Kurzweil PC3K Series - How the PC3 K Works; VAST Synthesis; KB3 Tone Wheel Emulation; VA-1 Programs

Introduction
How the PC3K Works
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How the PC3K Works
ThePC3KintegratesthreeMIDI‐drivencomponents:aMIDIcontroller(thekeyboard,oran
externalMIDIcontroller),asoundengine,andaneffectsprocessorthatemploysthesame
effectsusedinKurzweil’sKSP8.ThesoundenginerespondstotheMIDIeventsgeneratedby
theMIDIcontroller,andturnsthemintosounds
thatareprocessedwithinthevariable
architectureofthealgorithms—orbyoscillatorsforKB3programs.Theresultingsoundcanthen
beroutedthroughthePC3K’seffectsandtotheaudiooutputs.
VAST Synthesis
ThePC3K’sVariableArchitectureSynthesisTechnology(V.A.S.T.)letsyoubuildsoundsfrom
realisticinstrumentalsamplesandsampledsynthwaveforms—thenmodifythenatureofthose
soundsthroughawidevarietyofdigitalsignal‐processing(DSP)functions.ThePC3Kalso
generatesitsownsynthwaveforms,whichcanbecombinedwiththesamplesor
usedontheir
own.
WhilemanyothersynthesizersmayofferafixedsetofDSPtools(typicallyfiltering,pitch,and
amplitudemodulation)thePC3K’sVariableArchitectureletsyouarrangeacombinationofDSP
functionsfromalonglistofchoices.Thefunctionsyouchoose definethetypeofsynthesisyou
use.
EachlayerofeveryprogramhasitsownDSParchitecture,whichwecallanalgorithm.Within
eachalgorithm,youcanselectfromavarietyofDSPfunctions.Eachfunctioncanbe
independentlycontrolledbyavarietyofsourcesincludingLFOs,ASRs,envelopes,asetof
uniqueprogrammablefunctions(FUNs),as
wellasanyMIDIcontrolmessage.Themany
differentDSPfunctionsandthewealthofindependentcontrolsourcesgiveyouanextremely
flexible,trulyvastcollectionoftoolsforsoundcreationandmodification.
ThePC3KofferspowerfuleditingfeatureswecallDynamicV.A.S.T.andCascadeMode.
• DynamicV. A . S . T. allowsyou
to“wire”yourownalgorithms,combiningdifferentDSP
functionsinanyorderyoulike,includingparallelandserialconfigurations.
• CascadeModeletsyourouteanylayerofaprogramintotheDSPofanyotherlayer.Anyof
the32layersofaprogramcangointoany otherlayer.
When
you’rereadytojumpinand startcreatingprograms,turntoChapt er 6.
KB3 Tone Wheel Emulation
InadditiontoVASTsynthesis,thePC3Koffersmanyoscillator‐basedprogramsthatgiveyou
theclassicsoundoftone‐wheelorgansliketheHammondB3.KB3mode,aswecallit,is
completelyindependentofVAST,andhasitsownsetofeditingprocedures.Ninededicated
slidersonthePC3K’s
frontpanelgiveyoureal‐time drawbarcontrolovertheseorgansounds.
Buttonsabovethesliderscontrolrotatingspeakerspeed,percussion,andotherorganfeatures.
ThequickestwaytogettotheKB3programsisbypressingtheKB3button(abovethesliders,to
theleftofthescreen).The
blueLEDintheKB3buttonwilllightwhenthecurrentprogramisa
KB3program.
VA-1 Programs
TheVA‐1(VirtualAnalogSynthesizer)programsincludedwiththePC3Kofferrealistic
emulationsofclassicanalogsynthesizers,builtfromKurzweil’suniqueanti‐aliasedDSP‐
generatedoscillators.ThePC3K’spower‐shapedoscillatorsletyoutransitionsmoothlyfromone
waveformintoanotherinrealtime,withoutusingcross‐fades.