Onboard Research Model RA800P User manual

Model RA800P
User Guide
Designed and manufactured by
ManualRevision09800002008
May2007

Beatnik™RhythmicAnalyzerModelRA800PUserGuide
ii
QuickStartGuide
1. RemoveBeatnikfromitspackagingandremovetherearbattery
doorcover.
2. InstallsixAAbatteries(provided)usingthecorrectorientation
indicatedinsidethebatterycompartment.Thenreplacethebattery
doorcover.YoucanoptionallyuseanACadapter.
3. SetthePowerSwitch,locatedontherearpanelabove“Settings,”to
On.
UsingtheDefaultSettings
Thedefaultsettingsset atthefactoryare:Analyzer=Subdivision;
View=Autoswitch;Tempo=60;Note=sixteenth;SkillLevel=medium.
Allareexplainedinmoredetaillater.
Tostartyoursession, simplypressthe Start/Pause button.The
builtinmetronomesoundssixteenthnotesat 60beatsperminute.The
fourverticaldottedlinesonthedisplayrepresentthefour16
thnotesina
quarternote.
Totestyourskills,playthe16
thnoteswiththemetronome.When
youstrikethedrumpad,Beatnikdisplaysarealtimeviewofyour
stroke timingandcalculatesarunningscoreofyourperformance
accuracy.Whenyoustopstrikingthedrumpad,Beatnikautomatically
switchestoitsHistorysummaryviewthatrepresentseachstrokeasa
singledotsothatyoucanseethehistoryofeverynoteyouplayed.
Topauseyoursession, pressthe Start/Pause buttonagain.
Toresetyourscoretozeroandclearyourhistory,press
the Reset button.
ChangingDefaultSettings
Tochangesettingsforthetempo,note,volume,etc.,
pressthebuttonofthesettingyouwanttochange.Whenthebutton
lights,theselector(roundknob)isactiveforthatparameter.Turn
theselectoruntilthedesiredsettingappearsinthecurrentsettings
display.

Beatnik™RhythmicAnalyzerModelRA800PUserGuide
iii
Copyright
Copyright©2007OnBoardResearchCorporation
AnytechnicaldocumentationmadeavailablebyOnBoardResearchCorporationis
thecopyrightedworkofOnBoardResearchCorporation.Noportionofthisdocument
maybecopiedwithouttheexpresswrittenconsentofOnBoardResearch
Corporation.
OnBoardResearchCorporation
1321ValwoodParkway,Suite 440
Carrollton,Texas75006U.S.A.
Trademarks
OnBoardisaregisteredtrademarkofOnBoardResearchCorporation.
Beatnik,RA800PandBeatnikRhythmicAnalyzerareregisteredtrademarksof
OnBoardResearchCorporation.Allothertrademarksarethepropertyoftheir
respectiveowners.
SpecialThanks
SpecialappreciationandthanksisgiventoMarkJames,BrianHartig,MikeDrake,
RonFink,EdSoph,ChristopherDeane,DanRobbins,J.J.Pepitone,JimMoen,
HenryOkstelandChrisSeiterfortheiruniquecontributionsinthedevelopmentof
BeatnikRhythmicAnalyzers.
TheBeatnikDesignTeam
MarkWilson,NiruNirumandrad,RustyMembreno,JimDulaney,BobSnyder
RecommendedPracticeStands
WerecommendtheBeatnikStand(seeOptionalAccessories,pg.26)foritseaseof
useanddurability. Thisproductcanalso beattachedtoanypercussionpractice
pad,bellstandorcymbalstandequippedwitha standard8millimeterscrew.
Warranty
Simplystated,shouldanyproductmanufacturedbyOnBoardResearchCorporationin
2006orlaternolongerperformasoriginallyintendedduetowear,workmanship,oreven
accidentaldamage,returnittouspostageprepaid,includereturnpostage, andwewill
eitherreplaceorrepairitatouroption  noquestionsasked!BeatnikhasaLifetime
WarrantyinsidetheU.S.A.,anda2yearwarrantyoutsidetheU.S.A.
Ifyourequirewarrantyservice,sendthedefectiveBeatnikwithanotecontainingyour
name,address,phonenumber,emailaddress,ashortdescriptionoftheproblemand$10
tocoverreturnpostagetotheaddressabove.
http://www.tuners.com
[e-mail]
12142394005
12142394006
Online:
Email:
Telephone:
Fax:

Beatnik™RhythmicAnalyzerModelRA800PUserGuide
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TableofContents
QuickStartGuide............................................................................... ii
UsingtheDefaultSettings................................................................ ii
ChangingDefaultSettings................................................................ ii
Copyright........................................................................................... iii
Introduction.........................................................................................6
Layout..................................................................................................6
CurrentSettingsDisplay ...................................................................8
DataDisplay.....................................................................................8
SettingsPanel ...................................................................................8
MetronomePanel..............................................................................9
Selector.............................................................................................9
PowerOn/OffSwitch......................................................................10
Headphones(orexternalspeaker)Jack ............................................10
ACJack..........................................................................................10
DrumPad .......................................................................................10
PoweringBeatnik...............................................................................11
AttachingtheACAdapter ...............................................................11
InsertingBatteries...........................................................................11
TurningBeatnikOnandOff............................................................12
OverviewofSettingupaPracticeSession.........................................12
SettingtheTempo..............................................................................13
SetTempo ......................................................................................13
MeasuredTempo ............................................................................13
SelectingaNote..................................................................................14
SettingtheVolume.............................................................................14
StartingandPausingaPracticeSession............................................14
UsingtheStart/Pausebutton............................................................14
UsingtheTapStartControl.............................................................15
TheAccuracyAnalyzers....................................................................15
GrooveAnalyzer.............................................................................15
SubdivisionAnalyzer ......................................................................16
ViewOptionsinSubdivisionAnalyzer..............................................16
SkillLevelsandScoring ....................................................................18
SkillLevels.....................................................................................18
Scoring ...........................................................................................19
Click/Tap ...........................................................................................19
ClickDepthControl........................................................................20
TapTempo/TapStartControl........................................................20
Glossary .............................................................................................22
Index ..................................................................................................24

Beatnik™RhythmicAnalyzerModelRA800PUserGuide
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ProductSpecifications .......................................................................26
OptionalAccessories..........................................................................26

Beatnik™RhythmicAnalyzerModelRA800PUserGuide
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Introduction
TheBeatnik™RA800PRhythmicAnalyzerforPercussionfrom
OnBoardResearchhelpsyouimproveyourrhythmicaccuracyin
waysneverbeforeimaginedorpossible.Whetheryou’rean
experiencedplayerwhowantssomefinetuningorapromisingnew
talentinterestedindevelopingsolidrhythmicfundamentals,Beatnik
answersthecall.
Beatnikismorethanafancymetronome.Withitstwointeractive,
practicalandintuitivebuiltinanalyzers,Beatnikprovidesinstant
visualandaudiofeedbackonyourtimingandrhythmicaccuracy.This
letsyouimmediatelyanalyzeyourtechnicalprecisionandassessyour
strengthsandweaknessestohelpyouspeedupyourprogresstoward
rhythmicperfection.
Afteryousetthedesiredrhythm,simplystarttherhythmplaybackand
strike thetouchsensitivepracticepad.Beatnik’slargedisplayshowsa
visualrepresentationofeachstrokeinrealtimeandrecordsevery
strokeforahistoryview,whichletsyouseeexactlywhereyour
strokesoccurredinrelationtothe actualbeatwithaccuracytothe
nearest512thnote!
NeverbeforehastherebeenanythinglikeBeatnik.Ifyouhaveever
wishedyouknewhowyourrhythmicandtimingskillsstackup,
Beatnikhasalltheanswers.
Layout
¾ CurrentSettingsDisplay
¾ RealtimeandHistoryDataDisplay
¾ SettingsPanel
¾ MetronomePanel
¾ Selector
¾ Speaker
¾ DrumPad
¾ PowerOn/OffSwitch
¾ Phones/SpeakerJack
¾ ACJack

Beatnik™RhythmicAnalyzerModelRA800PUserGuide
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Figure 1. TopView
Figure 2. Rear View

Beatnik™RhythmicAnalyzerModelRA800PUserGuide
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CurrentSettingsDisplay
Thecurrentsettings displayshowsacombinationofcurrentsettings,
includingtheselected accuracy analyzer,view, skilllevel, volume and
temposettings, and measuredtempo and performance scorethatadjust
asyouplay.
Figure 3. CurrentSettings Display
DataDisplay
Thedatadisplayis48x128pixels.Eachtimeyoustrikethedrumpad,
Beatnik recordsthetimingofthestrokeandrepresentsitas oneor
more pixels inthedatadisplay.Youcanchangetheviewtoshowyour
timingandrhythmicaccuracyinavarietyofwaystohelpyoubetter
understandyourperformancestrengths andweaknesses.
SettingsPanel
TheSettingspanelincludesthefollowingcontrols:
¾ AccuracyAnalyzers–Letsyouselectfromtwo accuracy
analyzers: Groove,Subdivision.See“Accuracy Analyzers.”
¾ Skill –Letsyouselecttheskilllevelforthepracticesession:
Low,Medium,High,orExpert.See“SkillLevelsand
Scoring.”
¾ Reset–Letsyoueraseallpracticesessionscoresandstroke
historyfrommemory.
¾ Start/Pause–Letsyoustartorpausethecurrentpractice
session.

Beatnik™RhythmicAnalyzerModelRA800PUserGuide
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MetronomePanel
TheMetronomepanelincludesthefollowingcontrols:
¾ Tempo–Letsyouchangethemetronome’stempo(quarter
notebeat).
¾ Note–Letsyousetthenote(forexample,8
th or16 th )you
intendtoplay.
¾ Volume–TheVolumecontrolletsyouadjustthevolumeof
themetronomeclick.
¾ Click/Tap –TheClickcontroladjuststhe“depth”or
frequencyofthesubdividedmetronomeclicks.The TapSet
controlletsyousetthemetronometemposimplybystriking
thedrumpad.The TapStartcontrolletsyoutapacountoff
andautomaticallystartapracticesessionontheflyatthe
detectedtempo.See“Click/Tap.”
Selector
Theselectorletsyouselectsettingsforthecurrentlyactivefunction.
Whenyoupressabutton,thebuttonilluminates,indicatingthatthe
selectorcontrolsthatfunction.
Note:AllbuttonsworkthiswayexcepttheReset,Start/Pauseand
Click/Tapbuttons.
Toscrollbetweenoptionsorvalues,turntheselectorclockwiseor
counterclockwise.The changesto options orvalues appearinthe
currentsettings.
Figure 4. Selector
Theselectorisspeedsensitive,whichmeansyoucanadvancemore
quicklythefasteryouturnthecontrol.Forexample,ifyouwantedto
changethetempofrom60to240,quicklyturntheselectorclockwise

Beatnik™RhythmicAnalyzerModelRA800PUserGuide
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tocoverawiderrangeinlesstime.Forsmallerranges,turnthe
selectormoreslowly.
PowerOn/OffSwitch
Beatnikprovidesasimpletwopositionon/offswitch. Theleftposition
is Offandtherightpositionis On.
Headphones(orexternalspeaker)Jack
Theheadphonesjackletsyou listentoBeatnikclicksinheadphones
whenyou connectstandardheadphonesequippedwitha 3.5mm plug.
Theoutputspeaker isdisconnected whenaheadphone plug isinserted
intheBeatnik’sheadphonejack. Externalspeakerssuch ascomputer
speakerscanalsobeusedifequippedwitha3.5mmplug.
ACJack
TheACjackletsyoupower Beatnik fromastandardACoutletusing
theoptionalBeatnikACadapter,orotheradapterthatconfirmstothe
requiredspecification.
DrumPad
Thedrumpadresemblesastandarddrumpracticepad.Thisspecial
padismadeofapatentedresilientpolymerthatstandsuptothemost
rigorouspracticedemands.