Yamaha CS2x - Manuals

8 Saving and Managing Performances Single Performances or complete Performance banks can be received from (and sent to) a computer (PC, Atari, Mac…) running relevant sequencer software via Bulk Dump ALL. This is also possible with MIDI data filers, such as the MDF2 or MDF3. In other words, you can e...

9 Quick Song: Essentials for Song Production This chapter deal with the most important fundamentals of song production with Performance Mode. More in-depth and specific information about song production can be found in chapters “Song Production: Tips, Tricks, Information” and “Sequencer Software and...

10 There is good reason why the banks that resulted from Layer 1 of the CS1x and CS2x Factor Performances are printed in bold - in contrast to others, these banks are fully assigned as each Performance contains at least one Layer. Banks Pre03, Pre07, Pre11, Pre16 and Pre20 on the other hand are only...

12 This can also be set via Sys-Ex (Multi Part/ Rcv Channel - DATA List, page 31). The file “5TO16OFF.MID” (TOOL Disk, “SYSEX” folder) can also be used to disable Parts 5 - 16, so that only the Performance Parts remain active. File “5TO16ON.MID” restores Parts 5 - 16 back to their original MIDI chan...

13 We consciously did not make use of any other Controllers in the Performance Set, as their default settings would often deviate from those found in the Performance and would thus introduce unwanted changes to the Performance. Any additional Controllers can always be added if required. The send fun...

14 Step 3 = Loading the Setup Data Load the file “SetIni” or “SetTech” from the SETUP Disk in your required format (Midi file, Cubase Song or Logic Song) into your sequencer. These contain all important foundation settings for Performance Mode songs. The Setup (bar 1) starts with two System Exclusiv...

15 Step 4 = Trying out the Sound Settings Before you start to play in the first few tracks, you should feel comfortable with making Setup data changes. Try to find out what kind of sound changes you can achieve by changing the default settings. Changes to the sequencer track’s MIDI channel will dete...

16 The Analog Workshop: Sound Creation Explained The parameter structure of the CS2x is largely based on analogue synthesis. The following step-by-step guide will serve as an introduction to the analogue building blocks used in the CS2x. Our tips and tricks can be applied not only to analogue synthe...

17 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. You may even transpose an oscillator or CS2x Layer by a ...

18 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 useless for subtractive synthesis. Nevertheless, the sine wave can be found in many a synthesizer’s VCO section, and is ther...

19 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 CS2x. Envelope gener- ators control Volume (AEG), the Filter (FEG) or the...

20 EXPERIMENT: 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...

22 Helper Motors – The LFOs The Low Frequency Oscillator or LFO is a special kind of oscillator. Unlike VCOs, the LFO’s 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 c...

24 About the Little Things Now that we’re approaching the end of our little workshop we should take a look at what effect the monopho- nic 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...

25 Lastly, the somewhat tricky subject of Touch Sensitivity. The CS2x 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 Per- formance’s touch dynamic individually. How is this achieved? EXPERIMENT: T...

26 Summary We’ve made it – that was a lot to take in! Now spoil yourself, relax to a little demo sequence we prepared ear- lier (TUTRDEMO.MID), and listen for special guest appearances by the Analogue Workshop All-stars! (A) The song begins with a Performance with two oscillators that are detuned ag...

27 (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 differ- ences between the two modes; the Portamento function is very revealing here. It would be b...

28 Arpeggiator: A Box full of Tricks for all Occasions The CS2x Arpeggiator is very clearly laid out. It consists of only three parts: Type, Tempo and Subdivide. In addition, the CS2x outshines itself with 2 further settings which you should get aquainted with early on. One of these is the Hold func...

29 Secondly, 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 Arpeg- gios that step through the same notes repeatedly as often as possible. The same...

30 First Steps Let’s deal with the simple Arpeggio patterns “Up/Down” and “Random” first. These are by no means unique to the CS2x, but can be found on many a synthesizer and therefore serve well as an introduction as to how Areggiators automatically break up chords. What this actually sounds like i...

31 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 phenomenon when working with other Arpeggiators or testing some of the CS2x factory sounds. It’s true: you c...

32 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 CS2x’s Up/Down patterns. If you are plann...

34 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 touc...

35 The last SFX Arpeggio is a percussive sequence which can be applied universally. Particularly nice here is Pan Position modulation. EXAMPLE: Select Performance TP080 and, as in the previous examples, play only a single note. The sound’s main character is pro- vided by the Flanger effect. This eff...

36 Naturally this isn’t all there is to it. The following are another four sequences that are particularly useful for modern styles like House or Trance – you should like them. EXAMPLE: The Performances TP083/084 are really quite traditional. With the first you will hear a two bar Clarinet sequence....

37 Let’s Groove! Anyone who has worked with Samplers will be familiar with their quirks: you have to constantly process drum loops with the time-stretch function so that they follow your song tempo correctly – this can take some time. On top of this you can barely influence any of the loop’s instrum...

38 Performance Mode: Practical Knowledge Now that we have looked in detail at the CS2x sound components and its Arpeggiator, let’s devote some time to its Performance Mode. The following three subjects should generate particular interest: use of the knobs and Scenes, Effect applications and, finally...

39 Day to Day things Before we begin, you should know how to store a Scene. This is basically very easy: first arrange the knobs as desired. Once you have hit on an interesting sound, you can save this variant by holding down the Store key and then pressing the first Scene switch. Now create another...

40 Scene Applications Most startling first and foremost is the blending of two different sounds, which as we have already pointed out is commonly known as morphing. Most sound programmers using sample-synthesizers work with con- trasting level modulations for two or more partial tones. With the CS2x...

41 EXAMPLE: You have selected Performance TP097. This is a classic lead sound which, thanks to Scene morphing can be played very expressively. Aside from the Filter frequency, the Filter Envelope’s fade-in and out times are also modulated; this time Assign1 is responsible for the fade-out phase. All...

43 (B) Phaser As the name suggests, the Phaser effect is created by periodic phase shifting of the affected signal from the original signal. This effect was especially popular in the 70s and was used for many a Rhodes, string ensem- ble or electric guitar. Today, the Phaser is often applied to atmos...

45 Live Applications The CS2x is downright destined to be used as a Performance Synthesizer, not least because of it’s eye- catching looks and very portable design. As a live musician you will be confronted with a unique set of prob- lems, so we’d like to show you a few tricks to help you achieve th...

46 Split Performances Musicians that don’t work with “Keyboard Splits” are an endangered species. The advantages are clear: you can play several sounds spread across 61 keys without having to switch Performances. This is how it’s done: - The programming effort required here is minimal and can be mas...

47 Drawbar Fun To round up this chapter we would like to look at sounds that you will want to use again and again, not just for live performance. We are talking about the Hammond sounds. These sounds are a good basis on which to explore further aspects of sound programming. First, a look at the conc...

49 Song Production: The Basics This paragraph deals extensively with all aspects of CS2x song production and makes no attempt to filter out any “specialist knowledge”. This doesn’t mean though that it is necessary to fully explore each aspect in order to create songs with the CS2x. Our earlier chapt...

50 One disadvantage of the standardization of XG voices is perhaps that it allows too little “elbow room” for the creation of specialized sounds. The CS2x however offers a user-friendly solution to this problem: The CS2x can be used multi-timbrally in not just its Multi mode, but in its Performance ...

51 As you can see, the CS2x can be used multi-timbrally in Performance mode too. The Performance itself con- sists of sound “layers” which are mapped to MIDI channels 1 to 4. The Performance is controlled however from just one MIDI channel, usually MIDI channel 1. The Performance mode increases this...

54 Who’s controlling Whom? Now that we have covered the possibilities offered by changing sounds with Bank and Program changes, let’s take a look at how sounds can be changed within a song with the help of Controllers. To simplify, Controller messages are changes of certain parameters that are sent ...

55 EXAMPLE: Let’s say you want to effect real-time Panorama changes. Knobs 4 (Assign1/Data) and 8 (Assign2), which allow free unrestricted parameter assignment, are already used up however. You assign Panorama temporarily to Knob 4. When done, you should change Knob 4 back to Controller #17 (default...

56 A complete list of NRPNs and RPNs can be found in your manual’s appendix (page 74). You may notice that some of the parameters with their own Controller number (see previous section) crop up in this list also (e.g.Cutoff Freq, Attack Time). We can forget about these however; it would be silly to ...

59 As you can see from the table, bytes 5 to 8 are given no value. This might lead you to think that bytes 1 to 4 and 9 are the same for each System Exclusive message – this is true, but with one limitation: you will see that DEVICE NUMBER lists a value of 16. This value 16 (10H) actually represents...

60 By the way, this Sys-Ex message would have exactly the same effect on MIDI channels 5–16 in Performance mode. The following examples will show how even parameters usually set at the machine are sometimes better controlled via Sys-Ex. EXAMPLE: Scene Mode You cannot save the on/off state of Scene s...

62 CS2x-Drumkits (Data List, pages 15 - 17) This type of kit involves “Material Voices” which can only be used in Performance Mode and assigned there to Layers 1 -4 as well as Multi Parts 5 - 13. As these kits are “Normal Voices” rather than XG drumkits, you cannot work at the individual key level -...

63 If you want to work with Drum Setup 2 using another Part, simply change byte 5 from 30 to 31. These Sys-Ex messages should only be sent after any Bank/Program Change message, as these com- pletely initialize every aspect of a drum kit. By the way: the Drum Setup settings described here can be use...

64 The Variation Effect settings should be of particular interest. To make things a little easier, we have compiled a table with the Sys-Ex messages required for Variation Effect parameters 1 – 10. Each parameter’s control range (VAL) depends on the Effect Type selected. We have included a list of p...

65 Recording Songs with Arpeggio One of the special highlights of the CS2x is the Arpeggiator. No doubt you will want to use it for your songs. You will need to activate the MIDI CLOCK in Song Setting (LOGIC: Song Settings - MIDI Options…, CUBASE: Options - Synchronisation… ). All that’s left is to ...

66 Sequencer Software and the CS2x Environments and Mixermaps for LOGIC and CUBASE The SETUP Disk offers a whole string of Environments and Mixer Pages for LOGIC and CUBASE that allow you to edit your CS2x with the use of faders (see Appendix, FILE LIST). The pages are suited to Perfor- mance modifi...

67 In addition ( CUBASE only): Performance Controllers (files: “SetIni” and “SetTech”) This Mixer Map specifically targeted at the CS2x Performance mode can be very advantageous despite the existing GM/GS/XG Mixers. Here you will find a collection of the most important CS2x parameters that can be ch...

68 Changes to the XG effect types for Reverb, Chorus and Variation Effect can be made from the right-hand side of the Mixer page. This is only available though if you are working in Multi (XG) Mode. As you know, in Performance Mode the current Performance effect settings (Reverb and Chorus) are alwa...

69 Bank and Program Changes with LOGIC In the CS2x Performance Mode, you can set sounds for Multi Parts 5 - 16 as well as for the actual Perfor- mance Layers (1 - 4). If you are working with the EMAGIC LOGIC sequencer program you can try this out like this: 1. Load Song Setup “SetIni” in LOGIC Forma...

70 Bank and Program Changes with CUBASE In Performance mode you can set up Multi Parts 5 - 16 in addition to the actual Performance (Layers 1 - 4). If you are working with STEINBERG CUBASE, you can try this out like this: Commands for the English lan- guage MAC version are given in brackets. 1. Load...

71 Appendix File List: Setup Disk CubasMAC Setini (Setups + Mixer Maps) SetTech (Setups + Mixer Maps) SetXG (Setups + Mixer Map) CubasPC Setini.All (Setups + Mixer Maps) SetTech.All (Setups + Mixer Maps) SetXG.All (Setups + Mixer Map) LogicMAC Setini (Setups + Environments) SetTech (Setups + Environ...

72 File List: Tool Disk CS1xFact CSPreset.MID (128 Preset Performances from the CS1x) CSUser.MID (128 User Performances from the CS1x) CSExtra.MID (128 Extra Performances from the CS1x) Loops Chop113.MID (Construction Loop 139bpm as SMF - Format 0) Chop135.MID (Construction Loop 144bpm as SMF - Form...

75 The little Trouble Shooter In addition to the “Troubleshooting Guide” given in the manual, we will describe some of the typical problems that are likely to crop up during use. It goes without saying that we will show you a way out this misery. So before you spend a lot of money on HOTLINE telepho...

76 YAMAHA EUROPE: Sound Disks for the CS2x VD-CS1x-01 “Analog Power” , Cost 49 DM 128 Performances + Demo, programmed by Peter Krischker This sound bank contains classic and current analogue synths for Techno, Dance, Trance, Electronic, Synth- Pop. The following sound categories are covered: Polysyn...