that we want to have is easy to
understand: you know the effect that you want
to have on another by knowing the effect you
love created on yourself. You want to have them
,be entertained, and lightened up, and
smoothed out, and become happy. So there's
this whole thing that happens to a composition
after it's composed, and that's the subject of
marketing and getting it out to the public.

Is there anything else that's been on your mind
recently that you'd like to share with other people
who are into electronic music?
I think we've covered the things· I've been
thinking about recently. I would like to reiterate
a couple of things that I think are important
about what we've been talking about: ·
One thing is the fact that instrument developers keep on developing new products, and the
technologies keep on getting refined and developed. New ways of synthesis keep getting developed. I think, personally, that this is a great,
wonderful, positive thing in the world. It's a
creative thing, and something that I particularly encourage and like to feel a part of.
On the other hand, as a musician, sometimes
you have to 'step back out of all of the technical
developments and go back to basics again, and
realize that music and art are a communication.
There is a simplicity in making music, and the
in effect of how it makes someone feel. So, with
all of these technical developments, the basic
intent remains the. same. I think it has been
that way for eons-it is something that won't
change, ever. So there is something so stand on,
no matter what.

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Yamaha Corporation AfterTouch Magazine Archive Apr/May 1989 Issue aftertouch-1989-04_05 Yamaha Corporation - AfterTouch Magazine Archive - Apr/May 1989 Issue

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