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Program Mode and the Program Editor
The KEYMAP Page
Key Tracking (KeyTrk)
This is one of the six common DSP control parameters. On the KEYMAP page, key tracking
affects the interval between notes. The default value of 100 cents (a cent is a hundredth of a
semitone) gives you the normal semitone interval between each note. Higher values increase the
interval; lower values decrease it. Negative values will cause the pitch to decrease as you play
higher notes. (You can create a mirror-image piano by setting the key tracking to –100 and
transposing the layer up 4 semitones.)
When you make changes to this parameter, you’ll need to keep in mind that KeyTrk on the
KEYMAP page works in conjunction with KeyTrk on the PITCH page. Therefore, you’ll need to
check the KeyTrk value on both pages to see how key tracking works within a program. Unless
you’re looking for nonstandard note intervals, the values of the KeyTrk parameters on the
PITCH and KEYMAP pages should add up to 100 cents.
Velocity Tracking (VelTrk)
This is another common DSP control parameter. As with the other parameters on the KEYMAP
page, this shifts the position of the keymap. Different attack velocities will play different pitch
shifts of the sample root assigned to that note range. If the shift is great enough, the next higher
or lower sample root will be played, which in some cases (many drum programs, for example)
will play an entirely different sound. Positive values will play higher pitches of the sample root
when you use hard attack velocities (they shift the keymap downward), while negative values
will play lower pitches.
Sample Skipping (SmpSkp)
Sample skipping allows for increased upward transposition of samples. This is done by using a
special sample playback algorithm, which enables the K2661 to increase the maximum playback
rate of a sample from 96 Khz to a maximum of 192 Khz (thereby enabling the sample to be
played at a higher pitch).
There is a tradeoff, however. Unwanted artifacts may creep into a note’s sound as the result of
sample skipping. Therefore, the Auto value for this parameter is usually the best choice. Auto
means that the keymap in this layer will employ sample skipping only for those notes whose
upward transposition can be increased. Notes below a certain cutoff point would not benefit
from sample skipping and, therefore, Auto ensures that these notes will not use the feature
unnecessarily. The only disadvantage to using Auto sample skipping is that you cannot
pitchbend a note from below the cutoff point into the range of the sample-skipped notes.
A value of On means that sample skipping will be employed throughout the range of the
keymap. This eliminates the pitchbend limitation described above, but may add some artifacts
to the sound. Creative types may appreciate this form of distortion, however, so we’ve made it
available.
A value of Off means that sample skipping will not be used at all.
Stereo
You’ll use this parameter when you’re working with stereo samples. When you use the stereo
piano programs or load stereo samples from disk, the K2661 views both sides of the sample as a
single sample object. When you select a stereo sample (by setting the value of the Sample
parameter in the Keymap Editor), you’ll see the letter S as part of the sample name (for example,
204*StratoBlaster E3 S.
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