Akai S900

CHANGING
PARAMETERS
Now
practice
changing
parameters.
Parameters
can
usually
be
changed
in
two
ways:
•
Scroll
by
turning
the
CONTROL
through
the
available
options
•
Use the
PARAMETER
KEYS
if
you know
the
value
you
want
to enter.
If
the
value
is
a
number,
use the 0-9
keys
(remem-
ber
that
numbers
must
have
leading
zeroes
-
e.g.
if a three-
digit
number
is
required,
enter
zeroes
if
necessary.
Thus,
9
would
be
entered
as
009. If
a two-digit
number
is
required,
then
9
would
be
entered
as
09). Some
parameters
expect
a
yes/no
answer,
or
a
positive/negative
indication;
for
these,
usetheON/+
and
OFF/-
buttons.
Important:
If
the
LCD
asks
you
to press ENT
after altering
a
parameter,
do so.
ENTERING
TEXT
AND
NAMES:
MEET
THE
S900
WORD
PROCESSOR
Occasionally
you will
need
to
enter
a name
rather than
a
number,
so let's
meet
the
S900's
"word
processor".
Assuming
that
a
blank
disk
is
still in the
drive,
and that
the
EDIT
PRESET
function
is
still
active,
select
Page
01 . Move
the
arrow
so that
it
points
at
"Select,
Copy." This
parameter
requires
a
name
instead
of
a number;
here's
how
to enter
a name.
1
.
When
the
arrow
point
to
a
parameter
that
requires
a name,
press
the
LETTER
button
(Fig.
2).
The
cursor
will
be replaced
by
a line
under
the letter
to be
entered.
2. Turn
the
control
to
choose
a letter
(A-Z).
You
may
also
choose
0-9,
space,
and
#. To
quickly
choose
a space
with-
out
having
to turn
the
CONTROL,
press
the
SPACE
button.
To
quickly
choose
a number,
press
the
0-9
buttons (Fig.
2).
3. Alter
selecting
the
desired
character,
move
the
cursor
to
the
next
letter
with
the
arrow/cursor
button
and
repeat
step
2. if
you
make
a
mistake
at any
time,
back the
cusor up
to the
in-
correct
character
and
repeat
step 2.
4.
Important:
After
entering
the
entire
name,
press
ENT.
We
have
now
learned
how
to
scan
pages,
select
parameters,
and
edit
parameters.
Before
continuing,
we
need
to cover
some
basic
definitions.
DEFINITIONS
1
.
A velocity
keyboard
is a
type of
keyboard
that measures
the
time it
takes for
a
key
to go from
the
up
to
down
position.
It as-
sumes
that if
this
time
period
is
short,
you
have hit
the key
hard
and
want
a
loud
sound;
if this
time
period
is longer,
you
have hit
the key softly
and want
a
soft
sound.
Therefore,
even
though velocity
is measuring
the
speed
at which
a key goes
from
key
up to
key
down, we
will
consider
it
as an indication
of how
hard or soft
you hit the
key.
2. A
Sample is
a
single
sound
that
you record
into
the
S900.
To
cover
more than one key
on
a
keyboard,
the
sample may
be
transposed
over
up
to
a six-octave
range.
3.
A
Keygroup
is a pair
of
samples.
Playing
a
velocity
keyboard
harder
increases the
level
of one
of
the
samples and
de-
creases
the level of
the
other (or,
switches
over from
one of
the
samples
to the
other
at a certain
velocity
threshold).
Thus,
with
a bass
sound
you can
have
a
normally
plucked
string
at lower
levels and
a
slap
bass effect
at higher
levels.
The
sample
meant to
be heard
at
higher
velocity levels
is
called
the
Loud
sample and
the
sample
meant
to be heard
at
lower
velocity
levels is
called
the
Soft
sample.
4. Trying
to
transpose
a sample
over
too
wide
a range
leads
to
an
unnatural
sound. The
S900
can
assign
up
to 32
samples
over the
keyboard.
Using
multiple
samples
means
that
indi-
vidual
samples
need not
be transposed
very
far. A
Program
(also called
preset)
is a
set of
keygroups,
and
can
consist
of
up to
32
different
keygroups
(or individual
samples)
assigned
across the
keyboard.
For
example,
with
a
five-octave
key-
board
you could
take five
samples
and
assign
one
to each
octave, or
ten
samples and
assign
one
to
every
half-octave.
Samples
may
be edited in
a number
of ways,
as can
programs.
These
will
be described
fully later.
Once
samples
and
programs
are
set as
desired, the
S900 memory
can
be saved
to
disk.
THE
IMPORTANCE
OF
SAVING
S900
MEMORY
DATA
TO
DISK
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
S900 has
no
permanent
memory.
If
you
load
a disk
into
the
S900
and alter
it, the
altered
parameters
MUST
BE
SAVED
TO
DISK or
your work
will
be lost
if
you turn
off the
power.
This is
described fully
in the
section
of the
DISK
function.
ERROR
MESSAGES
If ail eight
function
lights
flash, there
is
a
usually
not-too-serious
problem. The
LCD will
give
you some
idea of what
is
wrong.
To
return
to
normal
operation,
press
one of the
function
buttons.