Oberheim Cyclone Perf/x User manual

· cyclone
••••••••••••
Pei-i'/x
MIDI Perfonnance Effects
~g""'" Oberheim..
~f§i,8 732 Kevin Court
~~ Oakland, CA 94621

Conte/lis
(~haptc .. 1'Velcolllc 1
Chapter 2 Quicl{-Start 3
2.1 Setup 3
2.2 Selecting Programs
.4
2.3 Playing the Cyclone .4
2.4 The Factory Prol!.r:lllls 5
Program 00 -Traditional Arpeggi.lIor 5
Program 01 - OC\;Ive Tlanspose Arpeggi:llion 5
Program 02 -Two-Nolcs·at-a-Time Arpeggiation 6
Program 03 - Dunl Arreggiation 6
Program 04 -Auto-lJoubled Arpeggiation 6
Program 05 -Manually-Doubled Arpeggiation 6
Program 06 -Inversion Transpose Arpeggi:ttion 6
Plogr:tm 07 -Chlomalic Recursion Arprgr.iation 6
Program 08 -Auto Record Arpeggiation 6
Program 09 -Plcssure Mod Arpeggiation ·7
Program 10 -Emcrsonic 7
Plogr:lIl1 II -Random Notes 7
Progr:un 12 -One-track Sequence RecorcVPlayhal'k 7
Program 13 -Recorded Rhythm Arp~ggiation 8
Program 14 -Live Rhythm Playback 8
Program
15 -rylotechnics! 8
2.5 Global Perfonnance Effects 8
TenlJX) Tap 8
Sustain 8
Tenlpo ~1odulation 8
Duration Modulation 9
Chapter 3 Unpacking &)Jool{Up Procedurc 11
3.1 Unpacking the Cydone .1 1
3.2 Rear Panel Connections &Power-On .1 1
3.2.1
~1IDI 11
3.2.2 Ped'lls 11
3.3 Powering Up 12
3.3.1 Local Control 12
Resetting the Cyclone 13
Chapter 4 General Overview .15
4.1 An Introduction to Arpcggialipll .15
Cloning 16
Order 16
Auto·Transpose 16
4.2 What Makes the Cyclone.> I.>ifferent?. .t7
The real clock gener:ltor 17
TIle reallllelllory hllffrr 17
The reaIclone fu net ion ~ 17
Acouple of exalllples 18
Auto Transpose 18
Auto-Double 18
Clmpter 5 Genenll OrganizatioIJ 21
5.1 rront Panel 01gani1.aliol1 21
PROGRAM Par:llllcte.>rs V!i. MASTER P;lIalllclcrs 21
PLAY r.1ode vs. EDIT Mode 21
PLAY Mode
EDIT Modc
5.2 '1\1COlOIY 22

USER Prograrns 22
FACTORYProgranls 22
Chapter 6PLAY Mode 25
6.1 Inlroduction 25
6.2 Selector Keys
.
.. -Select -" and "Enable" 25
6.3 PLAY Mode Functions
26
Clone 26
Cycle 26
Manual Control 26
Rec.ord/Hold 26
6.4 "Store" and "Hold to nlUle" 27
Store 27
Ilold to mute 27
CI13pter 7 EDI'r l\1ode ;~ 29
EDIT Options
"- Select -" and "Enter" 29
7.1 Pages, Paranlcters &Functions 29
Single Pararneter Pages ~ 29
~1ultiple Parameter Pages 30
7.2 Display Conventions / ShortcuL~ 31
Values 31
Notes 31
Chapter 8 Sources I Uestinations 33
8.1 Sources 33
8.2 Destinations 33
8.3 Zone Limits 34
Chapter 9 Cloning: Rhythm, Orders &l\1ode 35
9.1 \Vhats in aclone 35
9.2
Rhytlll11 36
9.3 Mode 36
9.4 Order 37
9.5 Cloning
The General Case 37
Chapter 10 Tempo, Timing & Cycling 39
10.1 Tempo 39
Tempo Tap 39
10.2 Tinling .40
P.n -Pulse Note 40
d.U -Duration 40
L.i -Link 41
10.3 Cycling 41
E.b -End Beat .41
S.Y -Sync-to-Trigger 42
r.S - Mode Resel. 42
LA -Invert Alternate .42
Chapter 11 Record IHold 45
r.H -RecordlJlold r..1ode .45
A.C -Auto-correct Step Size .45
I) Record Ready 46
2) Record Start. ;.48
3) Record·in·Progress .48
4) Record Stop 50
Chapter 12 Control Option 51
C.t - Manual Control 52
.L.n and
B.n - Zone Lirnits 52

b.n -Base Nole 52
A.V -Audible Conllol 53
P.r -Transposc p/ i'JI ity 53
P.3 Local Pedal 3 53
P.4 Local Pedal 4 53
E.3 MIDI Pedal 3 53
E.4 MIDI Pedal 4 53
Chapter 13 Auto Effects 55
13.1 Auto Xpose 55
A.\ -Auto-Transpose t-1ode 55
S.Y -Auto-Tnmspose Sync 56
r.i -Recursion Intervul 56
Il.t -Number of Auto-Transpose Stages 56
E.t -Current Edit Stage 56
i.n -Interval. 57
r.E -Repeats 57
13.2 AUIO-Double 57
n.d - NUlllber of l)oubles 57
E.d - CUlTent Edit Douhle 57
Ln -Douhle Interval 57
C.JI -Channcl 58
13.1 Auto·t-.1utate (t-.1odulalions) 58
n.L -Note Loudness/Velocity 58
t.A -Tempo t-.·1ndulation A/llount 59
t.C -Tempo Modulation Controller Numher 59
d.A -Duralion Modulalion Amounl. 59
d.C -Duration
r-.1oclulalion Controller 60
(~hapter 14 I)EVALS 61
redall:unction Listing 62
Para/neter Edit Exanlplc
63
rrogram Chain ()pcr:llioll 64
Chapter 15 I\tASTEn Parmncters &Functions 65
]
5.1 "t-tIDI "65
b.C -Basic Chanllel
65
E.C - 1\1101 E<:ho 66
C.L -
f\.11DI Clock 67
E.l, E.2, E.3 and EA --- MIDI Pedal Conuollers 67
15.3 "Dunlp/Load "68
Chapter 16 Reference Vata 69
16.1 Factory Default PlUgrallls &Master Parameters 69
]6.2 Global Parallleters 69
16.3 Editable P:lramelcrs in Factory Programs 70
16.4 F,.ont Panel 1\1nel1l0nics 71
Chapter 17 "'a.'ranty 75
..

Chapter 1
Welcome
Congratulations on your purchase of the Cyclone, the newest of Oberheim's MIDI
Performance instrument line, Perf/x, The Perf/x line was created with the intention of
supplying the modem musician with time and labor-saving devices that simplify the ever
increasing complexity of today's music systems, while also providing all-new performance
and programming controls that allow your creativity to Oourish in areas you might never
even have thought about.
The Cyclone integrates the concepts
of cuveggiation, sequencing, and MIDI rhythm
driving all
in one package. It combines traditional arpeggiation and sequencing capabilities
with entirely
new performance techniques, programmability, and synchronization. One
innovation is the ability to provide independence of rh~'thm and pitch, and to provide
interactive control of both from the keyboard. Its 16 ROM and 16 (expandable to 83) RAM
Programs allow you to pre-program pitch and rhythm events that will play simultaneously
or independently, dual keyboard ranges, doublings, transpositions, tempi, MIDI
assignments and many other parameters.
The arpeggiation section is without precedent, allowing for not one, but two independent
keyboard ranges as well as recorded information. There are eight transposition stages
per
Program, each stage having it's own number of repeals, inversions, or progrmllmable
recursions. ]n addition to steady pulses you can program your aJveggiation rhythm.
Instead
of single nole lines the arpeggios can now consist of chords as well. The
possibilities for live performance arc endless as all parameters can be altered "on-the-Oy",
making the Cyclone the creative improvisor's dream come true.
Add to these the ability to use your Cyclone as amaster I\HDI clock, fully capable
of live
"human feel" tempo changes using the Tap Tempo pedal. That'sjust one of the 9 modes
your 8independently programmable pedals cu'e capable of.
This manual provides both an introductory tutorial and acomplete reference to the
information for use
once you are familiar with the overall operation of the Cyclone. We
hope that you enjoy this extraordinary instrument and recommend (as always) that you read
this manual in it's entirety.
Thank you for your investment in the State
of the Art. It just got better.
Welcome Page 1

Chapter 2
Liftoff! ...
A
Quick-Start Guide to the Cye/one
This section explains how to get up and running (without gelling into serious programming
or editing), by taking advantage of the 16 Factory Programs shipped with the Cyclone.
Each Factory Program behaves in adifferent way, which provides the ability to try out
many of the Performance Effects available with the C)'Clonc in ashort time.
2.1 SETUP
Before JOlJ turn iJnyJhillC 011, do the following -
Master Controller
Channel 1
MIDI
our
I,I
MIIJI MIDI MIDI MIDI
IN OUT IN THRU
«~rc~©~8.l
Slave
Channel 1
CR. ..
Master Controller
Channel 1, Local CII OFF
MIDI MIDI
OUT IN
,
MIIJI MIIJI
IN CUT
C)f C~ Q!il t11
1) Connect the MIDI Out from your Master controller to the MIDI In of the
Cyclone. The Mastercontroller can be aMIDI keyboard, aMIDI guitar
controller, asequencer, acomputer with sequencing software, adrum machine
or any other source of MIDI information.
2) Connect MIDI Out from the C)'clone to MIDI In of the slave instrument you
want to control and set the slave's Basic Channel to 1. Ifyou want to use asynth
as both your master and slave, make sure MIDI Local Control is OFF on the
synth. When you turn on the CJclone, it will automatically tell the slave to enter
this mode.
If you have problems when you me arpeggiating the voices in your master controller
or when plilying the keyboards of slave units, see the section on Locnl Control in
chapter 3.
Quick Start
Page 3

"3)
If you have one or more "momentary" (spring-loaded ON/OFF) footswitches,
plug them into the Cyclone's rear panel Pedal jacks according to the desired
functions:
•Pedal 2acts as aProgram Chain advance, automatically selecting the next
Program.
•Pedal 3turns starts and stops arpeggiation when in Play Mode.
•Pedal 4provides a"TempoTap" ability.
•The Pedal 1jack
is used as an audio out jack, providing ametronome click out
under certain conditions.
4) Turn on your Master controller and set its MIDI Dasic Channel to
1.
5) With the switch on the €yc!one's rear pancl in its down (off) position, plug the
provided power pack into
an AC outlet and connect it to t1le power jack on the
rear panel.
6)
Tum the C)'c1one on by flipping the switch to its up position.
•The section describing the factory presets assumes that aHard Reset has been
performed, otherwise the
Cyclone may not perfonn as described. A"Hard
Reset" erases all
of the memory, including userprograms and Master settings
and initializes the C)'c!one to the condition in which it is shipped from the
factory.
To perform a"Hard Reset" hold the switch on t1le front panel of the
C)'c1one labelled "Enablc" while turning on power.
7) On the Slave(s), select sound patches with ashort attack and amedium release,
such as an organ, piano,
or plucked guitar.
2.2 SELECTING PROGRAMS
•Press the "Mode" key so that the "Play" LED is flashing. This LED is now
flashing on quarter-notes at the current tempo.
•Use the "<" and ">" keys to select aprogram. Programs
00 through 15 are the
Factory Programs, while higher numbers are the User Programs. After selecting
the program, press "Enable" to activate the program.
•Pressing the "Enable" key while in PLAY Mode causes the display to
show" ••"
and effectively disables the C)'clone. At this point, the unit simply passes
MIDI
data as MIDI Thru. To re-enable the Cyclone, simply press "Enable" again.
2.3 PLAYING THE CYCLONE
The Cyclone provides many different kinds of Performance Effects, some of which
may be familiar and others will be new. Some effects are generally always available,
while most are dependent on which Program has been selected. There is always
one
and only one Program in effect.
If at any time you want to mute all the sounding voices, just press and hold the far right
switch (labelled "hold to mute") and the
Cyclone will automatically shut off every
Page 4Cyclone Owner's Manual

sounding voice ill the system. When the voices have been muted, press "Mode" to
return to "Play" mode.
2.4 THE FACTORY PROGRAMS
Program 00 - In\uitional 6u'l..~ggiator
I) Clnssic Arpcggialion
This is it basic arpeggio, without any frills: lkld notes are played repetitively
in an cighth-note pulse rhythm in up/down note order, one at atime. This is
also agood stiu"ling place to demonstrate some of the other features of the
Cyclone.
•Play and hold (using the Sustain pedal if desired) any number of notes.
•
Tap Pedal 4 in qUilrter-notes to set the Tempo.
•
To change the oruer in which the held notes are played:
a) Press the "Mode" switch to enter "Edit Mode"
b) Press the "Clone" switch until the LED to the left of "Order" is lit.
c) Use the
"<" and ">" keys to select other orders and press the "Enter"
switch.
d) Press the "t\1odc" switch to return to "Play Mode".
2)
Chord I lIold
•Turn off the "Clone" function by pressing the associated switch.
•Press the "Record/llold" switch causing the associated LED to flash.
•Any notes you now play will be latched. fie wamed that although the
chord is still held in the Cyclone's memory, with some patches the
sound may fade away.
•Press the "Manual Control" switch, causing both its
LED and the
"Record/IIold"
LED to come on steady.
•Play notes in the lower octave
of the keyboard. This will cause the
Cyclone to gate and transpose the held chord accordingly.
3) Arpeggiating, Gating and Transposing aHeld Chord
•From Chord Hold mode, press the "Clone" switch, causing both its
LED to come on and the "Record/llold" LED to extinguish ("Manual
Control" will still
be lit).
•Play notes
in the lower octave of the keyboard, to simultaneously gate,
arpeggiate, and transpose the held chord.
•Also play notcs above the lowest octllve to simultaneously mveggiate the
keyboard
and the "Record Duffer" -the notes held in the CJclone's
memory.
Program 01 -Octave Transpose Au'eggiation
Same as Program 00, but with automatic transposition hy octaves ("untransposed/I
octave up/untransposedlJ octave down") at the end
of each "scan" or pass through the
held notes. Also, the order
of each scan is the same as the order played. instead of just
strictly up and down.
..
Quick Start
Page 5

Program 02 - TWQ-NQtes-at-a-Time Arpe&l:iation
Same as PrQgram 00, but playing tlVO nQtes at atime instead of just Qne, and in the
Qrder played.
Program 03 -Dual AQ)eggiation
Same as Program 00, but with tWQ keybQard "Zones" active, providing two
il/dependel/t arpeggiatiol/s at once. The
two Zones split the keybQard at Middle C.
Also, t11e Qrder of the arpeggiatiQn is t11e Qrder in which the nQtes were played.
•Play
Qne Qr tWQ notes below Middle C, and arelated chQrd abQve middle C.
Note that the two arneggiatiQns can pulse "Qut-of-phase".
Program 04 -Auto-Doubled ArpeggiatiQn
Same as Program 01, but with cach held note automatically doubled at an octave below
and a
fifth above when thc Clone LED is lit.
Program
05 -ManuaJly-Doub1cd Arpeggiation
Same as Program 01, except the functiQn initiated by the "Manual Control" switch
allows real-time definition
of doubles to be used with the arpeggiation.
•Playa chord
at the high cnd Qf the keyboard and play low C Qn the keyboard.
You will hear
the chord arpeggiated. If you play anot11er note in t11e bottom
octave,
YQU will hear anothcr copy Qf your pattern playing at the same time that
is transpQsed from the Qriginal.
Program 06 -Inversion Transpose Arpeggiatjon
Same as Program 01, but with automatic transposition by inversions (like you would
invert a C chord: CIEIG,E/G/C,G/C/E,etc.) at the beginning
of each scan of the held
notes. Three inversiQns occur at each octave, after playing once without inversion.
Program 07 -Chromatic Recursion Arpeggiatjon
Same as PrQgram 01, but with chrQmatic (half-step) transpQsitiQns at the beginning of
each scan of the held notes. The original plus tlu'ee chrQmatic transpositions are played
at each octave.
Program 08 -Auto Record Arpcggiation
Same as Program 01, except the Cyclune automatically replaces the previQus
contents
Qf t11e Record Duffer when new nQtes are played -and just playing back
when
no keys are held.
•With
the "ClQne" LED lit, playa chQrd and release it. The Cyclone will
continue to arpeggiate that chord.
Page 6Cyclone Owner's Manual

Program 09 -Pressure Mod "rpcggiation
Same as Program 00, but with tempo and duration controlled by keyboard pressure.
•Play and hold chords/notes, and while holding those notes, use keyboard
pressure to simultaneously control the tempo and duration
of the resulting
notes.
Proglam to - Emersonic
Same as ProgH\1lJ 02, but with an 8-stage automatic transposition through intervals
bascd on a "V, VII, IV, VII, octave V, I, IV, VII" progression.
•Use keyboard pressure to vary betwecn staccato and legato.
•Works very well
withh sampled piano.
Program I I - Random Notes
Same as Program
00, except that the order, number of held-notes-at-a-time, and pulse
timing of the arpeggiation are random.
Program J2 - One-track Sequence Record/Playback
This program starts playing the contents
of memory as soon as it is selected to
dcmonstrate lhal just selecling the program is
a1l it lakcs to start playing; you don't
need to manually tum cloning on.
t) Recording up to 32 notes:
•Connect the Pedal t
jack to one of the audio inputs on your mixer for a
meU'onome click.
•Press the "Record/Ilold" switch, causing its
LED to flash at the current
tempo.
•Press the "Clone" switch, causing its
LED to light. If hooked up, the
metronome should now be audible.
Use Tempo Tap to adjust tempo as
desired.
•
The Cyclone will start recording when you start playing, automatically
placing the first note
on the first beat, and quantizing note-ons to the
nearest 16th note.
•Press "Clone" to stop recording,
or "Record/Hold" to stop and
automatically begin playback.
•By starting recording,
or resuming Recording, the C)'clone erases any
previous recording, so additional takes can be started immediately.
2) Playing back apreviously recorded sequence:
•With the
"Record/llold" LED turned off, press the "Clone" switch.
•
Use the "Cyclc" switch to control whcther the CJ'clone loops the
recording
or plays it only once.
•Duration Modulation has
no effect.
•
To hear the Factory Demo sequence. first select (User) Program 16 to
redefine the Record Buffer
(if any prior Recording/Holding has been
happened since
lIard Reset).
Quick Start
Page 7

Program ]3 -Rccordcd Rhythm Arpeggiation
Same as Program 00, except that this Program:
1) uses a previously recorded rhythm instead of apulse
2) uses the recorded note-groupings to determine arpeggiated note-groupings
3) the order is as played.
•Use Program 12 to record asequence with the desired rhythm pattern into the
Record Buffer. Then resclect Program
13 to use that rhythm pattern.
Program
]4 -Live Rhythm Playback
The inverse
of Program 13, i.e. this program plays apreviously recorded sequence of
notes with arhythm which is played Jive on the keyboard.
•Use Program
12 to record the desired pattern of notes and chords into the
Record Buffer.
•With the "Clone"
LED lit, play notes in the bollom octave in the desired rhythm
pattern, and the
CJclonc will step thru the recorded notes and chords
accordingly.
Program
]5 -Pyrotechnics!
This program demonstrates what happens when you really start to use some of the
Cyclone's more interesting features. This program is actually the same as program
03, with only three parameters changed.
•After selecting this program, press and hold the "Record/hold" button, then
press the "Store" button. This erases the current recording and prepares for
recording.
•The tempo is automatically changed so it always takes the same amount
of time
to get through the pattem,
no matter how many notes you play.
•Play and release chords. Each time you
playa new chord it replaces the
previous
one in memory.
•When you get apattcrn you like in memory, press the "Record/hold" button to
disable recording. Whatever is in memory will continue
to play.
•
Now play more chords. The keyboard is split at middle C, so you can get two
more independent patterns going over what is playing from memory.
• To change the memory pattern, press "Rec/hold" to start recording, put in a new
chord, then press "Rec/hold" again to play over the memory pattern.
2.5 GLOBAL PERFORMANCE EFFECTS
Tempo Tap
When the "Clone" LED is lit, simply tap at least 3quaJ1er·notes on Pedal 4at the
desired tempo and the
CJclone will follow along. .
Sustain
The sustain pedal function of the Master controller "holds" any played keys until it is
released. .
Tempo Modulation
Page 8
Cyclone Owner's Manual

When the "Clone" LED is lit. the pitch bend lever on your controllercontrols tJle
tempo. At center position, the tempo is normal. When you bend down, it slows
down.
Durntion I\lodulaCion
The mod wheel/lever of the controller keyboard provides the ability to modify the
relative length of time which noles sound, generally causing amore staccato feel with
increasing mod wheel position. This is also called "Gate Time" on other instruments.
These factory presets are designec110 give you
just a navor for what the C)'clone is
capable of. They also make good starting points for your own experiments, As you can
sec, this is avery nexible box: There are many features which are not even hinted at by
these examples.
We encourage )'CLlll to read on and find out exactly why we say this is the
world's most powerful performance arpeggiator!
Quick Start
Page 9

Chapter 3
Unpacking and Hookup Procedure
3.1 UNPACKING THE CYCLONE
The CJdonc i~ ~hipped from Oherheim boxed in protective foam. With it is this
Owner's Manual and a
power pack.
()nce you have unpacked the CJdOIlC, place it on any solid
~urface near your MIDI setup.
Bdore JOU tunt fl1lylhim: on, refer to the following procedure for connecting the unit.
3.2 REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS & POWER-ON
3.2.II\IIDI
1) Connect the MIDI Out fwm your Master controller to the MIDI In of the
Cyclone. The Master controller can be aMIDI keyboard, aMIDI Controller
("mother") keyboard, any MIDI synthesizer or sampler that has akeyboard,
or
any other source of MIDI notes.
2) Connect MIDI Out from the C)'clonc to MIDI In of your fir~t Slave instrument.
The first Slave can be another MIDI keyboard, akeyboard synthesizer
or sampler, or a
MIDI voice module (rack-mount or table-top) or the ~]aster controller keyboard itself.
If asecond Slave instrulllcnt
is available, conncct the MIDI Thru of the first Slave to the
MIDI
In of the second.
3.2.2 Pedals
The back panel of the C)'clOIlC also includes four 1/4" jacks which accept any
"discrete" pedal (also known as a"footswitch"). Adiscrete pedal is amomentary
(spring-loaded ON/OFF) footswitch type.
Be sure not to use a"continuous" (rocker
type) footpedal.
If you plan to use any pedals with the C)'clone, simply plug them into
the desired inputs.
There are two kinds
of discrete pedals available. The C)'done can use either kind by
automatically deciding which kind is in use
when power is turned on. To make sure
that the kind
of pedal is correctly determined, plug in the pedals before turning on
powcr and do lIot press the pedals while power is being turned 011.
Unpacking & Hookup
Page 11

3.3 POWERING UP
For starters....
Tum on your Master controller and set its MIDI Basic Channel.
Turn on the first Slave, and set its Basic Channel. Ifyou're using asecond Slave, tum
it on and set its Basic Channel as well.
Then
power on the CJclonc ....
Connect the provided Power Pack (Oberheim Part Number 400006 for 120V, 400007
for 220/240V) to the connector on the back
of the C)'c1one and plug the pack into an
AC outlet.
Tum the power on ~y lifting the power switch on the left rear panel.
The
cUlTent software revision number will be brieOy displayed, the the C)'CIone will
enter Play Mode and will
be in the same program as when it was turned off.
3.3.1 Local Contrul
When the Cyclone is first powered on, it sends aMIDI Local Control Off command
on the Basic Channel (the C)'c1une is shipped from Oberheim set to MIDI Basic
Channell). This allows you to use the Cyclone to arpeggiate the same keyboard you
are using as aMaster.
Cwdon~
,,
Oul
In
On
IInternal Voices I
~·Olf
Local Control
Keyboard
Under normal conditions, synths operate in "Local control ON" mode. This means that
what you play on the keyboard goes to the voices and
is sent to MIDI Out. The voices
can also be controlled from MIDI In.
If you connect asynth in Local Control On mode
to aCyclone, when you
playa note on the synths keyboard its will first play one of
the synth's internal voices then it will be sent to the Cyclone via MIDI Out. After the
Cyclone processes the note, it may send it back, causing another voice to play.
Sometimes this
is good, but it is usually not. By putting the Synth in Local Control Orf
mode, all the notes go to the Cyclone before they are sent to the voices.
)n cases where this is not desirable, holding the switch on the front panel of the
Cyclone labelled "Manual Control" while powering on sends aMIDI Local Control
On command on the Basic Channel.
Page 12
Cyclone Owner's Manual

Some synlhs, notably the DX-7, do not support the Local Control OFF function, so
when those instruments are used as the master, it may be better not to try to arpeggiate
the built-in voices. You will pruhably want to use aseparate master and slave since the
"doubling" problem described above only happens when the master and slave are the
same unit.
RescUing the CJclolle
The C)'c1one can be initialized to the condition it left the factory by performing the
"Hard Reset" function. This
is accomplished by holding the Enter/Enable button on the
front panel while tuming on
IXW.'cr. But be careful: the Hard Reset initializes the
C)'c1one to the default factory settings. This erases all programmed data and replaces
them with the Factory settings.
Unpacking & Hookup
Page 13

Chapter 4
General Overview
4.1 AN INTRODUCTION TO ARPEGGIATION
Clock
Typical
Arpeggiator
Cion"
Transpose
Tpmpo
Order
CUIT .. nt (Which
-+
f-+
Time
Current.
nOles)
Sian?
Pulse ISlan
141 el '2"~12OI2.t28 ... 1
Timm9t Duraloonl3131 3131 31 313 ... I
Rpcord Blffltt-r TT
IHIH
,ht':""d
Oul
The Cyclone is ahigh perfonnance, real-time, programmable, perfonnance-oriented
arpeggiator. That sounds neat, but what does it do exactly? The answer to that question
occupies the remainder
of this manual. In other words, there is lot going on in this box!
We will try to make things easier
by developing an understanding of what is going on by
starting all the way from scratch.
The meaning
of "arpeggio" in its most basic sense is "The playing of the tones of achord
in rapid succession rather than simultaneously." This is exactly what is performed by a
typical electronic arpeggiator: You play the chord from your keyboard and the arpeggiator
will play the tones one after the other as rapidly as you like and
will continue to repeat the
tones as long as you hold the chord. There aren't usually too many things to control. The
main ones are:
•
TEMPO -How fast the notes should be played
•ORDER -When playing the notes, in which order should they be played? Typical
options include:
Stan with the lowest pitch followed by higher and higher
pitches, start with the highest pitch and
go down, or go up then down. l\'Jany
nrpeggiators can also play the tones
in the order that you played the keys in the
chord (or backward
or forward then backward, etc.).
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•TRANSPOSE -Some of the better arpeggiators will play the pattern, then transpose it
by an amount you specify, then play the pattern again and transpose it and
so on.
•SOURCE -While much
of the time you will hold notes to be arpeggiated on the
keyboard, sometimes you will want to play some pattern without actually holding
the keys. Some units will let you hold aset
of notes to be arpeggiated in their
"memory". You then need to select the "source" for the arpeggiator:
Do you want
to arpeggiate what you are playing from the keyboard
or what is being held in the
memory?
Cloning
Beyond that, not too much is standard. The picture above shows what this basic structure
looks like. There
is aclock generator (a metronome of sorts) which allows you to control
the rate at which the notes are played. This drives afunction which we call
Clone which
makes copies
of the notes you play and alters them by parameters such as the mode, order,
and rhythm. What does the clone function do? Let's start out with what happens in a
simple arpeggiator. The figure above shows the two main parts
of simple cloning:
Deciding when to play the next note, and deciding what pitch it should be.
The clonc function keeps track of when the next note should play and for how long it
should play. For example
if you wanled to have new notes be generated on quarter notes,
the clone function would
be waiting for the clock to reach the first beat, then the second
beat, then the third beat and so on, just like asequencer would. When the clock reaches the
next "Start" time ,clone creates a"gate". That is, clone says "We should start playing a
note now and it should last for an eighth note."
Ordcr
Note that the previous sentence did not say what pitch should be played, it only said that
something should be played and that it should last for acertain length of time. The order
function looks at the sources that are active (memory, the keyboard, or both) and picks
which pilch to play for each gate. Which one
is picked depends on whether you want play
back the notes from lowest to highest, highest to lowest, random,
or whatever.
Auto- Transpose
After the clone function generates new notes, they can be transposed automatically by the
Auto-Transpose function. Remember, clone generates apattern of notes based on what
you play and what is in memory. Auto-Transpose changes the pattern into anew key after
each time the pattern is played.
That
is about all that most arpeggialors do. In the Cyclone there are alots of other things
going on as well. We'll get to most
of those later in the manuaL There are afew other
relevant things that are important
in understanding how the CyClone works.
Page 16 Cyclone
Owner's Manual

4.2 WHAT MAKES THE CYCLONE DIFFERENT?
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As the above picture indicates, there are quite afew things going on in the Cyclone which
go beyond atypical arpeggiator. Don't worry -everything you, see is described
completely in later chapters. This
is just achance to see where we are going to end up. If
you aren't comfortable with arpeggiators yet, or would just like to start playing with the
box, you can skil) the rest
of this chapter, and go ahead to chapter 5. You may
also want to come back to this section after you have gone through afew
of the parameters
to get a"big picture"
of how it all fits together.
The real clock generator
Let's start at the left side of the picture. The first thing to see is that the clock generator has
acouple
of new options. The internal clock is still there and the Tempo control still
controls how fast it is going, but you can choose one
of two other sources for the clock:
External clock like that generated by some drum machines, and MIDI clock for syncing the
Cyclone to sequencers.
The real memory buffer
Next we move into the memory buffer. Above we said that the memory buffer memorizes
what keys are held so you can arpeggiate without actually holding the keys. \Vell. in the
Cyclone the memory buffer holds not only what notes you played, but it also the order in
which you played them, when you played them, how hard you played them and how long
you held them.
If that sounds like what asequencer does, you're right. And the Cyclone
can do many things that asequencer can. ~ut look at the memory buffer again. Although
there
is IStart Time and duration to go with every note, the rhythms are handled
independantly from the pitches. This one simple fact makes the C)'clone very different
from asequencer.
The real clone function
The most obvious change is in the clone function. Although basically the same things are
still happening here, there are afew extra things to see. And
of course, this is where things
start to gel complicated. First
is that the current time is still updated by the clock, but now
there are two different rhythm sources. The Pulse Rhythm source provides nice evenly
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Page 17

spaced gates with fixed durations, while the Rhythm part of the Record Buffer uses the
rhythm you have recorded, including chords and rests. In either case,
clone generates
gates based on these rhythms. These gates still don't have pitches, they
just indicate that
something should happen and for how long. Another way to indicate when something
should be played and for how long is to use the keyboard. Arange
of notes can be set up
on the keyboard from which you can play the rhythm live.The
rhythm function decides
which source to use for these gates: The Pulse Rhythm source, the Record Buffer,
or the
Live Gates.
The next step
is the mode. This basically decides how many notes should be played for
each gate coming from the rh),thm function. In atraditional arpeggiator, mode simply
says play one note for each gate coming from
rhythm. That is what happens when you
are playing
in traditional arpeggiator mode or in sequencer mode. When you choose other
combinations
of rhythm and l11o.de settings, mode can either play more than one note
per incoming gate,
or it can ignore some of the incoming gates if too many start at the same
time. We'll get into more detail about this later in the manual when
mode is discussed.
The last step
in the clone function is to take the gates from mode and give them pitches.
This is what the
order function does. The pitches can come from either what is currently
being held on the keyboard or from what
is stored in memory. Order simply picks the
next pitch to give to each gate.
A
couple of examples
To see how these functions relate to things we are familiar with consider these two
examples:
When
rh)'thm is set to the Pulse Rhythm generator, mode is set to exactly one note
per gate and
order is set to UP, the result is avery basic arpeggio where the notes play
steadily, one at atime, starting with the lowest pitch and continuing up.
When
rhythm is set to Recorded Rhythm, mode is set to one note for each gate (also
known as the "recorded" mode), and
order is set to use the pitches from the memory
buffer in the order in which they were recorded, the result sounds like asequencer.
When the clock comes to each recorded note's start time, agate is generated. Since one
note
is played for each gate, the corresponding pitch from the record buffer is played
for the duration
of the gate. In short, for every note you recorded, one note comes out
at the right time, with the same pitch and lasts for the same length of time.
Auto Transpose
The auto-transpose function now processes the notes coming from clone according to the
transpose list. The main difference from atypical arpeggiator here
is that you can set how
many times the C)'clone should play
in each key. It will then play the pattern that number
of times in the given key before going to the next transposition. In addition, there are two
new ways
of doing auto-transpositions: Recursion and inversion. Recursion means that at
the end
of apattern the key is changed by an assigned number of semitones, the pattern is
played again, the key
is changed by tire same number of sem;tones ,the pattern is played
yet again, and this keeps going for some·number
of times ....
Inversions keep the pattern going by putting the lowest note on top (or vice versa) and
playing the pattern again.
Auto-Double
The last step before sending the noles out is to add extra copies of each note transposed by
fixed amounts from the original. Acommon use of this is to double each note in the
Page 18
Cyclone Owner's Manual

(Irpeggio at onc octave below the original note. Since the C)'c1onc can support up to eight
simultaneous doubles, each note from the arpeggio could result in 8n eight note chord being
played.
We hope that this has given you some insight into the overall layout of the C)'clone.
We've just scratchcd the surface, but when you understand these last few pages it will be
easier to grasp how all the parameters fit together and to see how to use them.
Unpacking & Hookup
Page 19