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Before you begin, take a few moments to familiarize yourself
with the names and terms we will be using to talk about the var-
ious elements of the Pa1X.
In this section, you will find a brief description of various key
elements of the Pa1X. A professional arranger (Pa) keyboard
uses different terminology than a traditional synthesizer or
workstation. By familiarizing yourself with the names and func-
tions in this section, you will get a better understanding of how
all the different parts of the Pa1X work together to create a real-
istic musical performance. This will also help you to get the most
out of the rest of the User’s Manual.
Sound
A Sound is the most basic unit of an Arranger Keyboard perfor-
mance. A Sound is basically a playable instrument timbre
(piano, bass, sax, guitar…) that can be edited, saved, recalled
and assigned to any track. An individual Sound can be played on
the keyboard in the Sound mode. In the Style Play mode or
Sequencer mode, Sounds may be freely assigned to Sequencer
tracks, Style tracks, or Keyboard tracks.
Style
The Style is the heart of a professional arranger keyboard. At its
basic level, a Style will consist of up to eight parts, or “Tracks”.
Drums
The Drum track will provide a repeating rhythmic phrase,
played by the standard instruments of a Drum Kit.
Percussion
An additional rhythmic phrase played by various percussion
instruments (conga, shaker, cowbell, etc.) is provided by the Per-
cussion track.
The Drum and Percussion tracks will play the same phrase
repeatedly, regardless of the notes and chords being played on
the keyboard, although it is possible to assign a different Drum
Kit to either part, or to edit the Kit itself.
Bass & Accompaniment
The Bass track and the (up to) five additional Style tracks will
each play musical phrases that are musically related to and in
sync with the Drum and Percussion tracks. However, the notes
being played by these tracks will change to follow the chord pro-
gression that you play on the keyboard.
Again, any Sound you choose may be assigned to any track in a
Style.
Variation
For each Style, there are four Variations. In general, each Varia-
tion is a slightly different version of the others. As you progress
from Variation one to Variation four, the arrangements will
become more complex, and more parts (Tracks) may be added.
This allows your performance to have a more dynamic arrange-
ment, without losing the original “feel” of the Style.
Fill-in
During a performance, a drummer may often perform a “fill” -
such as when transitioning from a verse to a chorus – adding
extra dynamics and keeping the beat from getting too repetitive.
The Pa1X offers three Fill-ins specifically programmed for each
Style. A Fill-in may be drums alone, drums with instrumenta-
tion, of even a silent “break”.
Intro & Ending
Each Style also allows you to embellish your performance with a
set of musical introductions and endings. A long and short ver-
sion of the Intro and Ending are usually provided, with the
former more harmonically elaborated, and the latter with a fixed
chord. A “count-in” style Intro is also provided.
Keyboard tracks
In addition to the Style tracks, up to four additional parts can be
played on the keyboard in real-time. Each of these Keyboard
tracks can be limited to a particular range of keys or velocities,
but in general three can be assigned to play above the split point
(Upper), and one below (Lower). This allows the Upper Sounds
to be layered together. The split point can be set to any note on
the keyboard. In addition to performing along with a Style, these
same Keyboard tracks will allow you to play along with the
Sequencer.
STS (Single Touch Settings)
Single Touch Settings allow you to instantly change the sounds
assigned to each of the Keyboard tracks with a single button
press, allowing for wide variation in sounds during a perfor-
mance. Four STS (Single Touch Settings) can be saved with each
Style or SongBook entry.
Ensemble
By turning the Ensemble feature on, a single note played on one
of the Keyboard tracks will be embellished by additional notes to
create a complete chord voicing. The Ensemble knows which
notes to add by looking at the chord that the Style is playing. In
addition, the Ensemble parameters allow you to select the type
of voicing that will be added – from a simple one-note harmony
to a full “Brass” section – even a marimba-style trill!
Glossary of Terms
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