Alesis HR-16 User manual

Instruction
Manual

DearAlesis
Custon€r:
You
have.
iust
purchased
a_
powedul
rnusic.producliodcomprehensive
eledronic
percussion
system.
ll9":9 l?k".?.Aoment
toglancellrough
thismanual
to
gaiir
abetter
undeFtanding
ofthe
ope;ation
otthe
HR-16,
theMMT-8,
and
theHR-16:8.
The operating
systems
of the AteslsHR-16
and the HR.16|B
are tdentlcat
wlth a few
exceptlons.All Instrucilons
and descrlpilons
ot HR-16 funcilons h thls manual
wllt
apply to the operatlon
of the HR-16:g
exceptfor those exceptlons
whlch ars noted
throughoutthe manual.
wh€n uslng the HR-16
and the xn.ie:a togetheras one untt,
please
refer to the lnstructlon
manualIngen,"uslng the HR-16wltti the HR.16r8..,
or
lo the Insert lnstructlon card located Inslde the lllp-up Instructlon ]ld. Both of these
Inslructlonsare Included
wlth yout HR-16:8.
PLEASE
READ
THIS
Concerning
thebackupmemory
of the HR-16
andMMT-8.
The
backup
memoriesin
theHR-16
andthe
MMT-B
arenon-volatile.
They
areprotected
by a lithium
cellbattery
withanexpectedlifeof 10years.
Thismeans
you
canturn
power
offon
bothmachines
and
your
work
will
be
retained
inmemory.
However,
please
beaware
thatanycomputer
baseddevicewith
memory
backup
canbesubject
tolosingits
memory
at
any
timefor
thefollowing
-
reasons:
1) [ power is
interrupted,
even
briefly,
duringRECORD,ERASE,
orLENGTH
CHANGE,
you
may
lose
all
memory
orsome
minute
portion
of
memory.
Thisis
possible
becausetheMMT-8
andHR-l6'sinternal
computers
are
moving
information
around
in
memory
duringtheseoperations.
Apower
surge,or
power
interruption
couldcause
anunfortunatememoryloss
during
thesevulnerable
operations.
2) Staticelectricity
canalso
causeafull
orpartial
memory
loss.
Therefore,
it is recommended
that you frequentlybackup any
rlmportant
work you areinvolved
in. lt ls a simpleoperatlon.
Please
makeit a habitual
partof your use of the HR-16
and MMT-8,
so that your enjoyment
and musical
progress
won't
be interrupted,
See the sections on TAPE in this tnstruction
Manual,

ALESIS
HR.16
HIGHSAMPLE
RATE
DRUM
MACHINE
TABLEOFCONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
HR.16QUICK
PATTERN
MODE
RECOFIDINIGAPATTERN
16BITDIGITAL
PACE
3
4
6
6
8
10
12
OUAITIZE...
STEPEDITMODE........
schGh/bDE
SONGEDrr.
coPY.........
zuTTON
DYNAM|CS...............................
START/STOP
F@TSWITCH
....... ...,....,z o

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ftft.

INTRODUCTION
TheAlesis
HR-16
(High
sample
Rate
/ 15bitdrummachine)
iqa user
{riendly,.yet
exlremely
powerful
MlDldrum
sequencer
/ sound
goneralor.
The
sound.
generation
caoabiliti-es
ottheHR-16
include16
independent
drum
"voicss"'
6ach
ofwhich
canbo
assigned
toanyons
of49digital
samples(47
inthe
HR-16:B)
,
andcanbe
routedwitha7
position
pan
looneof two iets of stereb outputs' Each
voicscan alsobs tunsd
independentty
in 32incremgnts
ovoran
oclave
anda hal{.
Thessquencing
oflhe drumsis accomplished
by€ntering
record,and.thon
playing
on
thetouch-sensiiive
drumbuttons
onthslront
panel,
whichisthsnstored
inloa'pallern."
There
canbeupto 1OO
patlerns
intheHR-16'smemory
(00'99).Th€ss
patterns
can
be
anywher€
lrom1to 682beats
long.The
patterns
canbecombined
iniolisls
ofpattsrns'
which
arecalled
"songs.'Therecin bs upto 1oo
songsintheHR'16'smemory(00-99)'
andeachcan
containalistofpalterns
upto255steps
long.
The16
drum
pads
at
thefrontof
theHR-16ar€
vslocity'sensitive'
How
hardlhopad.
ishit
determines
tlie volume
otthedrumon 8 levels. 12ofthepads(all
pads
sxceptClosod
Hat,Mid
Hat,OpenHat,
andCrash)
aro€achdirecfly
assigned
toavoice.
Thismeans
thai
playing
a padiepeatedly
willretriiger
thesame
vo'ce,andnoother
padwilleffect that
voice.
Anysounds
assigned
tothethree
HiHat
pads
will
allb€assigned10
thosamevoice.
This
isio tnat
playing
thE
ClosedHalwill
cutotttheOpon
orMklHal,
foramorsrealistic
hihat
sound. The Ciash pad is assignedlo two voicEsthat alternate. This meansthat
repealedly
hittingthecrash
pad
r-sults
inlwoindependent
crashes
(of
lhs samesound)
that
canovorlapas
lhoydscay.
Moresounds
canbsmadetooverlapbyassigning
thesame
soundtotwodiffErent
pads
andaltsrnding
which
pad
ispressed
eachtime
lhosoundistobe
playsd' Only1s.voices
havebeenused
(12
ndrmal
iads, I voicelorHiHats,2lorCrash).
Tho16thvoica
isussd
fortheClick,which
canalsobeassignsd
tob€any
ofihsavailable
sounds.
PLEASE NOTETHESE FEATURES
PROGRAM
CHANGE
THROUGHMIDI
This
allows
MlDlprogram
solection
ofpatterns toworkwhileapart
isplaying.
lfanew
program
numberis received
over MlDl, lhis programnumberwillbe selected
to be
iheI.IEXTpattern numberto play whenthecune-nt
pattern
isfinished.Thisfunctions
exactlyas
if the newpattern irurirberhadbeenselecled withthekeypad.ll a song
is
playing,
MlDl programcommandswill be ignored.
SONGCHANGETHROUGHMIDI
MlDl programchangeswill select songs it the HR-16 is in Song mode, and not
prayrng.
SPOTERASING
This allowssoot erasinowhile in recordmode whEnQuantizeis OFF. The erase
button
andadrumbuttoi canbeheld down
whilerecordingwithquantize offinorder
toerasealldrumevents
(quantized
ornot)thatoccurduring
thetime thatthebuttons
are held down.

HR.16
QUICKBASIC
SETUP
'1.Connecl
output
1(either
left
,right
orboth)
toasuitable
monitorinq
system.
I outDut2
isconnscted,
thedesired
drum
pads
must
beassigned
rooup"i i rii"iltrl i,,rix;iffi".
(See
MlX.)
?: .9llg1ltt: YlDttN
iack
ofrhe.HR-16
ro
theMtDl
OUT
jack
ofasequencer,
an
external
orum
pao
conlrolsr,
orakeyboard.
ll^?:g*lEIlDl OUT
jack
of
rheHR-.t6
ro
orherMtDt
sound
sources
whendaisey
cnarnrng
MtUtdevicos
orlo anonernaldrum
source.
TheMlDl
OUT
jack
also
doublesis
a
l,!!PlII.EV ig{ qnd
borh
MtDt
tNdara
and
dara
poOuceo
onrrrE
Hi-16 are prEsenr
arthe
MlDl
OUT
iack
if
desirod.
For
standalono
operation
thoMlDl.iacks
ne6dnotbeconneclsd.
MlDl
allows.rhythm
triggsring
and
programming
oftheHR-16
fromexternal
MlDldevices,
suchaskeyboards
ordrum
pads
that
areequipped
wilhMlDl. Also,MlDl
canbeused
to
syncdif{erent
devicss
to thoHR-16,
saveandrecall
thememory
usinganexternaldisk
drivev-ia
MlDlsystem
exclusivedata
dump,and
receive
program
ihange-commands
which
willcallup
patlerns.
The program
change
command
is useful
for accessing
ditt€rsnt
setsol soundswhen
lriggering
sounds
fromdrum
pads
or sequsncsrs.
lf a newprogram
change
commandis received while
the HR-16is in PLAYmode,
lhe program nurnber
willselect
the nextpattern
to playalterthe currentpattern
is
linished.
ThgHR-1
6has
twostereo
outputs
(four
individual
outputs).
Thevolume
sliderisactive
on
onlyths firslstereo
outpul
(output
1). In addition,
il only
oneside
of an output
is
connacted,
thestsreo
mixassigned
onihat storso
outputbecomes
a mono
mixonthat
singleoutput.
Thissaves
having
lo reconstruct
amono
mixfrom
astereo
mix,whenonly
a
single
outputis
beingused.
UsingFour
outputs,
assignths
kicktooutput
2pann6d hard
lottand
thesnarg
tooutout
2
panned
hard
right.This
leavesall
otherdrums
onoutputI panned
inslereo
asdesired
andthekick
andsnare
assignsdtoth6kownoutput.
fqr_Toj" inJormation
onssttingupdrum machines
andsequencers,
seeMMT-8BASIC
SETUPin
theMMT-8Instruction
Manual.
Pags 4

PATTERN MODE
When
power
istirstturnsd
on,the
HR-l6willbeinSONGorPATTmode
(SONGorPATT
LEDlii),depending
onths mode
thatwasselectod
before
power
was
turnedoff. The
songoi pattern
number
willalsob€
thesameas
whsn
power
wasturned
oft.
PATT (pattern) Button
Pressttib PATT'button
lo 6nter
pattsrn
mode.
PATTLED
willlight. Now,thedisplay
Selectlng a PATTern
The00isunderlined
toindicate
thatitwillbechanged
ifanewnumber
isselected
withthe
keypadorthe +/-arrow buttons.Pressinglhs+/-arrowbuttons
immediatelyselscts
the
neii pattern
number,withthEnumbsrs
looping
past
99
lo 00andlooping
down
lrom00
to99. llasingle
digitonthekeypad
is
pressed
(3,
forsxampls),
thsdisplaywill
changeto:
Thedisplay
isnowindicatingthatthesEcond
digitotthepattern
shouldbeentered.
Aftor
enteringtheseconddigit,thsnew
pattsrn
isselect€d.lfthsseconddigit
isnotentered
within
2seconds,thedisplay
willrevortbacktothepreviouspatlern
number,
andnonew
pattsrn
willhave
beensolsctsd.Thistype
ofkeypadentry
isconsistent withallsnlries
madewith
thekeypaddescribed
inthismanual.Pressing
PLAYwillstart
playing
the
selected
pattsrn
{romitsbeginning,andthsPLAY
LEDwilllight.The
displaywill
read,for
9xampre:
T001
The
displayisnowshowing
lhecurrentbeatnumborand
tho
pattern
number
thatisbeing
played.
As
eachbeatoccurs,
thedisplaywilladvancethe
beatcount.
Whiletho
pattern
is
plating,
thekeypad
and
+/-
arrowbuttonscan
beusedtoselectanew
pattorn
number.
The
displaywillread:
SElectlng
new PATTerns
In PLAY
Attheendolthecurrent
pattern,
the
newlyselected
pattsrn
numberwill
play,
withthe
beatcountstarting
againat001.TheNEXT
pattern
to
play
canbechanged
upuntilthe
endoflhe
currenl
pattern
isreached,after
whichthonew
paltern
willbegin
playing,
and
thedisplay
willrevertbackto
PLAYINGPATT.
STOP/CONTINUE
Buttons
ProssingSTOP/CONTINUE
will
stop
playing
apattem,
andthedisPlay
willrelurn
lo the
selecl
pattern
display.Pressing
STOP/CONTINUEagain
willb€ginPlaying.apattern
ffom
theb€dinning
ofthebeat
itwasonwhsnitwas
stopp€d.Pressing
PLAYwillalways
starta
pattern
trom
lhebeginning.
Whenapattsrn reaches
itssnd,
itwill loopbackand
conlinue
playing
tromlh€ beginning.
AlesisHR-15
Instruclions
.........

RECORDING A PATTern (Atso see LENGTH and QUANT|ZE)
]o-reco! ou.lg1teLll press
and
holdrhe
RECORD
button,
and
rhen
prsss
the
pLAy
button.
Ihe
HR-16
wirrimmsdiat.ry
bsgin
praying
backany
existing
drums
inths
currontrv
s9l99lgq
pattsrn
from
rhe
bsginning,
and
williad anynew
drums
piayed
onrhe
Uutton.
o',
viaMlDlto
the
pattern.
The
pLAyandRECoRD
LEDs
wiilb€
rit,a;d ihedispray
wirrread:
T
Th€pattern
number
isnoi underlined,
indicaling
thata new
pattern
cannotbeselected
whilo
recording.
When
adrumbutton
is
pressed,
itisrecorded
along
withitsdynamics
on
eighllevels. Thedrums
ar€always
rocorded
quantized
tothenearest
currenily
selec{ed
quantizo
beat. Pressing
STOP
exitsrecord
mod6,and
boththeRECORD
ind pLAy
LEDswilliurnotf. lf PLAYispressod
while
inRECORD,
theRECORD
LEDwillturn
off.
and
the
patlern
willimmediately
begin
playing
irom
thestart.
LENGTH
Whenrecording
torths
lirsttimeon
anempty
pattern,
lhelengthwill
dstaulttogbeats,
unlsssitwas
set
prsviously
withthe
LENGTHbutton.
TheLENGTH
buttonisused
tosetthelongth
ofapattarn
toa specilied
number
ofbeats.
While
hoidingihe LENGTHbutton,
thedisplay
willshowthecuirentlengtholrhe
cuilent
pattern.
lfitisanempty
panern,
thedisplaywill
r6ad:
LENGTH
OO8
BEATS
8 beats is the default length ol an smpty pattern. ll it is desired to chang€ the length, ths
+/- arrow buttons can bs used lo move the length up or down in single b6at incrsments
(001 minimum, 682 milimum), or a lhree digit numbercan bo onter€d with the keypad. In
eithercase, tho new lengthis not sntored intoths pattsrnuntilth6 RECORD button is
presssd. Wh6n RECORD is pressedthe display chang€s to:
Thisdisplay
remainsuntilRECORD
isreleased.lfLENGTH
isreleasedbeforeRECORD
is
pressed,
nochangeto thelength
willbomade,regardless
of whatwaspressed
onthe
keypad.lf RECORDisprssssd
aflerenteringaparlial length
(1
or2digits),nothingwitl
happen.Whenentering
indigits,thelirstdigit
sntered
(1,
fofexample)
resultsinths
followingdisplay:
PATTOO
LENGTH1 BEATS
Thedisplayis nowwaitingtor th€ entryot the seconddigit. lf tho seconddigitis not
enteredwiihin2 seconds,the display$,illrevertlo itsprevious
value. lf RECORDis
prsssed
atler
enleringan incompletslsngth
(l or2 digits),thsdisplay
will
revsrt
toits
oreviousvalue.
00

Whena new
lenqth
isontsred
(RECORD),
any
drum
evsnts
lhatwere
beyond
lh€..new
sellenoth
willbe;rased. It
thenew
length
isbnger
than
thsprev'ous
one'
tnsaoolpnal
ffiih ";iil6elirf"J"ittr "ir"n"e. lfitisdisired
toiEmove
oradd
lsngth
1oihebeginning
of
i oitr"rn, firstset
thedesired
length
(as
described
above),
and
then
pross
andreloase
th; PATT
button.
The
display
will
change
to:
LENGTH BEATS
PressinqthePATTbuttonagainwi||togg|ebackiotheoriginaldisp|ay.|l-RECoRD.is
pressed-withthoabov€disp|ayshowing,anyadditiona|beatswi||bep|acgdatlne
'beoinnino
ol lhepattern,
and
anybeats
removed
willbe removed
lromthePatlern
top'
Orimevinisftrat
were
siored
inthe
removed
b€atswill
be
rsmoved
fromlhs pattern.
The
LENGTH
button
has
noeflecl
insong
mods,
orwhile
asong
orpattern
isplaying'
QUANTIZE
The
ouANTIZEbutton
isusedto s€lecl
ths resoluiion
atwhich
drum
€vents
areto bo
r'Eiora"o. wnib hotoing
downth€ouANTzE button
inpattern
mode,
thodisplay
will
read:
The
1o
quantize
choices
are114,1t6,1t8,1t12,1116,1D4,1132,1/48,
1/64,.and
OfF'
ttre +l- irrow buttons
of ttrekeypad
canbe used
to scroll
lhrough
the choices' Tho
Keypacloulons 1
-0can alsobe usedIo selccl thequantize
valuedirefily' wnn
1= 1/4and0=OFF.
Quantize
will
only
affecl
newlyrecorded
evgnts,
and
willnotchangs
anyevents
alrsady
recorded.
When6ver
anew
quantize
valug
isselected,
theswingamount
will
b€resot
to
Sb7.. ltso, thsquantize
valtledeterminEs
thostep_amounl
lo beused.when
in pattern
itep mode
ipntf+RgCOnO). llquantize
issst
toOFF,
lhestaps
willbein
3841h
notes'
ERASE
Theerass
button
b usod
to erase
a singledrum,
a patt6tn,
ora song. When
in PATT
mode,
pressing
andhoHing
iheEMSE button
causssthe
lollowing
display:
The
number
01would
actually
bsthe
curreilly
sel€ct€d
pattern
number'
Tosrasstho
selectsd
pattern,
press
RECORD-
Thedisplay
will
change
io:
Thedisplay
will remain
thiswayuntil
the RECORD
button
is releas€d,
aftsr
whict.th€
;;;;-;illi"tr;"i"'its previous
6tate.
Toerase
asinglo
drum,
press
and
hold
lheERA5E
;;{;;1 ;; a"i""t ihed'esked
drum
button.
ll,lorexahple,
ToM 1ispress€d,
thsdisplay
willread:
AlesisHR-lSlnstuctons
'.............'..... """""""" Pagp
7
TO

01
01
TOM1 isnow
complet^ely_eJased
from
pattern
1. When
erasing
a single
drum,
it is not
nec€ssary
topress
RECORD.
InSOI'IG
mods,
holding
the
ERASE
buttonwill
cause
thafollowing
display:
Pressing
theRECORD
button
will
erasethe
currently
selected
song
number.
Whenerasing
apattern or
song,
theerassis
notexecuted
until
RECORD
is
oressed.and
willbe
aborled
ifERASE
isreleased
before
pressing
BECORD.
Wtrenerjsing
ad'r;m,
thseraseoccurs
assoonas
thedrum
buttbnispiessed.
The
ERASEbutto-n
has
no
eifect
while
asong
orpattarn
isplaying.
.Er€slng
lndlviduat drums In RECOFD
mode (sotected
beats)
While
recording.in
a pattsrn, individual
drums
can
beerased
by hoi,Cing
ths ERASE
button
while
playing
the
drum
onthedesired
b6at
tobeerased.
lfthe
drumaashitwithin
a quantiz€
window
inwhich
that
samedrum
hadbeen
previously
rscordsd,
itwill
be
erassd..
Holding
thedrum
button
downwill
continue
toerase
an! ofthe
samedrum
events
lhatmay
o@ur.
This
means
thatadrum
button
canbeheld
downwith
ERASEthroughout
a part
ofa
pattern
whilsinrecordinorder
tosraseall
ofthatdrum's
events
thaioccur
withintire
current
quantize
step. lf eighthnotss
exisledon a snare
forexample,
anderaseand
snare
worsh€ld
downinrecordwhile
inquarter not€
quantizg,
only.the
snaresvents
on
quarter
notes
wouldbesrased.
Er_albg an entlre drum bulton'3 rhyfhm (all beats) or erasing and enilrg
PATTern
While
not
playing
orrecordinga pattern,
the
ERASEbuttoncan
beusedto
eraseall
ofa
drum's
svents
(regardless
ofquantizs
mode)from
theontirs
pattern
byholding
araseand
llttlnglhg-dlt4. lt canalso
beusedroerase
thoenrirs
paflern
bytiotding
ERnSE
and
hittingRECORD.
STEP EDIT MODE
Howto enter
STEPEDIT
mode
Toenter
steprecord
/ stepedit,
press
andhold
PATTERN,andihen
press
RECORD,
lhenreleaseboth
buttons.TheRECORD
LEDwilllight,
burthepLAy LEDwillnor,
indicalingthat
you
areinstep
mode.Thedisplay
willlookaslollows:
STEP001 + 00/96
PERC 1 VOLUME
Thelirsllineofthedisplay
showsthecurrent
shownasa fractionof96ths
ofa beat. The+ bsat number,followed by the sub-beat
arrow butlon is used to move lorwards in
Alesis
HR-16Instructions
.............................. ..................Page I