Yamaha Cs1x User manual

➤

Foreword

With the CS1x Yamaha have created a multi-faceted entry-

level synth which to an attractive price offers endless possibili-

ties for live performance and music production in general.

YAMAHA EUROPA is aiming to provide users with an exten-

sive range of information regarding the use of the keyboard and

software.

Our thanks go out to

Peter Krischker

and

Matthias Sauer

, the

two

BLUE BOOK

authors who spent 3 months analysing

the CS1x in every detail to give you, the user, all the real-world

application tips, tricks and examples you need to help fully

exploit all the possibilities the CS1x has to offer.

We would also like to thank YAMAHA Corporation Japan/SY

Division for their support in realising the

BLUE BOOK

We are convinced that you will approve of this unprecedented

guide, and are looking forward to any comments or suggestions

you may have.

Gert Drögemüller

Product Manager for Synthesizer & Software

YAMAHA EUROPA

➤

About the Authors

Peter Krischker

has worked for YAMAHA EUROPA as

Sound Designer and Synthesizer Specialist for ﬁve years. In

conjunction with other programmers he created the CS1x fac-

tory sounds, as well as its demo songs.

Matthias Sauer

has programmed several synthesizer sound

sets for YAMAHA EUROPA, and also writes for a well-known

trade magazine.

➤

About

BLUE BOOK

CS1x

The CS1x brings colour into the current musical landscape.

It‘s simply fun to be inspired by its intelligent Arpeggiator

and fresh sounds, or the brilliant control possibilities of its

knobs and Scenes. We wanted to pass our enthusiasm about

this machine directly onto you. This is how the “

BLUE

BOOK

” came about, a special kind of workbook that will

give you an easy start into using the CS1x and provide an

overview of this innovative synthesizer‘s countless possibili-

ties.

The

BLUE BOOK

isn‘t aiming to be a manual. Rather, it

will describe the most important steps needed to put the

CS1x‘s potential into practice, unlike a manual which is

merely concerned with documenting each and every function

and parameter. The

BLUE BOOK

concept dictates that

you should be able to read through it from beginning to end.

Don‘t be deterred however by the broad subject range cov-

ered in this book; there are many sides to the CS1x. Never-

theless, to give you the quickest start possible, we

recommend you skip straight to the sections of particular

interest to you. If you require more in depth details about any

particular function, you can always look these up in the man-

ual.

Please consider the

BLUE BOOK

as a ‘guide’ to your

practical work. It is possible to learn about the underlying

foundations of CS1x sound and song programming ‘from the

ground up’ so to speak. We have prepared many exercises

and practical examples to help you understand each tech-

nique, function or problem you may encounter.

This practical guide is accompanied by two ﬂoppy disks,

each containing various sounds, sequences and other tools.

If you don‘t already know how to transfer these sounds from

your computer to the CS1x, please look at section “

Saving

and managing Performances

” in the introduction.

The “

Tutorial Disk

” contains several ﬁles with additional

sound examples, short demos and other MIDI ﬁles which we

will reference in the text. A second diskette, “BLUE X-TRA”

contains the User Bank Performances (Factory) and further

factory sounds (“EXTRA Bank”) which can be used to replace

the User Bank. The

BLUE BOOK

Appendix contains a

summary of all these ﬁles.

Finally we would like to point you to section “

The little trou-

ble shooter

” at the end of this book. This short checklist

attempts to help with any problems you may encounter. We

hope you have a lot of fun with the

BLUE BOOK

and your

CS1x.

Peter Krischker / Matthias Sauer

Co-ordination, Design, Layout:

Ronald Bias, Hamburg

Siemensstr. 22-34, 25462 Rellingen (Germany)

Reprint in whole or in part by express permission only.

CS1XUGBE01YE

Contents

➤

Introduction

❯

First steps –

Listening to the Preset sounds and Demos . . 5

❯

At a glance . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

❯

Sound Organisation . . . . . . . . . 6

❯

Performance Storage and Management . . . 7

➤

Analogue

Workshop

❯

Sound Central – The Oscillator . . . . . . 9

❯

The Filters – Tastebuds for your Ears . . . . 10

❯

Dynamic Helpers – Envelopes . . . . . . 10

❯

Helper Motors – the LFOs. . . . . . . . 12

❯

About the Little Things . . . . . . . . 13

❯

Résumé . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

➤

Arpeggiator –

A Box full of Tricks for all Occasions

❯

First Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

❯

Sound Rhythm Tricks . . . . . . . . . 16

❯

Fun to the power of 15! . . . . . . . . 17

❯

Effects – used in a different way. . . . . . 18

❯

Hard Chord Work . . . . . . . . . . 18

❯

Keeping in line . . . . . . . . . . . 19

❯

Let‘s Groove!. . . . . . . . . . . . 20

➤

Performance Mode –

Practical Knowledge

❯

Scenes – what are they? . . . . . . . . 21

❯

Day to Day things . . . . . . . . . . 21

❯

Why Scenes? . . . . . . . . . . . 22

❯

The Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

❯

Live Application . . . . . . . . . . . 24

❯

Split Performances . . . . . . . . . . 25

❯

Pulling out all the Stops . . . . . . . . 26

➤

Song Production: An Easy Start

❯

Songs in Performance Mode:

Six steps to success . . . . . . . . . 27

❯

The traditional approach:

Multi settings at the machine . . . . . . 28

➤

Song Production: The Basics

❯

What is “XG”? . . . . . . . . . . . 31

❯

Performance Mode or Multi Mode?. . . . . 31

❯

Where is the Multi Setup? . . . . . . . 32

❯

What is a “MIDI Event”? . . . . . . . . 32

❯

Decisions, decisions: Banks and Programs . . 33

❯

Who is controlling whom? . . . . . . . 34

❯

Everything under control: NPRN and RPN. . . 35

❯

Exclusive: Sys-Ex messages . . . . . . . 37

➤

Song Production:

More Tips and Tricks

❯

Part Mode and Drum Setups. . . . . . . 39

❯

Things worth knowing about the Variation Effect 39

❯

Still more Performances! . . . . . . . . 40

❯

Split Performances – used to great effect. . . 41

❯

Utility mode preparations. . . . . . . . 41

➤

Song Practice:

A View behind the Scenes

❯

Example 1: Sweep Run . . . . . . . . 43

❯

Example 2: “Blue Fuzz” . . . . . . . . 45

❯

Example 3: “Tekk it” . . . . . . . . . 46

➤

Appendix

❯

Summary of “Tutorial Disk” Files . . . . . 47

❯

Overview: “BLUE X-TRA” Disk Files . . . . 47

❯

The little Trouble Shooter. . . . . . . . 49

❯

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Introduction

Now that you have unpacked your

CS1x, placed it onto a ﬁrm surface and

wired up and plugged everything in cor-

rectly, we would like to accompany you

a little during this ﬁrst contact with your

new synthesizer. Naturally you will want

to listen to the demo songs straight

away to get a feel for the tonal possibili-

ties of the CS1x.

First steps – Listening

to the Preset sounds

and Demos

Press the Performance and Multi keys simultaneously. You

can now hear the ﬁrst song “FRIDGE”, all the other

sequences will follow automatically. You can of course man-

ually select each of these song examples via the numeric

pad.

A total of

8 demos are available. Although each sequence

is primarily concerned with showing the CS1x in its best

light, the sequences are still quite different: by tradition, the

ﬁrst four demos (0-3) set out to prove the song production

abilities of the CS1x and it‘s possibilities as a stand-alone

workstation, whilst the remaining songs deal with the CS1x‘s

more outstanding features. Here is a quick description:

Knob Tech (4): Sequences that demonstrate real-time

knob control for Dance & Techno productions.

(programmed by Peter Krischker, YE)

Analuner (5): Synthesizer sounds of the 70‘s and 80‘s. If

you appreciate classic vintage sounds you must take a listen

to this demo.

(programmed by Johannes Waehneldt, YE).

Arp Tech (6): Here you will hear one of the CS1x highlights,

the Arpeggiator. Unusual sequences and likewise sounds.

(programmed by Johannes Waehneldt, YE).

Transit (7): We ﬁnish on a few sequences that again de-

monstrate the real-time control and modulation possibilities

of the CS1x.

(programmed by Johannes Waehneldt, YE).

The factory preset sounds chosen for the CS1x clearly

emphasise its synthesizer character. If you are at all unsure

to what uses a particular sound may be applied, let yourself

be guided by the sound‘s category (Sq=Sequencer,

Ba=Bass, Pf=Piano etc. – more about this can be found in

the manual).

Try this out at all cost: The CS1x Arpeggiator already

shines brightly with the ﬁrst 12 Performances. Press any key

and listen how the Arpeggiator translates the note. To under-

stand this better, switch the Arpeggiator off (key bearing the

same name, to the top left of the LC-Display). Also, try using

the unique Scene switches (just above the two wheels) with

the preset sounds straight away; ﬁrst press one, than the

other, and ﬁnally both simultaneously, and use the Mod

wheel, too. It‘s best to aquaint yourself with the CS1x Con-

trol knobs right from the start. Take particular note of the

different Assign 1/2 settings (=Knob3/6). These will no

doubt give you plenty of ideas for your own sounds.

If you‘re inclined to head straight for the more traditional

piano, organ or string sounds, don‘t panic – here, too the

CS1x is at home. After all, it contains all the GM/XG sounds.

If you have not yet come across these sounds, why not press

the MULTI key. You can now try out the most important XG

voices using the PROGRAM keys (bottom left of the LC-Dis-

play) in your own time. Be advised however that all sounds

initially utilise only a reverb effect.

More conventional sounds, complete with Layer and

effect settings can be found in the Preset bank‘s last few

memories (beginning with P078). By the way, several of the

Blue Book sections will look at the factory sounds in more

depth.

At a glance

Techno and Dance have heralded the comeback of ana-

logue synthesizers more then any other music style. Whilst

trying out some of its Presets you will already have come

across some of the many exemplary analogue type sounds

the CS1x has to offer. Without a doubt, the range of sounds

available is pretty good! It‘s even better however to be able

to shape Performances to get the required result, or program

one from scratch.

Starting out is never easy. That is why we would like to

begin with an easy to understand tutorial which covers the

most important components of the classic synthesizer, the

“A nalogue Workshop”. Let us introduce you to the wonder-

ful world of synthesizer programming with the CS1x. As an

extra special treat, a complete sound bank (“TUTORI-

ALPFM.MID”) with detailed sound examples awaits you

inside. We thought it best to save you from the tedious task

of manually punching in data. You will be able to concentrate

fully on the material at hand and replicate each given exam-

ple directly on your CS1x.

It doesn‘t really matter whether you have already worked

with various analogue synthesizers, or if you have never even

heard of this feature – the integrated CS1x Arpeggiator will

simply knock your socks off: compared to earlier Arpeggia-

tors, the CS1x raises the stakes with complete arrangement

structures, including Filter, Pan position modulation and the

like. Enough to awaken any musician‘s playing instinct.

However, to use this feature effectively you should fully

familiarise yourself with all its possibilities and the required

procedures. The next chapter of the Blue Book will take

you through all the steps you need to consider when using

the Arpeggiator function. That‘s why an intuitive user inter-

face is so important, so that you don‘t get lost in a myriad of

menus. The CS1x is totally deserving of its “Control Synthe-

sizer” title in this respect. Its six controllers add particular

weight to this claim: The Sound Control Knobs can be

assigned to aid performance in many different ways using

the Utility mode (see the chapter about song production

basics, section “Who is controlling Who?”). Worthy of atten-

tion also are the two Scene switches that are used to ‘freeze’

two complete controller positions which can then be ‘mor-

phed’ into each other. You will ﬁnd useful examples of this in

chapter “Performance Mode – Practical Knowledge”, where

we also deal with subjects relevant to ‘live’ musicians. In

short, the entire user interface is praise worthy. For example,

the EDIT key has ﬁnally been eliminated; the EDIT mode is

automatically activated the minute you call up any parameter.

Modern synthesizers however have to offer more than

excellent sounds and a high degree of user-friendliness; they

also need to excel as a stand-alone sound source for song

production.

The CS1x dispenses with an “on-board” sequencer.

Instead it rightly concentrates on its multi-timbral abilities,

i.e. the ability to simultaneously control as many sounds as

possible. This is an area in particular where the CS1x has a

lot to offer.

No less than 32 voices are available for all types of song

production. This applies not only to the Multi mode, the Per-

formance mode can be used multi-timbrally, too, and can

therefore also be used for song production. What we are

talking about here is the parallel Multi mode, where a Per-

formance is the foundation on which a further 12 Parts (indi-

vidual sounds or drum kits) can be built – an impressive

‘ﬁrst’. An alternative to this approach can be found in the

Multi mode, which corresponds to the XG mode, itself an

extension of GM (General MIDI).

If you want to deal with any questions arising from all this,

take a look at chapter “Song Production – The Basics”. It

explains (amongst other things) all about the XG standard,

examines the advantages and disadvantages of the Perfor-

mance and Multi modes in depth, and looks at how song and

Multi settings can be controlled in real-time using Controller

or System Exclusive messages.

If you are eager to get going however and wish to produce

good songs with the minimum of technical fuss, read chap-

ter “Song Production – An Easy Start”.

We recommend you read the chapter following if you

prefer to use the more conventional way of changing Multi

settings at the keyboard. The magic phrase for this alterna-

tive is “Dump Request”, a System Exclusive message that

allows the sequencer to request a dump from the CS1x that

contains all the Multi settings – a very important feature!

Any ﬁnal hurdles you encounter should be resolved in the

following chapters. These contain many tips and tricks for

song production and many other practical examples.

Now that you are familiar with the contents of the Blue

Book, we would touch upon some global subjects that you

should deﬁnitely know about – Performance structure and

management.

Sound Organisation

The CS1x sound structure requires explanation. So let‘s

take a quick look.

The CS1x contains two Performance Banks with 128

memory locations each: the PRESET bank (ROM) and the

USER bank (RAM). The latter can be overwritten with a third

bank, the EXTRA bank (Additions). You can load the EXTRA

bank from the supplied disk as a SMF (“EXTRAPF.MID”) and

then transfer it to the CS1x (see Sound Overview in the

Appendix). If necessary, consult section “Performance Bulk

Dump”.

A Performance is made up of four Layers. You can assign

two entirely different kinds of voices to these:

•XG Voices, which are contained in 44 banks and orga-

nised into 480 Programmes (DATA LIST, pages 6 – 9).

The TG300B Voices offer a special selection of XG

voices (DATA LIST, page 10/11), which in practice how-

ever is mostly irrelevant.

•“Voices for Performances” (DATA LIST, page 12/13);

which from now on will be referred to as M a t erial

Voices.

We should like to elaborate on these “Material Voices”.

All 930 Material Voices – with the exception of the drum

sets – are organised into 12 banks (Pre 0-11). You will see

from the table “Voices for Performances” that each bank is

utilised to different extents. This is because the Material

Voices are the result of the programming of PRESET, USER

and EXTRA Performances. Therefore: the Material Voices are

identical to the Layers of these Performances. Take a look at

this extract from the table below:

Table: Preset Performances, Layers

and Material Voices

Layers 1-4 of the Preset Performances make up Material

Voice Banks Pre 00 to 03. Only bank Pre 00 is fully assigned.

Quite logical really, as each Performance contains at least

one Layer. In contrast, Bank 03 is hardly used at all, as Per-

formances rarely use all 4 Layers.

This principle also applies to the USER Performances:

Here Layers 1 – 4 are banks Pre 04 to 07 respectively. Finally,

the user-loadable EXTRA Performances rely on the Addi-

tions, i.e. banks Pre 08 to 11.

If this is all getting far too theoretical for you, here‘s a little

exercise that you can try.

PERIMENT:

Select Performance P-047 (BA:Bassline) and call up

Parameter Bank and Program, one after another. The display

will show “PRE0” and “Ba:Baslne A#47”. A quick glance to

table “Voice for Performances” conﬁrms that you are dealing

with Material Voice “Pre 00 – PGM 47”. Now select Pro-

grams #48, #49, #50 etc. and compare the display with the

Voice table. Everything clear now?

You have just gained a better insight into the sound struc-

ture of your CS1x, and at the same time learned how differ-

ent Voices are chosen within a Performance. Let‘s take

another step along this route.

PERIMENT:

Let‘s start with the last settings for Performance “Bassline”.

Select any Program from the Voice table. Memorise the Bank

and Program numbers (e.g. “ld:Mini QSA” = Pre 08 + PGM

#40), then input these values by calling up BANK and PRO-

GRAM respectively.

Now select Layer 2 (PART LAYER key / +). Selecting BANK

will show “Bank off” on the display. Let‘s make use of the

DATA knob for a change – after all, you need to step through

all the XG banks before you get to Material Voice banks Pre

00-12. This shows by the way that XG banks can also be

Preset

Performances Layer 1 =

Preset 0 Layer 2 =

Preset 1 Layer 3 =

Preset 2 Layer 4 =

Preset 3

001 Dr:um Trax1 Dr:umTrx1 A

002 Sq:SinArp Sq:SnArp1 A Sq:SnArp1 B

003 Sq:Kirmes Sq:Kirmes A Sq:Kirmes B Sq:Kirmes C

004 Sq:Classic Sq:Classic A Sq:Classic B

used for Performance layers. Now try to ﬁnd a voice that

works with the sound just set for Layer 1. You have just found

the basis for your ﬁrst sound creation!

The more alert readers among you may have noticed the

mention of bank Pre 12 in the last X-PERIMENT. This little

riddle is easily solved by looking at the DATA LIST on page

14. Here you will ﬁnd a further 6 Material Voices as drum

kits, which can be found in Performances 128 to 128. These

drum sounds are discussed in detail in section “Techno/

Dance Productions with the CS1x”.

All the Voices shown in the DATA LIST (pages 12 – 14) can

also be used for Multi Parts 5-16 in the Performance mode

(in addition to the XG voices and drum kits). There they can

be selected using Bank/Program changes. More about this in

chapter “Song Production – the Basics”, which also looks at

the somewhat neglected XG Voices in greater detail.

Performance Storage

and Management

You can transfer single Performances or complete Perfor-

mance Banks from the CS1x to any computer, be it a PC,

Atari or MAC, and vice versa with the aid of a Bulk Dump.

This allows you to save this sound data to ﬂoppy or hard disk.

The same thing can be achieved with MIDI Data Recorders

(as described in the manual) like. the MDF2. If desired you

can keep an archive of CS1x Performances. If you have little

or no experience in this ﬁeld, we recommend you read this

section carefully. First we would like to take a look at trans-

ferring all USER Performances and UTILITY settings to

the computer and then back to the CS1x.

PERIMENT:

Call up UTILITY – BULK DUMP and dial-up function “Bulk

Dump All”. The following sequencer settings are required:

MIDI Thru off, SysEx on, a slow tempo (around 80 bpm).

Now start recording, wait for the count-in to ﬁnish and then

start the transmission by choosing YES at the CS1x. Stop

the sequencer as soon as it ﬁnishes receiving data, and save

the newly recorded track, which now contains a long list of

Sys-Ex blocks, to a ﬂoppy or a hard disk.

Transmitting the data back is just as easy. Warning: don‘t

let yourself be irritated by the note about “Bulk Dump

Receive” in the manual (page 42). This function, or one like

it, simply isn‘t available on your CS1x! Data transmission is

instead achieved simply by playing back the recorded

sequencer track. You are not even required to set anything up

on the CS1x. By the way, the display should conﬁrm the

incoming data with a “Receiving” message.

If you want to continue with the X-PERIMENT, load ﬁles

TUTORIAL.MID (from the TUTORIAL DISK), CSUSER.MID,

and CSEXTRA.MID (from the “BLUE X-TRA” disk”) and send

the respective banks to the CS1x.

Now that you have transferred various banks to the CS1x,

you may wonder how Performances based on different banks

can be combined. Simple: use the UTILITY function “Bulk

Dump 1 Perf”!

PERIMENT:

Let‘s say you want to copy Performance 001 “Pf Wurlitza”

from the Extra bank to the User bank. First of all send the

Extra bank as described above (“CSEXTRA.MID”) complete

from the sequencer to the CS1x. Select memory location

USER 001. Now call up UTILITY – BULK DUMP – “1 Perf”,

start recording a new sequencer track (set this up as in the

previous X-PERIMENT) and press YES. Follow this by send-

ing the complete USER bank (“CSUSER.MID”) to the CS1x.

Finally, play back the earlier recorded Bulk Dump for the

Extra Performance “Pf. Wurlitza”. The sound is now initially

held in the working memory of the CS1x, and can now be

saved to the USER memory of your choice using STORE.

It should now be clear how single Performances are man-

aged. As a rule of thumb however you will want to transmit

one bank‘s several Performances into another. For this we

would recommend you ﬁrst send all the required Perfor-

mances separately to the sequencer (1 track per sound!).

Next transfer the target bank; now you can ﬁnally transmit

the required Performances back to the CS1x, one by one.

Remember however to STORE each Performance as it

arrives, otherwise each transmitted Performance would

simply overwrite the last held in the temporary work space of

the CS1x. And it goes without saying of course that when

ﬁnished you should send your newly created bank com-

pletely to the sequencer using “Bulk Dump All”, and there

save it to ﬂoppy or hard disk.

Analogue

Workshop

The CS1x’s easy to understand tone

generation ability is largely based on

analogue synthesis. The following step-

by-step guide will serve as an introduc-

tion to the analogue building blocks

used in the CS1x.

Our tips and tricks can be applied not only to analogue syn-

thesis, but all kinds of tone generation. Naturally, we can't

cover every possible detail of analogue synthesis.

Before we begin, a quick note about the fundamental dif-

ferences between traditional analogue parameters and those

found on your CS1x. Oscillators on the CS1x, unlike ana-

logue oscillators, consist of complete timbres with ﬁlter,

envelope and LFO settings (Material Voices). Therefore, any

parameters that you set are 'offsets values' to the settings

used in a particular sound, in other words the parameters

you set may appear to audibly contradict the displayed

values or Knob positions. As always, let your ears decide.

Please note: although the following text refers to the ana-

logue synthesizers’ classic sound components like VCO, VCA

or VCF, they are of course implemented digitally in the CS1x.

Sound Central –

The Oscillator

The heart of the classic synthesizer is the oscillator, or VCO

(Voltage-Controlled-Oscillator). The oscillator provides the

raw waveforms, which in the CS1x consist of samples with

stable tuning. Usually these samples consist of sawtooth, tri-

angle and square waves, as well as several pulse modulated

waves. The VCO also controls the pitch of its wave. Coarse

tuning is performed in semi-tone steps (Note Shift), ﬁne

tuning in cent steps (Detune), LFO's or envelope generators

are also frequently used to modulate the pitch of the oscilla-

tor. This also applies to the VCA, which is responsible for

amplifying the oscillators' audio outputs so that you may

hear them. The CS1x Volume parameter is the equivalent of

the VCA.

Picture the CS1x's four Layers as four separate VCOs. Each

oscillator’s waveform can be selected using the Bank and

Program Change commands. As the CS1x doesn't provide

for Material Voices with pure synthesizer waveforms, it

would be necessary for you to laboriously create unﬁltered

pulse and sawtooth waves… don't worry, we have taken care

of this rather dry and long-winded task: you will ﬁnd many

variants on the classic synthesizer waveforms in the ﬁrst

dozen memories of the Performance Tutorial Bank. You

may of course employ any Performances as an Init Voice, as

a reference sound to browse through the Material and XG

voices, or simply to practice on. By the way, if you haven’t

already ‘injected’ your CS1x with our additional sound data

(TUTORPF.MID), you should do so now (see section ’Perfor-

mance Bulk Dumps’). You will not be able to successfully

complete our Analogue Workshop without it.

Lets begin with a simple but immensely useful example: if

you are using two or more oscillators to generate your sound

you should always detune each oscillator a little using the

Detune function. This single parameter can be used to liven

up your sound. To hear this effect for yourself, try altering the

Detune parameters of two CS1x VCOs.

PERIMENT:

Select Performance TP001. Both of this sound’s oscillators

are set to exactly the same frequency, resulting in a some-

what ‘ﬂat’ sound. Now change the ﬁrst VCOs Detune setting

to a negative value, and the second to a positive one, say -

2,00 and +2,00. Feel free to experiment with other values.

Notice how these contrasting frequencies affect your sound.

Be careful however not to detune just one of the VCOs (for

example 0 and +4,00), as this can ruin the overall tuning of

your sound! The two Detune values should always cancel

each other out when added together. By the way, some Per-

formances (namely TP003 or 005) use this Detune effect

already.

Coarse tuning is another basic tool in the construction of

sounds. The most practical use of coarse detuning involves

transposing a VCO by one or more octaves. When doing this

however, always make sure that the Detune parameter is set

to 0. If the fancy takes you, you may even transpose an oscil-

lator or CS1x Layer by a whole 4 Octaves! With a bit of luck

you can program some impressive sounds using this feature.

Intervals other than octaves may also be used for some spe-

cialised sounds, mostly 4ths or 5ths (5 or 7 semi-tone inter-

vals), major or minor 3rds (3 or 4 semi-tones) aswell as

major or minor 7ths (10 or 11 semi-tones).

AMPLE:

Sounds with transposed oscillators can be found in the

CS1x Preset bank. The Layers of Performance “Sq: RytField”

(P006) for example are tuned to 3rds (Note Shift -12/+04).

Please note: to use this sound in minor harmonies you will

need to adjust the second Layer‘s Note Shift value to +3

(minor 3rd). In contrast, Performances “Sc: TheWerks”

(P022), “Fx: Orient” (P044) and “Ld: E-no” (P064) are down-

wardly transposed by a 4th. 5th layering is just as popular.

Examples here are factory-set sounds “Sq: Strobe” (P009),

“Fx: Morning” (P038), “Ld: Fifths” (P065) and “Ld: Croma”

(P073).

So, now you know how and when to tune the oscillators,

i.e. the CS1x Layers. We all know however that ‘it‘s the

sound that makes the music’, so let‘s look at the VCO wave-

forms in more detail. Just as different synthesizers’ ﬁlters all

sound very different, VCOs, too, all have their own distinctive

sound. Some analogue synths even allow smooth step-free

transitions between sawtooth and triangle waves, two wave-

forms per oscillator and other such fun things. The CS1x isn‘t

the odd one out here. It is possible for instance to coax two

Sawtooth Waves with different sound characteristics from

it. The ﬁrst wave corresponds to the sawtooth waves that

have already proven successful with YAMAHA‘s SY99 and

SY85 synthesizers. New here however is the second, more

transparent sawtooth waveform (TP004). We don‘t wish to

be secretive about this one: the sound is based on a multi-

sample, transposed by an octave via the pitch envelope,

which gives the sound its fresh tonal shade. There won‘t be

many of the dinosaur analogue synths that can serve up such

a brilliant waveform – this wave is particularly recommended

for Dance and Techno tracks. By the way: you will probably

want to use this wave as a starting point for your own ana-

logue sounds, so we have added a second VCO for you and

detuned both oscillators against each other (TP003/005).

Another of analogue synthesis’ strong favourites is the

Square Wave (TP006): this is actually a speciﬁc pulse wave-

form with a peak-trough relationship of 50%. To maintain

some oscillation you again have to use two VCOs and slightly

detune them against each other. The square wave however

is more sensitive to this than the sawtooth wave. The best

results are obtained with minimal detuning. You may also

need to reduce the second VCO‘s level a little (TP007). To be

honest, though, this really is a matter of personal taste.

Pulse waveforms, unlike periodic square waves, describe

the percentual relationship between the wave’s peeks and

troughs. As a rule of thumb: moving further away from the

consistent square oscillations (50%) results in an ever more

nasal sound. Pulse widths less than 10% are – musically

speaking – less proliﬁc. At worst your waveform will

approach a pin shaped pulse, i.e. the wave is barely audible.

Contained within the wave reservoir are many useful pulse

waves, with wave ratios varying between 25% (TP008) and

10%(TP009). The latter is often used to emulate the sound

of a clavinet.

Another typical tool in analogue synthesis is the oscillator

synchronisation (or oscillator sync), originally devised to

avoid the inevitable drift between two VCOs. This method

opens the doors to the delectable ‘sync sounds’, two exam-

ples of which exist as ROM samples in the CS1x’s memory

(TP010/011).

The VCO Waveforms:

Sawtooth, Square, Pulse

Particular attention should also be paid to the Sine Wave.

This purely electronically generated wave is alone in not

having any harmonics at all, and as such is practically use-

less for subtractive synthesis. Nevertheless, the sine wave

can be found in many a synthesizer’s VCO section, and is

therefore also included in our Tutorial Bank (TP012). Just

how this wave can be used is fully explored in section “Pull-

ing out all the Stops”. Much more common is the Noise Gen-

erator, a further source of sound apart from the VCOs. In the

era of digital synthesis, the poor old noise generator has

taken somewhat of a back seat. Nevertheless, noise genera-

tion still has many interesting applications.

The Filters –

Tastebuds for your Ears

Let’s take a look at subtractive synthesis’ most important

element, the Filter, or VCF (Voltage Controlled Filter). This

sound component removes selected frequencies from your

source material, i.e. the harmonically rich VCO waveforms.

The most common used type of ﬁlter is the low-pass ﬁlter,

which also helps the CS1x to its characteristic sound. Tech-

nically, the ﬁlter removes the upper frequencies selected by

it’s programmable cutoff point, whilst the lower frequencies

beyond this point pass through unaffected. Speciﬁcally, the

CS1x ﬁlter implementation revolves around a version of a

low-pass ﬁlter with a 12db/Oct rolloff. This means that fre-

quencies will be attenuated by 2kHz at 12dB, 4kHz at 24dB,

and so on, and as such is suitable for most applications.

The ﬁlter also has a Resonance Parameter, which accen-

tuates the frequencies near the cutoff-point. Resonance has

many applications beyond the typical character it lends to

many synthesizer sounds. Heavy use of resonance, coupled

with the above mentioned noise generator can result in many

attention-grabbing sounds. On the other hand, a gentle dose

of resonance can cleverly be used to ‘thin out’ a sound in a

way not possible by simply reducing its volume. In fact, it is

generally true that increasing the resonance a ﬁltered signal

will make it sound quieter. Pay particular attention to your

sound’s bass region; it’s here where ﬁltering can affect the

perceived ‘stability’ of your sound. Of course you may also

use resonance with the ﬁlter wide open. The following exam-

ple will illustrate how and when resonance may be used on

its own like this.

PERIMENT:

Select the harmonically rich choir sound (TP014). In the

context of a rhythm heavy dance arrangement, the choir

sound would beneﬁt from a little more ‘transparency’. But

how? The ﬁlter frequency is already optimal, whilst you have

other plans for the effects. The solution here is a little trick:

use the resonance as a kind of ‘pseudo enhancer’, a psycho-

acoustic studio tool used to add high frequencies to ‘dull’

audio signals. Turn up your resonance! You will ﬁnd your

sound has become ‘fresher’, and will now sit better in your

arrangement. Of course this trick can be used in other situa-

tions, for example to add a glossy sheen to dull bass drums,

tom samples and cymbals.

Exactly how Cutoff and Resonance will affect your sound is

easily revealed – simply play with the CS1x’s equally labelled

Knobs. Both parameters are fundamental in the creation of

sound, and their ability to give shape to sound are immense.

The low-pass ﬁlter’s abilities range from the simple ‘darken-

ing’ of a sound right through to ﬁddly tasks. One of these is

the creation of Formants. This, in simple terms, is the use of

resonance to accentuate a speciﬁc frequency range, so that

all partial tones in this region regardless of their fundamental

root frequency are noticeably pronounced. The vowels found

in human language (A-E-I-O-U) rely on characteristic for-

mant areas. To clarify all this, take the sound (TP015). Here

the two VCOs used are ﬁltered differently, the ﬁrst without

any resonance. The second however uses heavy resonance

to produce typical formants, which can be changed using

varying cutoff settings.

Dynamic Helpers –

Envelopes

All the sound components we have looked at so far have

been ‘static’ in their effect, that is to say that they haven’t

affected a sound differently over time. Enter the Envelope

Generators of the CS1x. Envelope generators control Volume

(AEG), the Filter (FEG) or the Pitch of your sound (PEG). An

envelope follows the traditional ADSR model:Attack con-

trols your sound’s fade-in time, Decay determines the time it

takes to reach the Sustain level, Sustain controls the volume

your sound will settle at whilst holding down a key, and

ﬁnally Release sets how long your sound will ring out after

releasing the key. Uniquely, the pitch envelope adds Intensity

and Level parameters to the standard envelope model (PEG

Init, Attack and Release Level) – see section “Performance

Mode”, “Layer Edit3” in the manual.

Lets start with the Filter Envelope. It is responsible for

varying the ﬁlter’s cutoff point over time, and, as mentioned

above, crucial in determining the contour of your sound.

More often than not, envelopes with slow fade-out times are

used. This is achieved by dropping the ﬁlter’s cutoff point to

the programmed FEG Sustain Level. In our example sound

(TP016) this ‘dropping’ happens quite quickly. This is just

perfect for bass or sequencer sounds, which need to be

‘tight’. As a rule you should pay a lot of attention to your

envelopes – especially within song arrangements. You will

ﬁnd that the decay times used have to ‘gel’ with the rhythmic

structure of a piece – a tricky piece of engineering, which

sadly is often overlooked. For example, a bass sound that

dies away too quickly will not ‘support’ the rest of your

arrangement properly. In extreme cases this will leave ‘holes’

which can effectively kill the groove of your piece. Using an

overly long decay time on the other hand can also cause

problems; it may smear a delicately composed rhythmic line.

As always, a little delicacy is required. As you can see,

aquainting yourself with the properties of envelopes early on

will pay off in the long run, especially as every synthesizer,

including the CS1x, reacts to parameter changes in its own

unique way.

PERIMENT:

Vary the decay time of Performance TP017 to see how

quickly ﬁlter frequency really drops. Try setting the FEG

Decay Time parameter initially to +10, then -15, and ﬁnally -

35. Important in this also is the envelope’s FEG Sustain

Level. Setting this to its minimum -63 level will result in the

note completely fading out. By the way, this sound has two

Layers, and so you will need to edit both oscillators’ values

simultaneously – this is achieved by holding down the

Octave Shift key (found on the top left above the display)

whilst changing any parameters.

In stark contrast, the next ﬁlter sound (TP018) typiﬁes the

classic ‘sweep’ characteristic, i.e. the resonation ﬁlter’s fre-

quency rises gradually (Attack Time=+55) and then drops

sharply (Decay Time) to the level set by Sustain Level.

Another variation on this theme is the third envelope type

(TP019). Here the ﬁlter frequency drops a little during the ini-

tial stages, and then rises fairly quickly to its maximum value

(FEG Sustain Level=+63). Feel free to explore the properties

of this example’s envelope more fully. You may also try Preset

Performances 047 and 048 for further experimentation.

These will let you compare different decay times for bass

sounds.

Unlike the ﬁlter envelope, the Amplitude Envelope Gener-

ator (AEG) affects a sound’s volume level, and is therefore

also called referred to as the Volume Envelope. The scenario

where volume levels stay the same throughout the various

stages is often described as an ‘organ envelope’. The Tutorial

Bank has many examples of this type of sound (e.g. TP001

to TP010). Because of this property, many of the sounds

show the effects of the ﬁlter envelope more clearly (e.g.

TP018/019).

PERIMENT:

Using a highly percussive amplitude envelope will give a

majestic ﬁlter sweep little time to develop. As an example,

select Performance TP020. Although you can discern the

ﬁlter effect with this sound, it is far too short lived. Organ

envelopes are simply invaluable for this type of effect. Try

setting both Layers’ Amplitude Envelope Decay and Sustain

Time to the maximum +63. Now sit back and listen to the

ﬁlter as nature had intended!

Organ envelopes aren’t always as useful as in our little

example. It is usually important to be able to ﬁnely tune a

sound’s volume level over time; for example most sounds

tend to gradually ‘die away’. A held piano note would even-

tually completely disappear. The CS1x however is no piano;

leave the Sustain Level at a high enough setting, and your

note will ring on and on until you release the key (TP021). In

this particular kingdom a synthesizer rules alone. Therefore

feel free to sculpt your amplitude envelopes any which way

you want.

Occasionally all that’s required is to ‘soften’ a sound’s initial

attack, say with a brass or solo sound. Pad sounds, including

choirs and strings, always use even longer fade-in and fade-

out times (TP023), but wait, it isn’t quite that easy. First of all

it is always important to ﬁnd the right envelope for the right

job. A good example of the different effect created by fading

out the ﬁlter rather than the volume of your sound can be

found in Preset Performances 015 and 016. Of course it is

also good to realise that a sound is the sum of all of its com-

ponents. You can spend hours lovingly sculpting your ﬁlter

envelope, but if your low-pass ﬁlter’s cutoff setting allows all

of your sound’s frequencies to pass through unhindered,

nothing much will happen. In short, the interplay between

the ﬁlter and amplitude envelopes is vital. A few examples.

Filter and

Amplitude Envelopes

AMPLE:

In order for your sound to be affected by speciﬁc ﬁlter

modulation after the release of a key, your amplitude enve-

lope needs to be longer than your ﬁlter envelope. Using a

short release setting for your ﬁlter envelope (Release Time=-

63) will generate a ‘tearing’ effect, typically used for E-

pianos, harpsichords or acoustic guitar sounds. A slight

increase in release time can produce a simple ‘echo effect’

(TP024). Such tricks can also be applied to a sound’s attack

time. For instance, a sound’s ‘hard’ edge caused by a fast-

attacking ﬁlter envelope can successfully be softened by

decreasing its amplitude attack time a little, without the

‘brightness’ loss you would get when applied to the ﬁlter

envelope. Remember, these two envelopes work as a team.

Let’s ﬁnally take a look at the Pitch Envelope. Unlike the

FEG and AEG, this envelope is predominantly used for spe-

cialist applications, and as such is rarely found on analogue

synthesizers. Despite this, the PEG has many more uses than

you may at ﬁrst suspect. To prove it, a number of examples…

ﬁrst a little practise to get you fully aquainted with this par-

ticular envelope.

PERIMENT:

Call up Performance TP026. We’re aiming to ‘drift’ the ﬁrst

oscillator gradually away from VCO2 (whose pitch stays con-

stant). Apply the following settings to the Pitch Envelope

(Layer1): our sound is supposed to drop after a predeter-

mined time (PEG Atk Tm=+56) by a quarter note (PEG Atk

Lv=-27), and then casually restore its pitch (PEG Dcy

Tm=+30). When releasing the key our sound shall then jump

upwards (PEG Rel Tm=-63) by another quarter note (PEG Rel

Lv=+27). If you want to hear your sound ‘howl’ rather than

jump, try setting PEG Rel Time to +40. By the way, if every-

thing went as planned your sound should resemble Perfor-

mance TP027 – try it!

All this illustrates nicely how siren-type effects can be pro-

duced without the aid of the more obvious LFO. More often

than not though the pitch envelope is used in the attack

phase of the sound, particularly when imitating acoustic

instruments. Pretty obvious when you think about it; the

pitch of such instruments is still volatile during the plucking

of a string or the initial blowing of a ﬂute or trombone. Use

of this subtle effect can also give synthesizers a more natural

sound.

AMPLE:

Obvious examples are brass sounds (TP028). Here the ini-

tial ‘tearing’ at the sound’s pitch delivers the right feel. Ide-

ally this change in pitch should be as inconspicuous as

possible, but there is of course a time and place for drastic

pitch envelope surgery to produce those classic ‘pitch warp’

effects, like sound TP029. Tip: when using two VCOs, try

setting the ﬁrst oscillator’s PEG to a positive value, and the

second oscillators PEG to a negative one – after all, variety is

the spice of life!

Have you ever attempted to program certain drum sounds

or special effects using synthesizer waveforms? Or how

about using the pitch envelope to transpose a multi-sample?

Let’s take a look at some examples.

AMPLE:

Take a boring sinewave and combine it with a simple PEG

envelope, and hey presto – instant E-toms (TP030)! Another

popular trick when using sample ROM synthesizers is the

transposition of entire multi-samples – using the pitch enve-

lope!

Transposing a Layer up or down this way by 12

semitones can completely change the basic character of a

sound. Transposing down can lure Mellotron-like sounds

from your CS1x – for an example try the string sound TP031,

which can be enhanced still further by the use of ﬁlters or the

effects. Shifting this sound’s pitch upward however will pro-

duce a harmonically richer tone (TP004/005).

It’s just as easy and simple to conjure up impressive

slide effects (TP032), a useful addition to any synth bass

sound.

Helper Motors – the LFOs

The Low Frequency Oscillator or LFO is a special kind of

oscillator. Unlike VCOs, the LFOs frequency range is roughly

between 0,1 and 100Hz. Of course the frequencies aren’t

used for audio signals, but rather as controlling signals to

modulate the VCO, VCF or VCA sound components. The

CS1x calls these LFO modulation types PMOD, FMOD and

AMOD.

A synthesizer, just like the human voice, violin, trumpet and

many other acoustic instruments, seems ‘cold’ without the

use of some vibrato. To illustrate, select the aforementioned

pad sound (TP023): although enriched by the detuning of its

two VCOs it still doesn’t appear as ‘alive’ as would be desir-

able for a successful pad sound.

Pitch LFO to the rescue. This little devil can be used to

subtly modulate the pitch of a sound, thereby making it seem

more ‘alive’ – much like the natural vibration of the human

voice.

To achieve this effect, use a consistent waveform like the

triangle wave. Differing speeds and intensities are also use-

ful; both VCO’s LFO values should never be identical. It gen-

erally pays to offset parameters a little against each other,

not just where LFOs are concerned – this gives synthetic

sounds life. Our string pad (TP033) also gains ‘depth’ from

this treatment. In some cases you may even avoid the need

for post-chorusing altogether. Any sounds used for solo

work should use a slightly delayed Pitch LFO, i.e. Vibrato.

This can best be demonstrated with a simple synthesizer

sound (TP034). Here the Material voice used is already pro-

grammed to delay the LFO so that the Vibrato is less abrupt.

Just as much fun can be had with the random Sam-

ple&Hold waveform (TP036). The short melodic phrases

that this waveform can produce have many uses beyond the

obvious lead sounds or imaginative sound collages. An LFO

with a square waveform can also be used to generate little

sequencer-like phrases, such as ﬁfth or whole octave pitch

jumps. Dig deeper in the CS1x’s bag of tricks though and you

will ﬁnd the ingenious arpeggiator, which will produce stylish

rhythmic musical phrases for you. After all, the overworked

LFO needs a rest now and then!

PERIMENT:

You may have stumbled across some sounds in the User

bank that at ﬁrst sound like a simple arpeggiator pattern. A

quick glance to the display however reveals that the Arpeg-

giator is inactive. Here are the sounds in question

”Sq:Cyborg” and ”Fx:SinCrony” We have modiﬁed both

these performances a little – you can ﬁnd them in the Tuto-

rial Bank (TP036/037). Your task is to re-activate the LFOs

(AMOD and FMOD). You will ﬁnd that the LFO modulation

used in this sound plays an very important role.

Completely different sound impressions can be derived

from use of the Filter LFO. Well-known wah-wah effects can

be achieved when using this component to affect a resonat-

ing ﬁlter’s Cutoff Frequency. The triangle wave is the obvious

waveform to use here. Start out by using a slow LFO speed

(TP038) – you can always tweak it later. An ‘impulsive’ mod-

ulation is desirable when quick chord changes are in order,

but lingering pad sounds prefer a more gentle LFO move-

ment. The fun really starts though with the sawtooth wave-

form, which will generate rhythmic ﬁlter movement just

perfect for a sequenced arrangement. The Filter LFO with the

sawtooth wave can also be used to ‘chop up’ ﬁlter sweeps (a

la TP039). Great fun, and not just for our young techno gen-

eration.

Let’s press on: the CS1x LFO can also manipulate ampli-

tude (i.e. volume) as well as ﬁlter and pitch. This LFO, known

as Amplitude LFO or ”LFO Amod”, is primarily used for

Tremolo effects. Just so you don’t get lost in the drudgery of

grey theory, here’s another little exercise:

PERIMENT:

Dial-up Performance TP040; a guitar sound which can be

made more interesting by applying tremolo effects. To do

this, call the Amplitude LFO for both Layers into action

(simultaneous edit). The modulation value shouldn’t exceed

+05. You may want to control when the tremolo effect is

applied, rather than have it on all the time. In this case reset

the modulation value back to 0. Now set (say) Assign2 to

control LFO-Amplitude-Modulation. Oh, by the way, we’ve

already done this for you, try playing with Knob6. Now you

can freely add tremolo effects to your guitar sound whenever

you want.

Are you getting familiar with the amplitude LFO? A little

further experimentation should give you an even better idea

how and when it can be used. First in line for treatment are

strings and other pad sounds (TP041). Here too natural

sounding and consistent volume changes are achieved with

the triangle waveform. The sawtooth in contrast produces

more distinctive rhythmic patterns (TP042) which tend to be

more ornate, however, than the comparative LFO Filter mod-

ulation.

Question: what’s even better than a LFO? Answer: two

LFOs! The CS1x though has only a single LFO. How can we

solve this?

PERIMENT:

Simply combine two Layers when you want to play with

two LFOs. Offsetting the speeds of the two LFOs can yield

surprising results. Try doubling/halving the speed of the ﬁrst

LFO, or vice versa. Panning each VCO hard left and right

helps to accentuate the interplay between the two LFOs

(TP043). Even ‘analogue echo effects’ can be achieved with

the LFO. For this, the sawtooth wave is most appropriate. You

will need to play ‘staccato’ (release the keys quickly) in order

to get these echo effects (TP044).

Everything sounds reasonable so far. But what does Init

Phase do? Don’t panic, all shall be revealed: as the name

suggests, this function is used to determine the LFO’s gen-

eral phase setting. All of the CS1x Low Frequency Oscillators

can be synchronised to each key press using the ”Retrigger”

option. When this is set, a sound’s modulation begins exactly

when a key is pressed (TP045), something which is usually

desirable. Now all LFOs are running in phase, there is no vari-

ation between each separate voice. Should you wish to

involve a little randomness in this process however take a

look at ”Freerun” (TP046). Both examples demonstrate

nicely how the different phase settings affect a sound.

About the Little Things

Now that we’re approaching the end of our little workshop

we should take a look at what effect the monophonic mode

has on the Portamento function and other sound parameters,

features which are so often neglected. This is a shame

because as in life, it’s the little things that count.

The Mono/Poly setting determines whether a sound can

play many notes at once or just one at a time. To save on

voices? No, this time it’s not a case of economics, it simply

wouldn’t make sense. Instead, the Mono function is a tool to

replicate speciﬁc playing techniques used with analogue

synthesizers.

AMPLE:

All monophonic synths respond in a certain way when a

second note is pressed whilst the ﬁrst is still being held. Inci-

dentally, a polyphonic synthesizer’s Unison Mode does

exactly the same thing, i.e. all voices are assigned to a single

note – every new voice cuts off the previous, which resur-

faces however when the new note is released. This effect is

used to produce fast trills in synth solos. To demonstrate,

here’s a sound which you can play polyphonically ﬁrst

(TP047), and then monophonically (TP046). Comparing the

two modes should give you a good insight into the practical

uses of the Mono function.

The difference between the Mono and Poly mode is even

more pronounced when used in conjunction with the Porta-

mento feature (Porta Switch or via Controller #65). This

parameter is also part and parcel of synthesizer playing tech-

niques. The Portamento function principally enables step-

free gliding from one tone to the next, one of electronic

music’s most fundamental stylistic tools. The Portamento

speed has to be selected according to the sound and inter-

pretation used. With the sequencer this can be achieved with

Controller #5 (Portamento Time).

AMPLE:

It is often required to be able to vary the glissando effect on

impulse during a live performance. This can be particularly

useful with different solo phrases. Setting Assign1 to the

PortaTime function will allow you to control the Portamento

speed with Knob3. The Performances TP049/050 will dem-

onstrate this nicely. Pay particular attention to the Porta-

mento differences in the Poly and Mono modes. Try varying

the Portamento speed and observe how the CS1x reacts. A

little time and effort is all it takes to deliver impressive synth

solos to an appreciative audience – practise makes perfect!

The Mono mode in conjunction with the Portamento Func-

tion can approximate the Single Trigger Mode, made popu-

lar by many Minimoog bass lines: when two keys are held

down at the same time during legato style playing, the

second note’s attack phase (usually a typical ﬁlter sweep) is

inaudible – the ﬁrst note’s envelope stays uninterrupted.

Only when the current key is released will the second note’s

envelope come into effect.

PERIMENT:

To make all this a little clearer, call up Performance TP051.

Playing this bass sound staccato style will produce a percus-

sive ﬁlter attack for each note. During legato playing how-

ever only the ﬁrst note’s attack is heard. Why? Simple: the

Portamento function is in effect, although the characteristic

pitch glide is missing. This is achieved by setting the Porta-

mento speed to 0 – a little trick, used here to great effect. If

you want Portamento however, simply adjust the speed for

the required effect. Now disable the Single Trigger Mode

(TP0520). Trill a few notes, and you will ﬁnd that many play-

ing techniques and much phrasing is now impossible.

The Portamento Function

can be activated for each Layer

Lastly, the somewhat tricky subject of Touch Sensitivity.

The CS1x offers no fewer than four related functions (see

section “Performance”, “Velocity” in the manual). More often

than not you will want to ﬁnely tune a Performance’s touch

dynamic individually. How is this achieved?

PERIMENT:

The Performance’s touch sensitivity can be set using the

Velocity Offset function. In order to fully exploit the whole

dynamic range, Velocity Depth should be set to maximum

127. Select Performance TP053. Now gradually increase the

Offset value. See what happens? The touch sensitivity is

beginning to stabilise. This sounds great. Unfortunately the

tone is getting brighter. That’s not quite right! Why is this

happening? The culprit here is the Material Voice. It is pro-

grammed to increase the ﬁlter frequency with increasing key

velocity. Therefore, increasing the offset value also increases

the sound’s harmonic overtones. Beware – many other

sounds exhibit this behaviour too when their touch sensitiv-

ity values are changed.

Many sound creators take particular pride in their famous

Velocity Switch sounds. To prove the point we have created

four sounds, which will demonstrate the practical uses of

velocity switching.

AMPLE:

The Performance’s touch sensitivity can be set using the

Velocity Offset function. In order to fully exploit the whole

dynamic range, Velocity Depth should be set to maximum

127. Select Performance TP053. Now gradually increase the

Offset value. See what happens? The touch sensitivity is

beginning to stabilise. This sounds great. Unfortunately the

tone is getting brighter. That’s not quite right! Why is this

happening? The culprit here is the Material Voice. It is pro-

grammed to increase the ﬁlter frequency with increasing key

Portament

Time

1234

velocity. Therefore, increasing the offset value also increases

the sound’s harmonic overtones. Beware – many other

sounds exhibit this behaviour too when their touch sensitiv-

ity values are changed.

Many sound creators take particular pride in their famous

Velocity Switch sounds. To prove the point we have created

four sounds, which will demonstrate the practical uses of

velocity switching.

Résumé

We’ve made it – that was a lot to take in! Now spoil your-

self, relax to a little demo sequence we prepared earlier

(DEMO1.MID), and listen out for special guest appearances

by the Analogue Workshop All-stars!

(A) The song begins with a Performance with two oscil-

lators that are detuned against each other in real-time using

Assign2 (Knob 6). We‘d like to point out once again that ﬁne

tuning the VCOs can sound interesting in itself and provides

for many yet unexplored possibilities. In general, today‘s

approach to VCOs is quite different from what is was in the

‘70s and ‘80s. Most TB-303 type bass sounds were pro-

grammed with just a single VCO, something that has

become fashionable once again. Back then, mighty Mini-

moog basses using three oscillators (!) were very popular.

Today, two VCOs are commonly detuned against each other,

particularly with lead or sequencer sounds.

(B) You will hear a little sequencer theme starting at bar

9, which we will use to demonstrate a little trick: the sound

is initially programmed without Filter Resonance, but this

becomes active in the second half (bar 13-17). Note how the

sound is changed. It suddenly sounds fresher and as a result

is more discernible in the arrangement. If you wish to apply

this little artistry to other sounds, you need to ensure that the

cutoff frequency used is set to the maximum value, other-

wise you will hear the typical synth bass or sweep sound res-

onance ﬁlter effect.

tion between the Filter and Amplitude Envelopes: at ﬁrst

you can hardly hear this sound‘s ﬁlter sweep as the ampli-

tude isn‘t set correctly for it. At bar 21, however, the sound‘s

fade-out time is increased (Assign1: AEGDcyTime) and now

the ﬁlter sweep‘s development has become audible. To sum-

marise: the ﬁlter envelope is only fully effective when the

amplitude envelope is stable enough.

(D) Bar 33 introduces a pad sound. The sound does

seem a little bland, despite the lively beating produced by its

two detuned VCOs. This becomes even more obvious in bar

39, where the same chords are played by a synth pad for

comparison. The sound‘s richness here is due to intensive

LFO Pitch Modulation. In the most extreme cases you can

even forgo the Chorus effect altogether, which can be a great

help, especially with the Multi mode‘s tricky effect assign-

ment.

(E) The next example will show just how and when the

Amplitude LFO can be applied: it doesn‘t always have to

involve synth sounds. An acoustic guitar sound can be invig-

orated with Tremolo effects, too, especially when blended in

authentically with Knob6. Pay particular attention to when

the Tremolo is applied. With a little practice you‘ll be able to

play many sounds authentically using real-time control.

(F) Bar 54 introduces an extra classy analogue sound:

no, you‘re not listening to the CS1x effects here, these echo

effects are part of the sound! This is done with the aid of the

Amplitude LFO, here using the sawtooth LFO waveform to

imitate this effect. The effect is emphasised six bars later

with determined ﬁlter modulation. This trick can be espe-

cially useful in the Multi mode (as in example D), where the

Variation effect may already be assigned to other tasks and

no “Delay” is available.

(G) We‘re now playing a simple chord sequence with

two different LFO Phase settings: you won‘t notice anything

special in the ﬁrst instance, as all voices start with their

respective triggering as expected (Phase Init: Retrigger). If

you set the LFO to “Free Run” however, the notes are trig-

gered irregularly. This is demonstrated by the repeated chord

sequence, which is now played by Performance TP064. We

have reinforced these irregularities with random Pan move-

ments (“Random”).

Illustration: The CS1x Mono Function –

ideal for Solo or Bass Sounds.

(H) The focus shifts to the Portamento and Poly/

Mono functions at bar 80: here we are switching between

the two modes whilst playing a lead sound, to make studying

these functions easier. Compare the differences between the

two modes; the Portamento function is very revealing here.

It would be better still to try out the behaviour of Mono and

Poly sounds for yourself, so stop the sequencer and select

Performances TP049/050. If you prefer to stay inactive for a

while, then at least listen to the modulations of the following

solo part‘s fade-out, Portamento speed, as well as Filter fre-

quency and Resonance.

(I) Whilst the ﬁnale may not be grandiose, it is cer-

tainly informative: note the Single Trigger mode‘s speciali-

ties, here shown with a typical synth bass sound. Hand on

heart, have you ever investigated this subject? If you haven‘t,

you really should spend some time on it. Until you have, you

will not be able to arrange your bass lines for this style. espe-

cially if you want to produce the unmistakable bass slide

effects. So, aquaint yourself with the Single Trigger mode

(also known as Legato mode) and its properties. Bar 118

sees a slide effect without the use of the Single Trigger

mode, which kicks in however at the next bar. Take note of

the two different sounds produced. The previous sequences

also will clarify this interesting phenomenon.

Arpeggiator Ð

A B

ox full of

Tricks for all

Occasions

The CS1x Arpeggiator is very clearly laid

out. It consists of only three parts: Type,

Tempo and Subdivide. In addition the

CS1x outshines itself with 2 further set-

tings which you should get aquainted

with early on.

One of these is the Hold function, which can be activated

by pressing both buttons on the left hand side above the LC-

Display. This function greatly aids relaxation during live per-

formances, as it has since its earliest incarnation: you need

to play a chord only once; the Arpeggiator play will repeat it

tirelessly for you. This frees both hands for other tasks and

can, amongst other things, be very ‘handy’ for trying out dif-

ferent arpeggios or sequencer sounds!

With the aid of the Arpeggiator Split function you can limit

the Arpeggio key range to notes below the C3 key (see sec-

tion “Performance Mode”; “Arpeggiator Split” in the manual).

Notes above this point can then be used for accompanying

ﬁlls, perhaps using a different sound altogether.

Arpeggiator Uses at a Glance

AMPLE:

We have prepared two sounds for this which can be found

in the Tutorial Bank. To start with, call up Performance

TP058. Now trigger the Arpeggiator using a single key below

C3. The sequence will keep on running, even after you have

let go of the key thanks to the activated Hold function. You

can still use both hands to play chords or ﬁlls on any of the

keys above the Split point – go on, try it!

You need to be careful however when using Split Perfor-

mances, as the Arpeggiator will distribute any chord notes

over the entire note range, regardless of which sounds will be

played. In other words, if you are using two different sounds

split across they keyboard, it‘s quite possible that the Arpeg-

giator mix up both sounds! Performance TP059 is a good

example of this. Here a Rhodes sound used above the split

point has suffered in the process. Tip: If you want to ensure

that the Arpeggiator only triggers the sound below the split

point, use the following Arpeggio types: UpOct1, DwnOct1/

2/4, UpDwA/BOct1 as well as Random Oct.

Arpeggiator

Split

Tempo

Type

Subdiv

140

off

UpDnBOct1

1/16

Now let‘s look at the three main functions. To begin with,

you can select any of the 30 available Arpeggio Patterns.

These can broadly be divided into seperated chords and spe-

cial patterns that vary in sound colour, dynamics or rhythm.

The second function is all about tempo. If you want to use the

Arpeggiator with a drum machine or sequencer and wish to

be able to react to any tempo changes or drifting, set this to

MIDI. This instructs the CS1x to wait for an external ‘director’

via the so-called MIDI Clock Pulses.

There are three things you should bear in mind: First check

that your sequencer can actually send MIDI Clock com-

mands. If you can‘t hear an Arpeggio Part, the most likely

explanation is that MIDI Clock is disabled in your sequencer

program, so always check to make sure it‘s enabled. Sec-

ondly it is advisable to time-shift the track containing any

Arpeggiator chords by a few milliseconds. This ensures more

precise Arpeggio starts. Thirdly, experience has shown the

value of re-triggering any Arpeggios that step through the

same notes repeatedly as often as possible. The same

method has also beneﬁted the sampled drum loops by

ensuring clean timing.

To begin with though you have to establish the actual

length of your Arpeggio loop. To work this out we have to

deal with the Arpeggiator‘s third major function, the Rhyth-

mic Resolver (Subdivide). Some of the available divisions

are self explanatory: 1/32, 1/16, 1/8 and 1/4 divide a chord

into 32nds, 16ths, 8ths and quarter notes. 16th, 8th or 4th

triplets are however resolved and played by 1/24, 1/12 and 1/

6. But wait, there‘s more, the CS1x also offers 3 further divi-

sions (3/23, 3/16, 3/8). Later we‘ll deal with their applica-

tions with a little exercise.

PERIMENT:

Without knowing much about it we wish to determine an

Arpeggio‘s length. Just how the Arpeggio proceeds is

dependent on several factors – the Arpeggio type, the rhyth-

mic resolution but also the total voice number used in an

arpeggiated chord. Select Performance TP060.

Now start playing using a four note chord, for example a C

major triad with an octave root note. The Arpeggiator begins

by breaking down the chord into 8ths (Subdivide: 1/8) and

then arpeggiates it over two octaves (type: UpOct2). You will

hear that the Arpeggio repeats itself after exactly one bar (s.

Note Example A). This means the loop is 4 beats long, i.e.

you can re-trigger the Arpeggio after 4 beats. Now experi-

ment with different Arpeggio types and rhythmic resolutions.

For instance, select Arpeggio type “DwOct1” and a 1/16 res-

olution. If you now play the same chord you will notice that

the Arpeggio now loops after only one quarter (s. Note

Example B). Feel free to try a few other combinations. You

will soon get a feel for how the different Arpeggios sound.

Note Example A

Note Example B

First Steps

Let‘s deal with the simple Arpeggio patterns “Up/Down”

and “Random” ﬁrst. These are by no means unique to the

CS1x, but can be found on many a synthesizer and therefore

serve well as an introduction as to the how Areggiators auto-

matically break up chords. What this actually sounds like

isn‘t important right now. We want to concentrate exclusively

on the sequence of notes produced. We recommend Perfor-

mance TP060 or a similar percussive sound for reference.

PERIMENT:

Select a 1/16 re solution and a tempo between 100 and

120bpm. You can of course also set the tempo via MIDI

Clock synchronisation – actually that‘s a good idea, as you

can then use the sequencer as a reference to help you under-

stand the Arpeggio beats and rhythms better. Use the four

note C major chord for all Arpeggios (triad + octave root

note). Now listen how the Arpeggiator translates this chord:

“UpOct1-4” – here each chord note is playing from the

bottom note to the top note over 1, 2 or even 4 octaves if

desired. The opposite sequence results from type

“DownOct1-4”, i.e. the notes are played starting with the

highest down to the lowest. “Random Oct1/2/4” however

selects the chord notes randomly from a 1 to 4 octave range.

Whilst the above Arpeggio types hardly require further

explanation, there is one noteworthy difference in the case of

the combined Up/Down Arpeggio type. As you might expect,

in both cases the Arpeggiator begins with the lowest note,

ascends to the top, and then descends back down again,

regardless whether 1, 2 or 4 octaves are selected. Still, the

note sequence produced is slightly different:

PERIMENT:

Play the C major chord using Performances TP061 and

TP062. If you now follow each sound i.e. the sequences gen-

erated by “UpDwAOct2” and “UpDwBOct2”, you will notice

a small irregularity with type B: the root note is not played

again after the highest note has been reached – all the other

Arpeggio types in the last X-PERIMENT did! This results in

an unwanted ‘shifting’, i.e. the Arpeggio‘s root note doesn‘t

always fall exactly on the correct beat. The following Note

Examples should make this a little clearer.

Note Example: UpDwAOct2

Note Example: UpDwBOct2

Sound Rhythm Tricks

Looking at these UpDown Arpeggios may lead you to the

conclusion that the chord notes ‘are somehow drifting across

the beats’. Perhaps you have already come across this phe-

nomenon when working with other Arpeggiators or testing

some of the CS1x factory sounds. It‘s true: you can never

separate rhythms and chords when working with the Arpeg-

giator! Here‘s a little example.

PERIMENT:

Leave the resolution of Performance TP063 set to 1/16 and

type “UpOct2”. Now play a C major triad in the basic conﬁg-

uration and examine which betas the arpeggiated sounds fall

on. After the ﬁrst cycle the root note lies somewhere

between the second and third beat, after the second cycle it

falls on the fourth and after the third it‘s now between the

ﬁrst and second beats, and so on. If you set the resolution to

1/24 triplet however, the C note will always fall exactly on

each beat. Let‘s look at this from another angle: Trigger the

Arpeggiator with a four note chord (use the C major chord

with root note octaves) and you will ﬁnd that the C note

doesn‘t fall on the beat anymore. To correct this, choose an

even-numbered resolution (e.g. 1/16 or 1/8). Now everything

is back to normal – i.e. the arpeggiated root note fall once

again exactly on the expected beats.

Note Example: 1/16

Note Example: 1/24

Are you with us this far? We have a little X-PERIMENT that

will demonstrate the direct relationship between the number

of chord notes and the chord‘s rhythmic resolutio.n The rule

of thumb here is that you should always choose even num-

bered chords for even rhythmic resolutions (1/4, 1/8, 1/16

and 1/32) and (say) three note or ﬁve note chords with odd-

numbered resolutions (1/6, 1/12, 1/24). That‘s the only way

to avoid generating unwanted syncopations with the Arpeg-

giator.

A special case are the dotted note rhythms (3/8, 3/16 and

3/32). The above rules don‘t apply here. These resolutions

are particularly interesting for odd-numbered beats (e.g. æ,

3/8 or 6/8). You will need to play chords with an even note

number to play back these three-part rhythms correctly.

PERIMENT:

Select Performance TP064 with Arpeggio type „UpOct2“

and a 3/8 resolution. Now playing a triad will ﬁnd the root

note on the ﬁrst beat in the 4th bar, in other words irregular

cycles are generated. A 4 note chord however generates

symmetrical 4 bar cycles, i.e. the root note is repeated after

the ﬁrst cycle on bar 3, after the second cycle on bar 5 and

after the third cycle on bar 7 etc - always on the ﬁrst beat.

Note Example: 3 notes

Note Example: 4 notes

Between you and me: you don‘t always have to be so

strictly analytical. The occasional breaking of the rules and

other such mischief often produces the most interesting

music! Anyway, these rules only really apply to the consistent

Arpeggio types like the CS1x‘s Up/Down patterns. If you are

planning to use more noise orientated sounds or special

effects, feel free to experiment as much as you want. After

all, if it sounds right, use it.

Fun to the power of 15!

If all this leaves you cold, you clearly haven‘t heard the

CS1x‘s 15 special Arpeggio types! First a quick note: all spe-

cial types don‘t lend themselves well to triplet rhythms. The

best results are achieved with a 4/4 beat and a resolution of

1/16, 1/8 or 1/32.

No doubt, a lot can be achieved with these ready made

sequences, especially when you have just run out of good

ideas. But what exactly is happening here? In order utilise

these 15 Arpeggio types more effectively you will need to

aquaint yourself with each of their properties.

Put simply, the special Arpeggios add ﬁlter and pan posi-

tion modulation as well as more complex stepping of rhythm

and dynamics to the more straight forward Up/Down Arpeg-

gios. Chord notes, their number and octave position however

are resolved differently from what you might expect. For

example, playing a four note chord with some Arpeggio

types will result in only two notes being played in different

octaves. We will demonstrate the properties of the special

Arpeggio types with a few exercises. Let‘s use a systematic

approach and start with the ﬁlter.

PERIMENT:

Select Performance TP065 and play any single note. Can

you hear the ﬁlter modulation already? Well no, of course

not. Don‘t worry, we are not trying to catch you out; we

simply wish to show you that the ﬁlter frequency has to be

set correctly in order for the ﬁlter modulation to have any

effect. All you need to do is turn the Cutoff knob anti-clock-

wise. Now you should hear the ﬁlter change across two bars:

the cutoff frequency rises during the ﬁrst four beats, then

drops during the second half at the same rate. This is due to

the Arpeggio Type “Techno-A”!

The CS1x however boasts a second type – “SweepLine”:

here, too, the Arpeggio automatically modulates the ﬁlter

frequency, raising it after the third quarter, and then dropping

again after the third quarter of the second bar. Intrigued? Go

ahead, select Performance TP066 and see for yourself.

Of course you can always change the ﬁlter yourself in real-

time with the CS1x knobs. Dynamic Pan Positions are more

tricky. Never fear, the Arpeggiator will once again make your

life that little bit easier by providing types that take care of

distributing your notes in the stereo image. Here, too, you

will need to pay particular attention to the corresponding

sound parameters, as the modulation can be affected by the

unsuitable effect settings (e.g. an excessive “Chorus Send”

value) as well as the Pan Position function.

PERIMENT:

Using Performance TP067, hold the keys down for at least

two bars. As well as rhythmically distributing the held notes

the Arpeggio pattern “Techno-D” also loosens the rhythm

with pulsating left-right movements. This will breathe plenty

of life into your sequencer arrangement. Arpeggio type

“Echo&Pan” is also a good alternative. Here, too, the Arpeg-

gio sequence inﬂuences the sound‘s Pan Position. To demon-

strate, try Performance TP068.

Things don‘t always run as smoothly as in these examples.

Sometimes you need to tinker a little to actually hear the Pan

modulations. For example, try getting these stereo move-

ments to work with Performance TP069! Have you discov-

ered how to do it yet? The key to success here lies with the

Variation effect: set “Var Send” to “On” for the ﬁrst Layer and

bathe in the full Arpeggio effect inclusive of Pan modulation.

There is much you can do with these ﬁlter and Pan modu-

lations. Nevertheless, the most noticeable property of the

special Arpeggios is doubtless their ‘musicality’,’) supported

by individual rhythms, small dynamic shifts as well as the

chord note variations. Let‘s spend a little time on these

‘dynamic’ changes.

PERIMENT:

Let‘s examine Arpeggio “Echo&Pan” a little more closely.

As the name suggests, this type automagically produces

echo effects – mostly with the help of different key velocity

values. Play Performance TP070 with any sound you wish: its

volume audibly ﬂuctuates within a single bar. This process is

repeated every four beats. The same thing happens with

Arpeggio type “TekkEcho” (TP071). Although the Arpeggio

ﬁgure here is 8 beats long the dynamic pattern is the same.

You can observe this, for example, with the “BaseLineB”

type. Tip: if you like the Arpeggio‘s rhythmic and pan move-

ments, but aren‘t so keen on the dynamic variations, simply

set the Velocity Offset value to the maximum +63.

Let‘s go one step further and ﬁnally examine the musical

aspect. Let‘s look at how many chord notes the Arpeggiator

actually utilises. Particularly with respect to song production,

the CS1x offers a choice of very special Arpeggio types.

Their names will already give you clues as to how these may

be put into action.

PERIMENT:

Begin by selecting Performance TP072. Playing (for exam-

ple) a C major triad in it‘s basic conﬁguration will give you a

typical bass ﬁgure. Hardly surprising when you take a look at

the Arpeggio type in the display: “BaseLineC”! Now take a

closer listen. The Arpeggiator plays only root notes and 3rds

! Not all your held notes are being played. The Arpeggiator

‘ﬁlters’ the notes depending on the context and what its

sequence is supposed to do – just as well! This type, like the

other “BaseLine” types for example simply ignores your

chord‘s 5th.

There are some other types that also don‘t translate your

chords in the way that you might expect. Arpeggio types

“SweepLine” and “PulseLine” as well as “SyncopaA” or

“Techno-C” for example accept only chords with up to three

notes, in other words a 7th or even a 9th is simply ignored.

Alternatively you can reduce a 7th chord to three notes by

leaving out the chord‘s 5th. Use Performances TP073 and

TP075 as a starting point to explore the polyphony and over-

all structure of each Arpeggio type.

Effects –

used in a different way

Enough of these lengthy experiments. With the help of a

few practical examples we now would like to show you the

Arpeggiator‘s many musical day-to-day applications .

The interplay between sounds and Arpeggio sequence is

an important area that we haven‘t even touched on so far,

but therein lies the art of Arpeggio playing! An Arpeggio that

triggers hundreds of different sounds will produce just as

many different results, and when used with especially ﬂexi-

ble instruments like the CS1x they open up a whole world of

possibilities.

This is particularly emphasised when you consider the

musicians used to be stuck with analogue synthesizer

sounds. Many interesting tonal shades could of course be

got from their fast envelopes, heavy ring modulators or pow-

erful noise generators, but it was sheer Utopia to envisage

being able to control all imaginable samples with an Arpeg-

giator. Simply put, the CS1X blows the tonal ‘corset’ to

smithereens, and with it all convention and ability to imagine

the things that can be realised with an Arpeggiator.

Therefore let‘s start with sounds that you might never even

have dreamed of using. Several years ago, when sampling

technology ﬁnally become affordable, it‘s performance

wasn‘t restricted to your everyday ‘natural’ instruments like

piano and strings, but extended to very specialised effects

generated by a Sampler, which was particularly popular in

the studio scene and could thus be heard in numerous pro-

ductions.

One of the most well-known of these was the ‘Mickey

Mouse’ effect. So why not use the Arpeggiator to create an

unusual effect?

AMPLE:

The following ﬁve Performances really should convince you

that this subject is seriously worth looking into. So, dial up

the ﬁrst sound example TP076 and play it with just one note.

If this doesn‘t even vaguely make you smile, select the next

Performance. This too is a special kind of effect, which really

doesn‘t require further commentary. Seriously though, don‘t

you think it would be very ‘original’ to use these little

sequences with, or as the basis of one of your songs?

The next three Arpeggiator sounds are much easier to inte-

grate into a sequencer arrangement. For example you could

use them to program unusual rhythm tracks. As mentioned

before, the Arpeggio as well as its tonal aspect play an

important role in this.

AMPLE:

Let‘s deal with Performance TP078. It is based on the SFX

voice “Burst” and has deliberately been transposed another

two octaves (Note Shift=+24) – this is where the ‘Aliasing

Effects’ come to the fore. If you have never come across this

term before, here is a quick explanation: Aliasing errors occur

when a sound‘s frequency is greater than half that of the

sampling frequency used to digitise it. The result is a fre-

quency differential that corresponds exactly to the difference

between the original frequency and the sampling frequency.

Tonally speaking, Aliasing results in drastic distortion, which

can however be used very effectively in sound development

with ROM-Sample-Synthesizers, especially with the aid of

the Arpeggiator.

Perhaps you have by now thought about using the CS1x

Arpeggiator to imitate wave sequencing – well, you can.

AMPLE:

The Arpeggio found in TP076 is straight from the Waves-

tation. The basic sound, as in our last example, was shaped

primarily with the aid of the pitch envelope. Equally impor-

tant are the effects, especially the Delay (VARY TYPE). The

delay times take their cue from the Arpeggiator tempo. A

little tip for ﬁddlers: try to work with keyboard splits if you

want to create even more interesting wave sequences.

Assign Material voices that complement each other well for

each of the four Layers.

The last SFX Arpeggio is a percussive sequence which can

be applied universally. Particularly nice here is Pan Position

modulation.

AMPLE:

Select Performance TP080 and, as in the previous exam-

ples, play only a single note. The sound‘s main character is

provided by the Flanger effect. This effect is responsible for

the regular up and down movements that you will have

noticed immediately. The Flanger by the way is also some-

times referred to as the ‘Jet Effect’. Pay particular attention

to the relationship between the Flanger‘s LFO speed and the

Arpeggio tempo. With this, too, many variation possibilities

can be achieved.

Feel free to experiment with the Arpeggio types and tempi

of all these SFX examples. Utilising the Hold function will

save you having to constantly re-trigger your Arpeggios.

Hard Chord Work

Furthermore you can use the integrated Arpeggiator for

various chord break-up duties. Particularly musical

sequences can be arranged intuitively with the special

Arpeggio types, and here the same applies again: a more

unusual sound results in a more original Arpeggio.

Let‘s however deal ﬁrst and foremost with the traditional

synthesizer sounds. In this area alone there are thousands of

possibilities to explore, all of which can be used effectively

for your arrangements. To demonstrate we have prepared

two Performances.

AMPLE:

Performance TP081 consists of only one Layer, that is to

say only one sawtooth wave. Of course you could always use

two detuned oscillators to give the sound volume. If this

sound however is only to be used as an arpeggiated accom-

paniment, then one Layer should sufﬁce. Doing so also helps

keep the voice count low, which will beneﬁt any multi-timbral

duties. Again, pay attention to the effects. Here, as with

TP079, the delay is used rhythmically.

If you hold your chord down a little longer you will ﬁnd that

the Arpeggio generated sequence repeats after exactly two

bars. Here is a simple but efﬁcient trick: vary the length of the

sequence, i.e. trigger the Arpeggio already after a quarter, a

half or a whole bar. This will shape your Arpeggio in ever

more interesting ways and allow it to be used more distinctly.

Select the next Performance (TP082) to hear a classic

Arpeggio sequence. A simple analogue sound is steadily

arpeggiated up and down over four octaves. Altogether this

sound is fairly delicate and can thus be utilised for graceful

as well as frantic accompanying parts (ARP Subdiv 1/32).

Intriguing effects can be achieved by varying the tempo

during the Arpeggio process – simply use Knob 3 (Assign1).

This really is a special means of expression. You can now

shape the Arpeggio to any musical context (for instance to

heighten chord sequences by stepping them chromatically

upwards and downwards) or to your own personal interpre-

tation.

Sounds interesting – but can the Arpeggiator only be used

for Synthesizer sounds? Well, actually no, even traditional

musicians get a great deal out of it. He/she may for example

use it to create Tremolo effects for acoustic instruments, like

the mandolin or steel drums. “UpOct1” or “DwOct1” are the

most appropriate Arpeggiator types for this. Here‘s a little

exercise.

PERIMENT:

Consider Performance TP012 as a “Sound Init”. Now

instead of the sine wave select Steel Drums (e.g. XG001/

#15) and activate the Arpeggiator (the Arpeggiator type is

already set correctly). All that‘s needed now is a tempo

between 200 and 240bpm; all entries have been made. Now

play your Steel Drums, in thirds just like the original. If you

are pleased with the result, save your Performance. To add

even more authenticity to the sound, try setting Assign1 to

control the Arpeggio tempo as in our last example and gently

vary the speed of the Tremolo with Knob 3.

Naturally this isn‘t all there is to it. Following are another

four sequences that are particularly useful for modern styles

like House or Trance – you should like those.

AMPLE:

The Performances TP083/084 are really quite traditional.

With the ﬁrst you will hear a two bar Clavinet sequence. You

should keep your triggering chords held down for at least

four beats on account of the daring downward octave jump

and special rhythm.

The next Performance is enriched with Pan and Echo

effects, and would work nicely as a House piano. Here a

single key triggers an entire 7th chord (minor 7). Interesting

also is the real-time control via Assign1/2. Knob 6 will let you

vary the chord note‘s volume, whilst Knob 3 is used to vary

the rhythmic resolution (Subdivide). Moving this knob fully

clockwise decreases the note values from 1/16 down to 1/32,

which effectively doubles the speed of the sequence – one

to use quickly and impulsively!

To prove once and for all that the sound used is the most

important element that gives the Arpeggio sequence its

character, we have assigned Arpeggio type “Echo&Pan” to a

phased choir sound. The resulting sound can be found in

TP085. Hard to believe that this fourth and ﬁnal example is

based on the same Arpeggio type, isn‘t it? Particularly inge-

nious is the use of the differing dynamic values that are gen-

erated by the Arpeggio sequence. If the values exceed 92, an

‘analogue’ ﬁlter sound is heard (Layer2), if they are less you

hear a ‘digital’ sound instead (Layer1).

Keeping in Line

It doesn‘t always make sense to trigger arpeggios with

triads or other chords. Often it is better to play a single note,

or the Arpeggiator may reduce polyphonic playing to a single

note anyway. Naturally we have some examples for this, and

will comment on them below.

AMPLE:

The ﬁrst Performance (TP087) is a good example of arpeg-

gio ﬁlter modulation. Combined with the distortion effect the

ﬁlter movements are nicely pronounced and should set well

even with Hardcore Freaks. As mentioned before, play this

Performance with a single note only. Triads wouldn‘t really be

useful here because of the fuzz effect. A second voice how-

ever may be added if you insist. A listen to the third Arpeggio

Demo will reveal all.

The second Performance (TP088) is living proof that a bass

line Arpeggiator type isn‘t restricted to bass sounds. Here we

are using a particularly ﬂavoursome sequence, seasoned to

taste with a hefty dose of ﬂanging. The Arpeggiator insists

on playing only the root and 3rd notes, even if you play a

triad; this is a good thing.

Perhaps you prefer to work with monophonic sequences,

but the Arpeggiator occasionally produces two or more

notes at once. No problem, with the aid of a small trick:

simply use the Poly/Mono function to reduce your Arpeggio

to one note, just like that. This opens up a whole new bag of

variation possibilities, which in turn affect the Arpeggio pat-

tern. A little example should make this clearer.

AMPLE:

Change Performance TP089 to POLY (Layer1). Now if you

trigger the Arpeggiator, you can if so desired play polyphonic

chords. This would however be a little impractical with bass

sequences, especially if you use the Portamento function. As

you will have already seen in the Analogue Workshop, sounds

are supposed to be played monophonically with this func-

tion. We have already set up the Performance this way and

thereby enabled the “Techno-B” Arpeggio type for bass lines.

While you‘re at it, try out Performances TP090 and 091. X-

Other manuals for CS1X

Table of contents

Popular Synthesizer manuals by other brands

Moog

Moog Grandmother Firmware update

NONLINEAR LABS

NONLINEAR LABS C15 user manual

Moog

Moog THE SOURCE instructions

Knobula

Knobula Poly Cinematic user manual

CreamWare

CreamWare Noah Arpeggiator manual

Roland

Roland Juno-GJ Service notes

Division 6

Division 6 Dual Mini Sequencer operating instructions

Korg

Korg Karma Parameter guide

Casio

Casio XW-P1 user guide

Nektar

Nektar Impact LX49 user guide

MFB

MFB SYNTH Pro Operation manual

Casio

Casio Casiotone CT-S1 quick start guide

Quasimidi

Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution 309 owner's manual

ELECTRONIC MUSIC LABORATORIES

ELECTRONIC MUSIC LABORATORIES ElectroComp EML - 200 manual

EMC

EMC Schmidt user manual

Roland

Roland D-50 owner's manual

Alesis

Alesis Ion supplementary guide

Korg

Korg 800DV Service manual

Yamaha CS1X User manual

Popular Synthesizer manuals by other brands