Page 1 AKAI S3200 MIDI STEREO DIGITAL SAMPLER Software Version 1.0 Operator’s Manual oursuppcjrt -lor -0?#. j f § merit, this manual lias been prime# entirety on recyderi paper1 ;...
Page 2 WARNING!! To prevent fire or shock hazard, do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture. CAUTION : TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK). NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL THE SYMBOLS ARE RULED BY UL STANDARDS (U.S.A) The lightning flash with the arrowhead symbol superimposed across a graphical representation of a person, within an equilateral...
Page 3 ★ Use only a household AC power supply. Never use a DC power supply. If water or any other liquid is spilled into or onto the S3200, disconnect the power, and call your dealer. Make sure that the unit is well-ventilated, and away from direct sunlight.
Page 4 UK CUSTOMERS Important safety notice The flex supplied with this machine has three wires, as shown in the illustration. Green/Yellow (earth) “ ‘ WARNING: THIS APPLIANCE MUST BE EARTHED*** IMPORTANT The wires in this mains lead are coloured in accordance with the following code: Green and yellow - earth Blue - neutral Brown - live...
Page 5: Fcc Warning
AKAI ELECTRIC CO., LTD COPYRIGHT NOTICE The AKAI S3200 is a computer-based instrument, and as such contains and uses software in ROMs and disks. This software, and all related documentation, including this Operator’s Manual, contain proprietary information which is protected by copyright laws. All rights are reserved.
Page 6 S3200 with the MO disk still inside it, as this can cause breakdowns. Make sure the S3200 is used in the horizontal position when it has an MO disk inside it. Do not set it on end or tilt it when using it.
Page 7 3.5-inch floppy disk drive BUSY Indicator This orange indicator lights whenever data is being read from or written to an MO disk. Also, if the internal temperature of the S3200 rises abnormally high, this indicator flashes at 1-second intervals. EJECT Button Press this button to eject an MO disk.
Page 8: Warranty
AKAI Authorized Service Centre or Authorized Dealer. AKAI will not cover under warranty an apparent malfunction that is determ ined to be user error, or the owner’s inability to use the product.
Page 9: Table Of Contents
S3200 FLOWCHART....................2 2 SELECT PROG..........................2 4 SELECTING PROGRAMS....................2 4 VIEWING PROGRAMS....................2 4 RENUMBERING PROGRAMS..................2 5 MIXING SOUNDS ON THE S3200................2 6 MIDI..........................2 7 DISK OPERATIONS.......................2 9 LOADING FROM HARD DISK..................3 0 DELETING PROGRAMS..................... 3 0 USING THE S3200'S EFFECTS...................
Page 10 2 S3200 OPERATORS MANUAL - CONTENTS THE MAIN SAMPLE SELECT PAGE................4 7 NAMING SAMPLES - COPYING AND RENAMING............4 8 DELETING SAMPLES....................4 9 SETTING UP FOR A RECORDING.................5 0 IMPORTANT NOTE - SAVING RECORD PARAMETERS TO DISK.......5 2 ADJUSTING THE RECORDING AND THRESHOLD LEVELS........5 3 RECORDING ON THE S3200..................
Page 11 NOTES ON USING EXISTING S1000/S1100 SOUND LIBRARY.......1 4 9 PARAMETER SETTINGS..................15 0 TUNE/LEVEL SCREEN......................151 TUNING AND TRANSPOSING..................1 5 1 SETTING THE S3200'S MASTER OUTPUT LEVEL............ 1 5 1 UTILITY MODE.......................... 152 PROGRAMMING THE AKAI ME35T................1 5 2 DIGITAL AUDIO INTERFACE..................1 5 5 REAL TIME DIGITAL OUTPUTS..............15 5...
Page 12 PROCESSING DISK RECORDINGS ON AN EXTERNAL MIXER....2 0 6 EDITING DAT RECORDINGS................20 6 CREATING AN ALBUM COMPILATION TRACK LIST........2 0 6 MIXING DOWN THE S3200 TO DISK............20 7 GLOSSARY..........................2 0 8 S3200 MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CHART................2 1 2 SPECIFICATIONS........................
Page 13: Introduction
INTRODUCTION 5 INTRODUCTION Congratulations on purchasing the Akai S3200 sampler! The S3200 is a high performance stereo digital sampler with the following features: * Polyphony: 32 voices * A-D conversion: 16-bit stereo with 64-times oversampling * Internal processing: 28-bit accumulation...
Page 14: Edit Sample
6 INTRODUCTION * Internal mixer with variable effects send * Control of up to 2 x Akai ME35T audio/drum pad to MIDI converters * Qlist generation for audio/visual post production using IB-303T SMPTE reader/generator 12dB/octave resonant lowpass filters * 2nd bank of 12dB/octave multi-mode filters (lowpass, bandpass,...
Page 15: Multi-Tap Delay
* HELP pages * Open software architecture expansion via software updates The staff at Akai and in particular, the S3200 development team would like to thank you for purchasing the S3200 and hope that you will remain a long time Akai user. The same team who developed the industry standard S I000 and SHOO samplers are responsible for the S3200 and we are confident that your investment will provide you with many years of reliable service.
Page 16: S3200 Front Panel Description
DISK KEYS DRIVE Although the S3200 has a fiarly sparse front panel, behind it is a powerful tool for the creative manipulation of digital audio. However, despite the creative power at your disposal, the S3200 is extremely easy to use.
Page 17: The Help Key
M ID I/L This sets the S3200's 'global' MIDI parameters such as receive channel, program change select, etc.. There are also various diagnostic pages that allow you to view incoming MIDI signals in case of some problem.
Page 18: Selecting Parameters And Entering Data
Normally, there is no other entry procedure required; simply displaying the correct value of a parameter using the DATA encoder selects and stores it into the S3200’s memory. Our sound programmers at Akai usually use a combination of the numeric keypad and the DATA ENTRY ENCODER for speedy input of parameter values.
Page 19: Mark And Jump Keys
Pressing the MARK/# button when the cursor is on a field will cause the S3200 to remember the position of the cursor, and pressing JUMP/, will take the cursor back to the MARK(ed) position from any other page. Pressing JUMP/, again will take you back to the page and function you were at before you JUMP(ed).
Page 20: The Ent/Play Key
MARK/# and JUMP/, keys enter ”#" and respectively. The last button, ENT/PLAY, enters and confirms the name and the S3200 prompts you to either copy or rename the item. THE ENT/PLAY KEY This is a dual-purpose button.
Page 21: Taking Care Of Your Disks
S3200. High density disks have a hole on the right hand side which is used by the disk drive to detect that it is a high density disk. If the S3200 does not 'see' this hole, it assumes it is a DD disk and so searches for a DD format. If it doesn't fjnc[ it (i.e.
Page 22: And Finally
LCD on or off. At times when you are not actively using the S3200's front panel for program m ing (i.e. when actually sequencing or recording to tape, for example, or when using the sam pler live on stage), you m ight like to switch this off.
Page 23 As a result of our success with the Akai DD1000 Magneto Optical Disk Recorder/Editor, these have proved to be a very convenient way of moving the cursor around the screen and so replace the cursor knob found on the older sam plers.________________________________________________________...
Page 24: The Rear Panel
(true stereo programs using stereo samples should be assigned to the stereo outputs for the full stereo effect) and effected separately. The S3200 uses remote ground sensing circuitry so that the unbalanced outputs are protected against the possibility of ground or earth loops that can sometimes occur in complicated setups where a lot of equipment is connected.
Page 25: Gain Switch
NOTE 2: If you set the level too low, the S3200's EDIT SAMPLE pages have a GAIN NORMALISE function that allows you to restore the sample to its optimum level for full use of the sam plers wide dynamic range.______________...
Page 26: Ground Connection
This cooling fan is installed when the optional internal 3.5 inch M.O. disk drive is installed. POWER CONNECTION This is used to connect AC power to the S3200. BEFORE CONNECTING ANY AC POWER, PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOUR UNIT IS DESIGNED FOR YOUR AREA S POWER SUPPLY. A...
Page 27: Setting Up The S3200
CONNECTIONS Start by placing the S3200 on a firm level surface or in a 19" equipment rack. Remember to leave adequate space for airflow above and behind the S3200 if putting it in a rack (a 1U space is adequate).
Page 28: Getting Started
MIDI input and assuming you have not yet switched the instrument on, insert one of the library disks that come with the S3200 into the 3.5" floppy disk drive (if you really are new to samplers, please have a quick look at the section INSERTING THE FLOPPY DISK in the introduction).
Page 29: How The S3200 Works
On the S3200, it is also possible to JOIN samples end to end to create long, evolving sounds or you may MIX samples to create big layered textures.
Page 30: S3200 Flowchart
In this way, the S3200 is a powerful synthesizer as well, except that you may use almost any sampled sound (of your own or from a sound library) as the basis of your own powerful and expressive sounds.
Page 31 HOW THE S3200 WORKS 23 ANALOGUE INPUTS DIGITAL INPUTS FLOPPY DISK HARD DISK/CARTRIDGE CD ROM EDIT SAMPLE EXTRACT TRIM CHOP JOIN ‘ XFADE LOOP (X4)| TUNE SCALE FADE REVERSE | normalise TIMESTRETCH RESAMPLE EDIT PROGRAM IND. OUT 1-8 KEYGROUP(S) FX SEND...
Page 32: Select Prog
Whichever method you use for selecting programs, when the program is selected, an asterisk appears alongside it number and the program number is indicated. One useful feature of the S3200 is that it is possible to be playing one program whilst another is being selected. For example, whilst holding down a low string note you could select, say, a brass sound.
Page 33: Renumbering Programs
-n u m b e r the program s, so that selecting a brass sound on the S3200 will call up a sim ilar (or com plem entary) patch on a rem ote synthe size r m odule.
Page 34: Mixing Sounds On The S3200
S3200. In this way, very com plex m ixes can be set up. A nother method may be to send, say, snare, kick and...
Page 35: Midi
SELECT PROG 27 N O TE : It is possible to send individual keygroups to these outputs so the results you get may sometimes be a little unpredictable if you are not sure of the keygroup assignments. _______________________________________________________ You may also select REB o rF X and you may use this to send program s in proportionate am ounts to the internal effects and the l e v :...
Page 36 SELECT PROG r a n g e : W hen tw o p ro g ra m s are g ive n the sa m e p ro gram num ber, it is p o ssib le to set up ke yb o a rd sp lits by setting the note range of the program s.
Page 37: Disk Operations
The next key along, F5, gives you acce ss to som e basic disk fun ctio ns for loading sounds into the S3200. P ressing 0 B B in the S ELEC T PROG m ode gives you this screen:...
Page 38: Loading From Hard Disk
NO TE: There is more to using a hard disk than that, unfortunately, such as matching SCSI ID's, formatting, etc.. For details on using the S3200 with a hard disk, please refer to the section HARD DISK CONTROL in the DISK section.
Page 39 SELECT PROG 31 The three 'action' keys are as follows: IPRQGI Pressing this will display this prom pt: r d e le t e 5 SYN BASS 1 d e le t e one program ? GO ABORT | and you should press GO or ABORT as necessary. If the p ro gram is the only one in m e m ory using a p a rtic u la r se t...
Page 40: Using The S3200'S Effects
W hen you turn on the S3200, you have two effects sections I3B 13 and l a i n is an ab breviation of REVERB and gives you access to 50 reverb effects...
Page 41 SELECT PROG 33 F u rth e rm o re , b eca u se th e re are tw o se p a ra te e ffe cts s e ctio n s, d iffe re n t program s may be sent to d iffe re n t effects. O ne program may be sent to tw o effects s im u lta ne o usly or, in a layered or m u lti-tim bral setup w here several program s share the sam e program num ber, d iffe rent program s may be sent to d iffe re n t e ffects.
Page 42 SELECT PROG e f f e c t n a n e Although not labelled as such, this field shows the name of the selected effect. You may create your own nam e by pressing NAM E and typing in a nam e from the front panel and then pressing ENT/PLAY.
Page 43 SELECT PROG 35 LARGE HALL This is a big, spaciou s reverb effect tha t em ulates the c h a ra c te ris tic s of a large c o n c e rt hall or c a th e d ra l e n viro n m e n t.
Page 44 SELECT PROG environm ent you you are trying to em ulate. The rule of thum b is that for reflective environm ents set a low HF dam p fa cto r and for less re fle ctive reverb type s (i.e. for an acoustic environm ent that maybe has m any 'soft' fixtures such as drapes, curtains, etc.) set a higher HF dam ping factor.
Page 45: Effects Section
SELECT PROG 37 EFFECTS SECTION The second group of effects are accessed in the reverb page by pressing F7 - 1 X 1 - and this will tog gle between 1 8 ^ 1 and a cco rd in g ly. The first effect availab le in W M B is ECHO.
Page 46: Chorus Effects
38 SELECT PROG d e l : This sets the delay tim e for each of the delay lines 1 to 4. The range for delays 1 to 3 is 0-360m S each and for delay 4, the range is 0-180m S. f b k : This sets the am ount of feedback for each delay.
Page 47: Pitch Shifter
SELECT PROG 39 fla n g in g e ffe c ts a lth o u g h s m a ll a m o u n ts of it w ill a c c e n tu a te ce rta in ch o ru s e ffe cts. Be ca re fu l w hen using this control as it is possible on certain sounds to in tro d u c e h a rm o n ic...
Page 48: Delay
SELECT PROG DELAY T his is a s tan d a rd D D L (d ig ita l d elay line) tha t o ffers one sin gle repeat. Selecting D ELAY in the t y p e : field will display this screen: S 3 (p ro g :B E = 1>...
Page 49: Assigning Multiple Effects To Programs
Now rem ove the disk and load up the o riginal e ffe cts file and ch oose a location and copy it. In this way, effects from any disk can be loaded into the S3200 and used with any program you wish.
Page 50: Layering Programs
SELECT PROG LAYERING PROGRAMS The S 3200's 32-voice p olyphony m akes layering a m ore via b le p roposition than on 24- or 16-voice sam plers. A lthough it is possible to layer sounds within one program (som ething which may be m ore convenient on occasions and one we will look at when we venture into EDIT PRO G RAM ), it is useful to be able to call up several program s together.
Page 51: Using Renumbering To Create Multi-Timbral Setups
SELECT PROG 43 USING RENUMBERING TO CREATE MULTI-TIMBRAL SETUPS O ne of the m ost a pp e alin g th in g s a bou t MIDI is its m u lti-ch a n n e l ability. O riginally, synth m odules could be set to a specific MIDI channel num ber so tha t se ve ra l m odule s could be set to play se ve ra l m u sical p arts from a sequencer.
Page 52: Conclusion
If you are new to the S3200, don't w orry about all this for the m om ent - as you gain more experience with the instrum ent, com e back to these techniques when yo u 're ready.
Page 53: Edit Sample - Recording And Editing
40kH z. A bass drum , how eve r, w h ich has v e ry few u ppe r harm onics, could feasibly be sam pled at 20kHz. The S3200 sam ples at 44.1kHz, the sam e as com pact disc so you can be sure you are getting CD quality sound from your sam pler.
Page 54 46 EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING One of the inherent problem s with sam pling is the RAM and it is not possible to have an endless supply of it in stalled in the sam pler. As a result, our re co rd ing s (or 'sam ples' as they are m ore co m m o n ly know n in the m usic industry) have to be kept fa irly short.
Page 55: The Main Sample Select Page
NO TE: The m illisecond display is purely for reference - you cannot actually edit in milliseconds. This is not a fault of the S3200. The reason is that all editing has to be done referenced to sample points as this is the only true reference the S3200 has when dealing with samples.
Page 56: Naming Samples - Copying And Renaming
Before you can do any sam pling, you m ust name the sam ple you are about to record. If you have ju st sw itched the S3200 on with no disk in it, you will have the four synth w aveform s in there. Use one of these as the basis of your new sample.
Page 57: Deleting Samples
EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING 49 W hen you have entered your name, press ENT and you will get this prom pt: ^ S e D ? c t j ^ J C 0 P 7 ] I REN I fe x i1 1 | Pressing I will copy the original sam ple - use this to create a basis for a new sample.
Page 58: Setting Up For A Recording
50 EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING SETTING UP FOR A RECORDING T here are two pages, REC1 and REC2, which deal with m aking recordings. REC1 is a 'record se tup' page w h e re ce rtain p a ra m e te rs may be set if necessary.
Page 59 If you are sampling from a m ixer it is possible to get 'feedback' if the S3200 is also connected to that mixer, set to ON and its channels are open..
Page 60: Important Note - Saving Record Parameters To Disk
(or o th e r co n tro lle r) if you w ish. P roviding you are m onitoring through the S3200, pressing a note on the keyboard will set it here. Y ou can, of course, set it m anually using the DATA control. You may also adjust the length of tim e...
Page 61: Adjusting The Recording And Threshold Levels
O nce you have set the threshold level to your satisfaction, you are ready to make a recording. RECORDING ON THE S3200 A ssum ing all yo u r p ara m e te rs are co rre ctly set, all you need do is press...
Page 62: Recording Digitally
A fte r the re co rd in g has fin ish e d , the m o n ito rin g of the in co m in g sig n a l through the S3200 is now autom atically sw itched off allow ing you to play the new sam ple directly from the keyboard or the front panel E N T/PLAY key.
Page 63 REC2 lEatDGSEED This indicates that the digital audio signal is not getting to the S3200. Please check yo ur co n n e ctio n s ca re fu lly - it could be that the cable has becom e d isco n n e cte d .
Page 64: Edit 1 - Trim, Loop And Join
EDIT 1 - TRIM, LOOP AND JOIN There are three main editing m odes on the S3200. ED.1 gives you access to the basic editing functions such as TRIM, LOOP and JOIN. ED.2 gives access to the tim estre tch and re-sam pling fu n ctio ns and E D .3 gives you access to the...
Page 65 EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING 57 num bers such as this in several ways. You m ay type in a num ber d ire ctly from the num eric keyboard or you may use the D A TA control. Each num ber field is separately accessible allow ing you a great deal of fle xib ility in editing such large num bers.
Page 66: Looping
LO O P IN G Looping is one of the trickie st areas of sam pling but not im possible and the S3200 m akes it as easy as it can with som e functions to help you m ake good loops.
Page 67 EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING 59 t i n e : This sets the length of the loop you wish to make. This is expressed in m illiseconds. You can set a loop to last from Im S to 9998m S . This is m ost useful when you have m ultiple loops.
Page 68 The IFINDI key looks fo r points of equal am plitude. R epeated pressing of this w ill m ake the S3200 try and try again and you m ust ju d g e if the loop is acceptable or not. The IX-FDI key is in va lua b le in cre a ting loops. W hat this...
Page 69: Making A Good Loop
EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING 61 MAKING A GOOD LOOP M aking a loop is one of the trickie st things in sam pling. The trick is to match two points in the sam ple that are sim ila r in level and tone. For exam ple, this would not make a good loop: You have selected a high am plitude point in the sam ple and set a length that loops around a very quiet part.
Page 70: The Join Page
Perfect results are not alw ays possible but you'll be surprised at how easy looping can be on the S3200. If your sam ple has just one single loop such as: you can go to the trim page and rem ove the bit of audio after the loop as this will not be played.
Page 71: Crossfading
EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING 63 points of A, and then press - this will copy sam ple A into sam ple J w ithout sam ple B so that you audition it in isolation using the E N T/PLAY key (you can overw rite J later, of course, so yo u’ve done no perm anent dam age to A if you get things wrong).
Page 72: Edit 2 - Timestretch And Re-Sample
64 EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING C rossfade a tim pani strike with a deep string orchestra. Use that sam ple, for exam ple, to crossfade with a big vocal chorus chord and use the result of that to crossfade with a large orchestral finale. C rossfade a thick synth bass with a string pad.
Page 73 EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING 65 o r i g i n a l p i t c h : T his allow s you to alter the origin al pitch at which the sam ple was recorded, so that when you replay it on the ke ybo a rd , it w ill pla y at the co rre c t p itch.
Page 74: Reversing Samples
O ne of the m ost useful digital signal processing tech n iq ue s available today is tha t of tim e com pression and expansion or 'T im estretch' as we call it at Akai. T his te ch n iq ue a llo w s you to a lte r the length of a sam ple, sh orte n in g it or length en ing it, w ith o u t chan g in g its pitch, the com m on problem of tryin g to change the length of the sam ple by playing it back slow er or faster.
Page 75: Timestretch Parameters
EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING 67 integrity of the sound. The tim estretch on the S3200 w orks by m aking a copy of the original. It is necessary to m ake a copy for tw o reasons - firstly, the S3200 needs the original data to get the data to insert.
Page 76 C Y C L I C uses a fixed cycle tim e at which the S3200 will stretch. W hen I N T E L L selected here, the S3200 m akes its own decisions as it p ro ce e d s w ith the s tre tc h in g p ro cess.
Page 77: Performing A Timestretch
EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING 69 this will take longer. T his control only has a fun ction when INTELL is selected. w i d t h : T his se ts a cro ssfad e betw een the o rig in a l and the inserted data.
Page 78: Performing A Re-Sample
70 EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING w hose fre q u e n c ie s m ay not extend beyond 10kHz, it se em s p ointle ss. Of course, this kind of sound can be set to be recorded at 10kHz in the REC1 pages but w hat if the sound needs a bandwidth of 12 or 14kHz? This is where the re-sam pling or RATE page com es in.
Page 79: Edit 3 - Sectional Editing, Normalisation, Digital Fades
EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING 71 and you should input a unique name. During the re-sam pling process (which is very q uick but does depend on the length of the sam ple) you will receive the message: [_+*>M c_BUSY_^_PLEflSE_JJflIT_++^ W hen the process is com plete, you can play the new sam ple by pressing the E L H 3 key.
Page 80 72 EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING ECTIOMB DRIJNRIFF1 t o : SNARE# 1 s t a r t : 21700 end: 34011 MONO 7 3 *F B ffli HSBIl i SECT I Z IN I fTOUri [EXFCI At this point, you m ay like to create a nam e for the new sam ple to be copied to.
Page 81 ESCB, n u n or ICHOPI as you wish. If you change your mind, press t£ X itl. W hilst the S3200 is processing the data, you w ill receive a 'busy' prom pt. A fter a few seconds, the new sam ple will be shown which may be played in the usual way.
Page 82: Level Scaling/Normalisation
74 EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING LEVEL SCALING/NORM ALISATION Pressing B S 2H in any of the ED .3 pages will display this screen: H d aiagtoe— t o : NEW shmple r e s c a le v a lu e : +00dB MONO 73^F SCAL...
Page 83 EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING 75 Pressing S M I in any of the ED .3 pages will display this screen. lasiaa j a n U M to : neui sam ple s t a r t : 2500 end: 218000 MONO 737.F...
Page 84: Conclusion
76 EDIT SAMPLE - RECORDING AND EDITING CONCLUSION As you can see, there is a lot one can do to m odify a sam ple once you have it in m em ory. But the fun is only really beginning. In the next section we will see how we can m ap these edited sam ple o ut across the keyboard as w ell as d isco ve r m any o th e r in terestin g p ossibilitie s.
Page 85: Edit Program
M IDI range on C 0-G 8. The T E S T PRO G RAM that alw ays boots up into the S3200 is just such a program . I.e: K E Y G R O U P 1 Version 1.0 March 1993...
Page 86: Keygroup Zones
78 EDIT PROGRAM P erhaps the next level up is to have a program with tw o keygroups. One covers the range C0-B2, the other C 3-G 8 - this w ould be a sim ple keyboard split. I.e: KEYG RO UP 1 KEYG RO UP 2 The next level m ay be a program w hich has five keygroups - one for each o cta ve on a norm al synth keyboard.
Page 87: Overlapping And Crossfading Keygroups
EDIT PROGRAM 79 also contain the same sam ple as zone 1 and these could be panned and detuned for a fat, pseudo stereo layered synth sound. O f course, each zone could have different synth sounds in them . T his type of p rogram is a lso su ita b le fo r a tw o w ay ve lo city sw itch - by setting zone 1 of each keygroup to a velocity range of 0-90 and setting zone 2 to 91-127, you could, fo r exam ple sw itch betw een a thum bed bass and a...
Page 88: Assignable Program Modulation
G am elan orchestra but, when the need arises to create th a t special sound or when yo u r s yn th e size r ju st isn't up to it, the S3200 w ill o b lig e you w illin g ly - in fact, you m ay get so used to the S 32 0 0's Version 1.0...
Page 89: Apm Block Diagram
EDIT PROGRAM 81 ve rsa tility as a syn th e size r that som e of your current synth(s) may be in the classifieds sooner than you think! This block diagram will help you to understand the concept of APM: APM BLOCK DIAGRAM K E Y - * = S IG N A L F L O W = C O N T R O L IN PUT...
Page 90 82 EDIT PROGRAM E x t e r n a l : T h is se le c ts the MIDI c o n tro lle r set in the e xte rn a l control field of the main MIDI MODE page. This can be B R E A T H (c n tl# 2 ), F O O T...
Page 91: S3200 Synthesizer Front Panel
EDIT PROGRAM 83 S3200 SYNTHESIZER FRONT PANEL L F 0 2 L F O I E N V 3 E N V 2 ENV1 WAVE RATE WAVE RATE DEPTH DELAY RATE 1 RATE 2 RATE 3 RATE 4 RATE 1 RATE 2...
Page 92: Test Program
- on the S3200, the equivalent is done in software. And don't forget, you have thirty two of these synths in the S3200! Before you get on the 'phone to your Akai dealer or distributor...
Page 93: Creating And Editing A Program
EDIT PROGRAM 85 CREATING AND EDITING A PROGRAM In the S3200, w e alw ays use ano the r program as the basis for a new one. There are several ways you can w ork this. Y ou can use an e x is tin g p ro g ra m fro m y o u r so und lib ra ry th a t c lo s e ly resem bles the one you wish to create.
Page 94: Deleting Programs
86 EDIT PROGRAM If the program nam e is an existing one, the boxed area in the bottom right of the screen will show: nane: TEST PROGRAM ♦ex i s i i ng P ro g * and you will receive the follow in g prom pt: I i! MUST USE A DIFFERENT NAME !! You must enter a unique new name.
Page 95 EDIT PROGRAM 87 p r o g r a m : T h is sh ow s the s e le c te d p ro g ra m nam e. D iffe re n t program s m ay be sele cted fo r editing by scrolling with the DATA control.
Page 96 88 EDIT PROGRAM Even when Mono l e g a t o : is ON, playing each note separately will cause the attack of each note to be re trig g e re d . T h is fu n ctio n is e xtre m e ly useful fo r e m u la tin g the playing styles and phrasing of solo instrum ents such as flutes, oboe, cla rinet, saxophone, etc..
Page 97: Midi Page
EDIT PROGRAM 89 the sequence is playing so that the attack tim e may be adjusted so as to m ake the string part 'sit' right in the track. You may also use this function to edit one layer of a layered set of program s. No other fields are available on this screen.
Page 98 The sam e could be done with other percussion sounds such as open and closed triangles, guira, etc.. The S3200 is capable of playing up to thirty two notes (or 'voices' or NOTE: 'samples' - call them what you will) at one time. If a keygroup is set to use four samples which will all be played when one key is pressed (i.e.
Page 99 EDIT PROGRAM 91 p r i o r i t y : This allow s you to specify how notes will be 'stolen' by o ther p rogram s if this is necessary. T h ere are fo u r settings: LOW , NORM , HIGH and HOLD.
Page 100: Output Levels Page
3 2-voice polyphony of the S3200. NOTE: This parameter works in conjunction with a field found in SMP2 (see...
Page 101 EDIT PROGRAM 93 control acts as an effects send level to the reverb or effects section. s t e r e o l e v e l : T his sets the level of the program as it appears at the L/R stereo outputs.
Page 102 's overall loudness. The breath option w ill be very p op ular with ow ners of the Akai EWI MIDI w ind controller. T hese three m odulation input sources may be com bined and mixed together.
Page 103: Pan Page
(i.e. l o u d n e s s : 99) the output level of the S3200 is at maximum and so you will not hear any effect if one or more modulation sources are applied.
Page 104 96 EDIT PROGRAM When layering two identical samples with detune and hard USEFUL TIP: left/right panning (see later in SMP1 - 3), using LFO 2 will cause each sample to swirl backwards and forwards in opposition - i.e. as one pans left, so the other pans right.
Page 105: The Tune Page
EDIT PROGRAM 97 THE TUNE PAGE The next soft key is the IU I!13 key a nd th is takes us, not surprisingly, to the main program tuning page. Pressing f lS I B will give you this display: PROGRAM TUNE M dzM H sM S M TEST PROGRAM C# D.
Page 106: Test Program
The pitch bend on the S3200 is no ordinary pitch bend that sim ply goes up or dow n as you m ove the w heel or lever. On the S 3200 it is possible to set a different range for bend up and down as w ell as use pressure and a special mode is also a vailable to m ake it more flexible.
Page 107: The Low Frequency Oscillators
EDIT PROGRAM 99 By selecting the H E LD mode of pitchbend, O N LY THE KEY(S) YOU ARE C U R R EN TLY HO LDING DOW N W ILL BEND and all those notes you are not playing but which a re fa d in g th ro u g h th e ir re le a se sta g e w ill rem ain unchanged.
Page 108 100 EDIT PROGRAM ense m b le soun ds when being used for vib ra to. W hen LFO d e s y n c s i s set to off, all LFO's are in sync. This la tte r o p tio n is p ro b a b ly m o re s u ite d to use w ith...
Page 109 EDIT PROGRAM 101 U sing L F O I as an a s s ig n m e n t to co n tro l its own rate w ill ch a n g e the sym m etry of the w a ve fo rm and you can use this to create new m odulation w a ve fo rm s (i.e.
Page 110: Setting Lfoi Modulation Depth
102 EDIT PROGRAM v e l o c i t y : This a llo w s you to use note on ve lo city to introduce L F O I m o d u la tio n . W ith a p o s itiv e v a lu e se t here, playing a note hard will introduce a level of m odulation w h ich m ay be a u g m e n te d...
Page 111: Lf02
EDIT PROGRAM 103 LF02 Pressing the D B 1B key will take you to the second LFO page: TEST PROGRAM lia S H (PROGRAM) W aveform : TRIANGLE sp e e d : d e p th : d e la y : 2 a n a l M AINIBENDILF01 l f o...
Page 112: Setting Up The Soft Pedal
104 EDIT PROGRAM instantaneous and at 99 the effect will take som e 5 or 6 You may use L F 0 2 for a num ber of things. As m entioned above, when L F O I is tied up doing vib rato via the m odw heel, L F 0 2 may be used to affect things such as panning, filter sweep and am plitude m odulation.
Page 113: Keygroup Parameters - Creating Keygroups
You will note one exception to this, however. If LISTEN SOLO is switched to OFF so that you are monitoring other programs, this function does not work, the problem being that the S3200 cannot get information about which keygroup is being played because so many programs (and hence keygroups)
Page 114: Mapping Out Your Keygroups - Setting Keyspan
106 EDIT PROGRAM MAPPING OUT YOUR KEYGROUPS - SETTING KEYSPAN P ressing @ 333 will d isp lay this screen: e d i t s ONE KG LOU HIGH TUNE BEAT C_0 G_8 +00.00 +00 lilB I ll SPAN M i d i - > s p a n : I o f f I This is w here you can set up the note ranges for the keygroup.
Page 115 EDIT PROGRAM 107 you play the keyboard, so the notes will be entered. The cu rsor will ju m p to each low and high note in the list e ven tua lly 'w rapping round' to rest on KG1. T h is is a very fast way to set up keygroup note spans and a whole program can be set up in seconds! NOTE: If...
Page 116: Assigning Samples To Keygroups And Zones - Smp1
96), you will actually be playing two voic the possible 32. With such generous polyphony, this shouldn't be a problem unless you are driving the S3200 particularly hard. ___________________________ A nother w ay to use the zones is for stereo sam ples and for layering sounds.
Page 117 EDIT PROGRAM 109 0 - 1 2 7 . T hese tw o zones w ould be panned hard left and hard right in SMP2 (see below ) to give stereo reproduction through the L/R outputs. N O TE: For stereo samples to play in stereo, they must be in the same keygroup and set up as shown above.
Page 118: Smp2
110 EDIT PROGRAM alo ng sid e it to indicate that it is m issing. To assign a sam ple, sim ply m ove the cu rso r to this field and scroll th ro u g h the a v a ila b le s a m p le s in m e m o ry w ith the DATA control.
Page 119 EDIT PROGRAM 111 in d ividual keygroup or all of them as w ell as the program nam e. The oth er fields are: Again, this shows the zone num ber in the colum n below. s e n . c n t T his colum n allow s you to tune each sam ple in each zone separately.
Page 120 112 EDIT PROGRAM if you wish. T his will not affect the 'raw' sam ples' loop and playback characteristics but can be used w ithin the c o n te x t of p a rtic u la r p ro g ra m s. T h is e lim in a te s the need for copying the sam e sam ple several tim es (and hence wasting m em ory) to achieve the sam e effect.
Page 121: The Filters
EDIT PROGRAM 113 THE FILTERS The S 3200 is equipp ed with tw o banks of filte rs plu s a sim ple EQ section. F ilte r 1 is a sta n d a rd 1 2d B /o cta ve lo w p a ss filte r w ith re so na n ce w h ils t F ilter 2 is a m u lti-m o d e filte r o ffe rin g low pass, band p ass and h ig hp a ss filtering with resonance.
Page 122 S3200, e s p e cia lly w ith certain sounds.
Page 123: Notes About The Filter
S3200. This is not an incompatibility but is something you should be aware of should you notice it. In the event you get this, simply back off the S3200 filter a little - this should overcome it.
Page 124 116 EDIT PROGRAM Use this fo r p h ra sin g b ra ss parts, p erha p s, or fo r special synth filte r effects in a bass line or lead line. B e n d : This w orks like pressure and m odwheel and a llow s you to open and close the filte r by m oving the pitch bend w heel or lever.
Page 125: The Second Filters
EDIT PROGRAM 117 THE SECOND FILTERS The second bank of filters is accessed by pressing IU H . This will display the follow ing screen: TEST PROGRAM ED:ONE M W E B H K G : F i 1 t e r 2 / T o n e e n a b l e : C_0 - G_8 v e l o c i t y >...
Page 126 118 EDIT PROGRAM The high pass filte r offers this response slope: In this exam ple, you can see that low fre qu e ncy co m ponents are rem oved w hilst high frequ encies pass through. This filte r can be used to make sounds very thin and brittle.
Page 127 EDIT PROGRAM 119 The response slope for the EQ selection is shown below: W ith resonance at 16, the frequency response is flat but as the resonance is in cre ase d , the gain of the filte r is b oo sted a ro un d th a t fre q u e n cy. If the resonance is decreased, the gain is cut as the resonance gets sharper.
Page 128 A/B com parisons. NOTE 1: With this parameter set to ON, the polyphony of the S3200 is restricted to 30 voices. If OFF is selected, the second filter and tone section are bypassed, and the S3200 may operate with 32 voices.
Page 129 EDIT PROGRAM 121 to som e ve ry in te re stin g synth so un d s and sp e cia l effects. E n o l: On occasions, it is good to be able to have the filters tonal dynam ics match those of the am plitudes.
Page 130: The Tone Page
122 EDIT PROGRAM THE TONE PAGE The S 3200 also fe a tu res a very sim ple but effe ctive tone control w hich is DUS. accessed via F8 - P ressing this w ill d isplay this screen: m m a ED: ONE c _ o -...
Page 131 EDIT PROGRAM 123 FREQUENCY CENTRE FREQUENCY=75 SLOPE=-50 Here, bass fre quencies and som e mid range com pone nts are boosted w hilst high frequencies are cut. The main purpose of this section is to be able to gently rem ove unwanted noise from a sound.
Page 132: The Envelope Generators
: This calls up a series of preset envelope tem plates that have been set within the so ftw a re of the S3200. You can use these to get close to the type of envelope you are after and then maybe fine tune them afterw ards if needs be.
Page 133 64, all AKAI keyboards provide a full im p le m e n ta tio n of this fu n ctio n .
Page 134: Env2 - Shaping The Filter
126 EDIT PROGRAM k e y > d e c a y & r e l e a s e : T his a llo w s you to contro l the a m o u n t by which the key position affects the decay and rele ase rates.
Page 135: Env3
+ /-5 0 . ENV3 The S3200 has a third envelope generator which is exactly the sam e as ENV2. This has no defined function (although its default assig nm en t is to control the cu to ff fre qu e ncy of FILTER 2) but may be fre ely assigne d to anyth ing you wish.
Page 136: Using The Filters And Envelope Generators
128 EDIT PROGRAM USING THE FILTERS AND ENVELOPE GENERATORS O ne of the in h e re n t p ro ble m s of sa m p lin g is tha t, b e ca u se of m em ory lim itations, it is usually necessary to loop a sam ple.
Page 137: Keygroup Pitch/Amplitude Modulation
S3200 m eans that instead of having to sam ple an entire synth sound, you can sim ply sam ple the 'ra w 1 w aveform s and apply all the other synth processing in the S3200.
Page 138 130 EDIT PROGRAM d e fa u lt aga in as m e ans of e n su rin g c o m p a tib ility between the old er sam plers and the S3200. Feel free ro u te...
Page 139: Conclusion
EDIT PROGRAM 131 U e l o c i i y > l o u d n e s s : T his is a no th e r fre e ly a ssig na b le m odulation field th a t a ffe c ts in d iv id u a l k e y g ro u p s ' lo u d n e s s and v e l o c i t y >...
Page 140: Midi
132 M ID I MIDI W hen you first press the MIDI mode key, the BASIC MIDI C H AN N EL CO N TR O L page is entered. This show s a num ber of param eters which affect the MIDI response of the w hole instrum ent.
Page 141: Midi Filter
M ID I channels. T h e '+ ' signs mean that the S3200 accepts this inform ation and ' - ' m eans tha t this inform ation is filtered out. If you turn the D A TA control co u n te r-clo ckw ise , the '+ ' w hich the c u rs o r...
Page 142: Midi Receive Page - Analysing Midi
For exam ple, if a part isn't sounding, you can check if the S3200 is receiving MIDI on its channel. If it is, then it may be som e other problem such as w rong output assignm ent, channel fader on the m ixer not open, the sound hasn't loaded, etc..
Page 143: Transmit Test Page - Setting The Ent/Play Key
MIDI DATA DUMPS S am ples can be transferred between the S3200 and other sam plers via MIDI and this is done in the EXCL page: 1 < tr a n s r e c )
Page 144: Performing A Midi Data Dump
NO TE: It is quite likely (if not certain) that sample editors will not work if you use the S3200 protocol because the editor will not have the ability to recognise the new file header information present because of the new features in the S3200.
Page 145: Midi Via Scsi
On this page you can enable or disable MIDI bulk data transm ission along a SCSI buss, rather than the MIDI connections, and set the SCSI IDs for both the S3200 and the other SCSI device. The other SCSI device can be another of the S 32 00...
Page 146: Disk Mode
If the S3200 does not 'see' this hole, it assumes it is a DD disk and so searches for a DD format. If it doesn't find it (i.e.
Page 147 S3200. O ne partition on a hard disk can contain up to 128 volum es and each vo lum e can contain up to 512 'item s' - th a t is, co m b in a tio n s of program s, sam ples, effects files, Q lists, etc., and you can select the volum e from which...
Page 148 140 DISK MODE P re ssin g I GO I w ill try to load the chose n file (s ) into m e m o ry w ith o u t deleting anything first. As the disk is being loaded you will receive som ething like the follow ing display to keep you aw are of progress: &...
Page 149: Loading S900/S950 Samples And Programs
It is a good idea for you to make a copy of any O perating System disks for your S3200 and alw ays turn on the S 3200 with the latest version inserted in the drive (see below for details on saving operating system to disk).
Page 150 [ _ ________________________________________________________ NOTES ON SAVING THE OPERATING SYSTEM TO DISK. The S3200 contains its operating system on ROM. However, it is possible to upgrade software via floppy disk. There are, however, benefits to loading the operating system from floppy in that you are able to save your own system defaults which will override those set at the factory.
Page 151: Renaming Files
DISK MODE 143 m ust be done by loading it into m em ory and saving it back elsew here on the d isk. NOTE: If you are using a Syquest removable cartridge or Magneto Optical drive, the write protect switch of the cartridge must be switched to OFF in order to save.
Page 152: Deleting Items From Disk
S3200 all day in a busy studio can give rise to unreliability. Perhaps the m ost elegant solution at the tim e of writing is the Sony M agneto O ptical (M O ) drive , e s p e cia lly the la rg er 6 5 0 M B yte type.
Page 153: Connecting An External Hard Disk Drive
IB-301 SSCSI interface board. It is most likely that the S3200 will be at one end of the chain and so must be left terminated. Any disks in between the S3200 and the last SCSI device in the chain must be unterminated (this can be done by physically removing the resistors or sometimes via a DIP switch on the back of the unit).
Page 154 Ik B y te per sector. Both o ffe r the sam e storage, they ju s t have d iffe re n t se cto r sizes. The S3200 can use both and this is selected in this field. The default is 5 1 2 b .
Page 155: Formatting Disks
The S3200 will inform you of this. If you do receive such a m essage, you may like to try again but it usually m eans that the disk has becom e seriously dam aged in som e way.
Page 156: Formatting A Hard Disk
S1000 AND S 1 100 SO UND LIBRARY). U sually, you m ust use IFQRMI to form a t a new d isk fo r use in the S3200. T ryin g I RRR I on an unform atted disk will display the prom pt:...
Page 157: Notes On Using Existing S1000/S1100 Sound Library
(it s im p ly in itia liz e s d ire c to rie s into a fo rm a t su ita b le for use by th e S3200).
Page 158: Parameter Settings
S1000 or SHOO sounds loaded into the S3200 sound the same. On the S3200, m any of the program param eters (and som e ED IT S AM PLE param eters) have different ranges and so som e offsets are invoked so that, for exam ple, LFO speeds are consistent between the two fam ilies of sam plers.
Page 159: Tune/Level Screen
TUNING AND TRANSPOSING The S3200 can be transposed by up to ±9 sem itones and fine tuned by up to +50 ce n ts (one se m ito ne ) to ena ble easy pla ying in d iffic u lt keys and to match tuning with other instrum ents.
Page 160: Utility Mode
The U TILITY mode is one where several ancillary functions are included. Here you m ay re m o tely program the Akai M E -35T drum -M ID I co n ve rte r as well as access the Q list facilities and the digital back-up functions. You also access the S 3200's disk recording functions in the U TILITY mode.
Page 161 U TILITY MODE 153 S ince this is a m anual for the S 3200, full d e ta ils of the o pe ra tio n of the M E 35T w ill not be given here. R efer to the M E 35T m anual for opera tio na l details.
Page 162 154 U TILITY MODE For m ore in fo rm a tio n on th e se p a ram e te rs, p le a se re fe r to the M E 3 5T 's operators manual. B33D: The second page of the DRUM mode is accessed by pressing UNIT 1 UNIT 2...
Page 163: Digital Audio Interface
DAT, a digital m u lti-tra ck recorder such as the Akai ADAM D R 1200 (using the D IF1200) or Akai D D 1000 M agneto O ptical Disk recorder/editor. No special setup is required fo r this.
Page 164: Performing A Dat Back U
This too is sim ple. Find the p oint on the DAT w here your backup is, press LQBGI on the S 3200 and PLAY on yo ur D A T - the conte nts of the S3200's m em ory or hard disk will be restored.
Page 165: Smpte Page-Using Cue Lists
MIDI note m ay be specified at any MIDI velocity to trig g e r any sound in any program in the S3200. U nlike other m odes of the S 3200, it is not necessary to specify program num bers for each of the program s as the S 3200's cue list...
Page 166: Blocks
As you have already disco vered in EDIT S AM PLE, there are m any d iffe re n t ways you can play back a sam ple in the S3200. A sound can be looped or it can sim ply play to the end of the sample. If the sound has no looping set in it, then...
Page 167: Cue List Modes
This is w here you can edit and/or create a cue list. Hgraa This w here you set the S3200 SM PTE re c e iv e /tra n s m it p a ra m e te rs .
Page 168 EaDKTl chrono lo gical order. The S3200 will play events in the right sequence even if they a p pear out of tim e on the screen but, to m ake th ing s c le a re r fo r yo u rself, you...
Page 169 S M PTE from an external source. If the external source stops, then the S3200 will stop. If the external source is 'rew o und' to a n o th e r lo ca tion , the S 3200 w ill pick Version 1.0 March 1993...
Page 170: Naming Cue Lists
SMPTE out socket on the rear of the S3200 a llo w in g you to co n tro l e xte rn a l d e v ic e s using the S 3200 as the m aster co ntro lle r.
Page 171 For e ithe r w ay of in p uttin g cues in re al-tim e, the G RAB so ft key has tw o functions. If you press G RAB w hilst the S3200 is NO T playing, a sm all 'G ' appears at the top of the screen next to the 'tim e' field.
Page 172: Smpte Page
T his gen e ra te s S M P TE from the point at w hich the tim ecode transm ission w as stopped. isToPl T his stops transm ission of SM PTE from the S3200's internal SM PTE generator. SAVING CUE LISTS...
Page 173: Loading Cue Lists
UTILITY MODE 165 cue list to disk and the suffix 'Q' will be shown alongside the file. Any num ber of cue lists can be saved to a disk although only one can exist in the S3200 at any one time.
Page 174: Recording Audio To Disk
166 ECORDING AUDIO TO DISK RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK FEATURES The S 3200 is capable of recording audio to a hard disk. You m ay record audio w h ilst sequencing o rd inary program s and sam ples allow ing you to effe ctively o verdub onto disk.
Page 175: Before You Get Started - Formatting The Hard Disk
RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 167 M usic editing in the form of sim ple 'topping and tailing' E xtended rem ix w o rk using the se qu e ntia l p la yb a ck and step re p ea t capabilities of the SO NG functions.
Page 176: How The Disk Record Functions Work
It is also possible to record a take whilst sequencing programs. For N o te : example, you may record a guitar solo directly to disk whilst listening to sequenced programs coming from the S3200. ___________________________________ Takes can be also be run sequentially in a song and, in this application, several takes can be 'butt edited' to each other and caused to p layback sequentially.
Page 177 It is assum ed you have a basic working know ledge of the S3200 by now. If you are at all unsure a bo u t ce rta in fu n ctio n s, ple ase re fe r to the a p p ro p ria te section in this m anual for m ore inform ation.
Page 178: Using The Disk Record Functions
170 ECORDING AUDIO TO DISK USING THE DISK RECORD FUNCTIONS The disk record fun ctio ns are to be found with the U TILITY pages. Pressing UTILITY gives you this screen: The f o l l o w i n g u t i l i t i e s a re a v a i l a b l e : * ME35T Interface * D ig ita l Audio...
Page 179: Soft Keys In The Dd Page
RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 171 No o th er fields are accessible but m erely show the takes param eters. These are: Len g th s This show s the length of the currently selected take. ty p e : T h is show s w h e th e r the ta ke is a ste re o o r m ono re co rd in g .
Page 180: Copying Takes
172 EC0RD1NG AUDIO TO DISK COPYING TAKES You m ay copy take s only within this DD page. T his is done by pressing the NAME key, typing in a unique nam e and pressing ENT/PLAY follow ed by ICQPYI. The process takes a little longer than actual recording.
Page 181: Making A Recording
RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 173 MAKING A RECORDING 0318 To prepare fo r a recording, press in any of the DD pages. You will receive this screen display: n a d i M M d r a i f m a ta k e s TAKE 1 nodes MONO fr e e s 0 0 :4 3 :4 4...
Page 182 (for example, when sequencing programs in the S3200). The DELAY field is o f use in that you can set the S3200 to start recording after a certain delay when it receives a MIDI note-on. This same note-on can then be used to playback the take in sync with other material.
Page 183: Soft Keys In The Drec Page
RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 175 — > This sets the destination of the take. The default is OFF but you may set these to any of the in d ividual outputs you w ant. You w ill note th a t the in d iv id u a l o u tp u t a s s ig n m e n t is don e in p a irs -i.e .
Page 184: Recording A Take
WAITING FOR S T A R T .... E X IT Here, the S3200 is either w aiting for a MIDI NOTE or a SONG START com m and or for the footsw itch to be triggered or the input level to exceed the threshold level.
Page 185 RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 177 W hen a recording is being made, the screen show s the incom ing w aveform as it is being recorded. I.e: DD RECORD node: MONO TAKE 1 -2 0 d B f r e e : 0 0 :2 8 :4 9 le n g t h : 0 0 :0 1 :0 0 RECORDING ANALOG ABORT...
Page 186: Soft Keys In The Take Page
178 ECORDING AUDIO TO DISK KEYS IN THE TAKE PAGE SOFT This takes you to the DD TAKES view page B3M8M This takes you the SONG mode w here you may com pile takes fo r sequential playba ck or M IDI trigg ering F'LHV This takes you to the play pages w here you m ay play ■...
Page 187: Editing A Recording
RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 179 EDITING A RECORDING A fter you have recorded a take, you may need or w ant to edit it. This is done by adjusting th e ta k e 's start and end tim es and is done within the EDIT page. P ressing F5 - S 3 D - in any of the DD pages will display this screen: TAKE 1 00: oo: 00...
Page 188: Soft Keys In The Edit Page
180 ECORDING AUDIO TO DISK ten seconds or so of a take to check if your end point edit is satisfactory, use the ZO O M keys to set a value close to this in the <—0 0 :0 2 :0 0 —► fie ld and press the ENT/PLAY key.
Page 189 RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 181 Once you have successfully made a recording, the chances are you will w ant to edit it so go to the EDIT page. Move the cursor to the S TA R T field and adjust the start tim e so that cursor is right at the start of the take.
Page 190: Playing Takes
182 ECORDING AUDIO TO DISK PLAYING TAKES T here are a n um ber of w ays you can play a take w ithin the S 32 00's DD fu n c tio n s : 1 You can play a take in ANY page using the ENT/PLAY key 2 You can assign a series of takes to a SONG for sequential playback or for trig g e rin g from M IDI 3 You can play 'raw' takes from within the P LAY page and this is accessed in...
Page 191 RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 183 F 0 0 T S W I T C H 1 - T his w ill cause the take to start p layback when you press the foo tsw itch co nnected to the footsw itch input after 1PRMEI is pressed. M I D I NOTE - T h is w ill ca use the take to p la yb a ck when it receives the MIDI note num ber set in the NOTE...
Page 192: Soft Keys In The Play Page
If the take does not play back successfu lly, the reason is pro ba b ly tha t the S3200 has not received the appropria te start com m and as set in the STAR T field. For exam ple, if MIDI NOTE is selected and C 3/C hannel 16 is set but, for som e reason, the sequencer does not send this note on this channel (i.e.
Page 193: Editing A Take For Synchronised Playback
NOTE: Akai MPC60 owners will please note that a SONG START command is only issued when the MPC60 is in its SONG mode. If you revert to the main screen to-piay an individual sequence, the SONG START selection will not be operative.
Page 194: Notes About Synchronising To External Audio
If you use varispeed on the tape machine, you will have to set a suitable varispeed setting on the S3200 to accommodate this. Another consideration is that tape transports are rarely...
Page 195: Using The Song Mode
RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 187 USING THE SONG MODE The SO NG m ode is w here you can com pile a list of takes for playback. The SONG mode has two functions, in fact. You may use the SONG mode to compile a list of takes for triggering from MIDI notes or you may use the SONG mode to append and playback a sequence of takes 'back-to-back'.
Page 196 188 EC0RD1NG AUDIO TO DISK PAN - T h is se ts the pan position of the take if it is a m ono recording or sets the le ft/rig h t b alance if it is a stereo recording. f i n FADE IN - This sets the fade in tim e for the take and is varia ble up to 9999m S (10 seconds)
Page 197 RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 189 param eters will be loaded into the step and so the note, level, pan and other fields may change if the raw takes param eters are different from those set as the default shown above. You may change these as necessary. O nce you have assigned yo ur first take, you should receive a screen som ething like this: T L l___________ n t ch lo pan f i n...
Page 198: Triggering Takes From Midi
S3200. To set a up a list of takes for MIDI triggering, press...
Page 199 MIDI. You only need to select it once and, w hen the S3200 receives the a p prop ria te note, that take will play.
Page 200: Using The Song Mode To Chain Takes
OFF, the take w ill continue to play but you may specifically stop playback from the S3200 front panel using F8 - STOP. Because the S3200 can only play one take at a time, crossfading between takes is not possible. Also, if one take is playing while another is triggered, the new take will take priority although please note that there will be a short between the one take finishing and the next take starting.
Page 201 RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 193 used to good effe ct in this w ay - it ce rta in ly beats having to print several versions of a section onto tape and splicing them all together!! C ro s s fa d e s are not p o ssible in the song m ode but th is is n 't such a big d is a d v a n ta g e fo r m ost rem ix w o rk w h e re the m a te ria l is u s u a lly q u ite p e rcussive and b utt e d iting can be very e ffe ctive .
Page 202: Advanced Editing
194 EC0RD1NG AUDIO TO DISK ADVANCED EDITING USING THE NUMERIC KEYPAD IN THE SONG MODE The num eric keypad can be used as a shortcut m ethod of m oving around the song steps. You can use the cursor keys if you wish, especially if you are only m oving one step dow n but when you wish to m ove several steps down or up, the keypad will becom e very useful to you.
Page 203 RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 195 TAKE 2 This is a 2 bar drum section w ithout the cym bal TAKE 3 This is a 1 bar drum beat with a sm all fill at the end You have set the steps up as follows: TAKE 1 No repeat TAKE 2...
Page 204 196 ECORDING AUDIO TO DISK NOTE: It is only possible to mark contiguous steps as a block - you cannot mark a series of steps, skip a few and then mark another few steps as one block. N aturally, this block editing function can be used to delete blocks of steps as w e ll.
Page 205 RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 197 USING TAKES IN QLISTS Takes can also be played from a Qlist. To assign a take to a step in the Qlist, go to the UTILITY mode and press F3 to take you to the Q LIS T pages. Assum ing you have not already loaded in an existing Q list from disk, you will receive a blank Q list d isplay thus: t i n e :...
Page 206 198 ECORDING AUDIO TO DISK which has been introduced to d iffere ntiate between program s to be triggered and takes to be played back from disk. USING THE QLIST If you have a lre ad y used the Q list fa c ilitie s in the S 3200, you will already know how to create, edit and play back Q lists.
Page 207 RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 199 If you try to start playback of a Q list m idway through w here a take should be playing, you will note that the take will pick up from that p oint regardless of w here it is started .
Page 208: Loading And Saving Songs And Qlists To Disk
Q list will be loaded or saved along with any other material in the S3200's RAM. NOTE: Any number of songs or Qlists may be saved to disk but they must all have unique names.
Page 209: Archiving Disk Recordings
RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 201 ARCHIVING DISK RECORDINGS BACKING UP TAKES TO DAT Back up of takes to DAT is done in the PLAY page of the disk record functions. The soft key F7 - l :l ' M - takes you to the BACKUP SAVE page. I.e: B a a E B M lB a ta k e :...
Page 210 To perform a restore of e ithe r a s in g le take o r all takes, line the D A T up to the approp riate point and press F8 - Q3EEH on the S3200. You will receive the follow ing message: |n a n e - n a tc h...
Page 211 RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 203 D A T restore process. A t any tim e, you m ay press F-8 S T O P to a bo rt the re s to re . Version 1.0 March 1993...
Page 212: Applications For Disk Recording
APPLICATIONS FOR DISK RECORDING So fa r we have seen the functions of the disk record and playback facilities offered by the S3200. Let us now look at som e typical a pplications and how these functions m ight be used.
Page 213: Triggering Takes From Midi
RECORDING AUDIO TO DISK 205 HELPFUL HINTS WHEN REMIXING 1. Record a second or so of m aterial either side of the section so that you have 'handles' either side of the recording with which to play with when editing. 2.
Page 214: Processing Disk Recordings On An External Mixer
CREATING AN ALBUM COMPILATION TRACK LIST You can use the S3200's SONG mode to create an album com pilation track list for m astering. R ecord all yo ur songs into the S 3200 (or tra n s fe r the m from DAT).
Page 215: Mixing Down The S3200 To Disk
IM PO R TAN T NO TE: Although it is possible to transfer a DAT or CD recording into the S3200 digitally, some restrictions exist that prevent the S3200 transm itting the signal at 48kHz for transfer back to some DAT machines. This is due to hardware restrictions. Most DAT machines, however, do allow you to record digitally at 4 4 .1kHz so there shouldn't be much of a...
Page 216: Glossary
M IDI, but if the S 3200 is yo ur first excursion into MIDI and sam pling, we suggest you get hold of an introductory MIDI book, and read it before proceeding much fu rth e r with your S3200. ANALOGUE o p p o s e d d ig ita l.
Page 217 OVERTONES Basically the sam e as harm onics On the S3200, a page is the set of in form a tion and PAGE p a ra m e te rs show n at any o ne tim e on the d is p la y screen.
Page 218 CROSSFADING VELOCITY ZONES On the S3200, a sa m p le can be pro gram m ed to play only when a key is pressed betw een certain velocities. The range of these is known as a ve lo city zone.
Page 219 GLOSSAR 211 could be assigned to lower velocity zones, and a slap or pull bass to higher ones, with a velocity crossfade added so that there is an in te rm e d ia te range. The result, when p layed, w ill p ro vide a h ighly e xp re ssive bass in s tru m e n t.
Page 220: S3200 Midi Implementation Chart
212 M ID I IMPLEMENTATION CHART S3200 MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CHART Date: FEB. 1993 Function T ransm itted R ecognized R em arks Basic D efault W ith o u t disk C hannel C hanged 1-16 M em orized (disk)
Page 221: Specifications
EXM 3002 Mbyte memory expansion board EXM 3008 3.5- inch blank diskettes (MF2HD) BL1000 Hard Disk unit HD108 inch MO disk drive set for S3200 SMO-P301 * Above specifications are subject to change without prior notice. Version 1.0 March 1993...

Akai S3200 Operator's Manual

Quick Links

Need help?

Questions and answers

Related Manuals for Akai S3200

Summary of Contents for Akai S3200