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Advanced Features
The Vocoder Menu - The Utilities Menu
Vocoder sounds have recently returned to popularity and are being
used more frequently in modern Pop and Dance music, typically to pro-
duce distinctive ‘robot voice’ type effects.
Activating The Vocoder
This is done by using the LEVEL knob found in the Effects section
while the Vocoder is currently selected by the SELECT buttons. This
control is also used to balance the various elements used to create the
Vocoder effect. See Pages 21 in the Main Features and Operation
section for full details and for a description of how the Vocoder oper-
ates.
Additional functions relating to the Vocoder are to be found in the
Vocoder Menu. Use the PAGE up/down buttons to scroll through the
Menu functions available - See table below.
Stereo Width (Menu Page 1)
Determines how wide the stereo output of the vocoder will be. The 12
bands of the Vocoder are panned one by one to the left and to the
right. Increasing the value moves the individual bands further away
from the centre position.
Sibilance Level (Menu Page 2)
Determines the amount of sibilance there will be present in the final
vocoded signal. Typically these are the ‘S’ and ‘T’ types of sounds
heard in speech. Adding sibilance gives the Vocoder a more defined
sound and helps make vocoded voices more intelligable.
Sibilance Type (Menu Page 3)
Determines if the vocoder uses real sibilance high-pass filtered from
the modulator or artificially generates it using noise. When set to HP,a
high pass filter is used to extract the sibilance from the modulator
(Note : this will allow some of the modulator signal to be heard). When
set to NOI, Noise is used to artificially generate the sibilance.
This menu contains various utility functions associated with dumping
data via MIDI, restoring memories and wheel calibration. The Utilities
Menu is accessed by pressing the keypad ‘6’ button while the K-Station
is already in Menu Mode.
Use the PAGE up/down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions
available - See table below.
Transmit Midi Sysex Dump (Menu Page 1)
The K-station is capable of using MIDI System exclusive messages
(often shortened to Sysex) to transfer ‘dump’ a record of its memory
contents for storage in a MIDI device, usually a sequencer. Saving data
in this way is useful for building up sound libraries or creating an emer-
gency data backup in case of the K-Station’s memories becoming acci-
dentally over-written.
It is also possible to link two K-Stations or a K-Station and an A-Station
together with a MIDI cable and use Sysex dumping as a means of
directly transferring memory contents from one machine to the other.
To initiate a Sysex dump, select the desired option using the DATA
knob. Start the sequencer recording and press the WRITE button to
start transmission of Sysex data. If the CURR SOUND option or
GLOBAL DATA is selected then the display will flash DONE as confir-
mation that the transmission has taken place.
If PROG BANK1 through ALL P BANKS is selected the display will
indicate progress of transmission by indicating DUMPING PROG XXX
(where XXX is the Program number).
Note : Some sequencers (such as Cubase) sometimes have Sysex
messages filtered out as a default setting. If the sequencer appears not
to have recorded the sysex dump into a track, check that the
sequencer is not set to filter out Sysex messages. Consult the
sequencer’s manual for details.
Receiving a Sysex Dump
Once Sysex data has been stored in a sequencer track, the data can
then be re-loaded into a K-Station by simply playing the sequencer
track in the normal way.
If a single Sound is received via Sysex, it is important to realise that it
is only Program Edit Buffer which has been changed. The newly-
received sound can immediately be played on the K-Station’s key-
board, but if the new sound is to be kept, it must be manually saved
into a memory location in the normal way, similar to a manually edited
Program.
When a whole bank of sounds or the Global settings are received via
Sysex, the data is placed directly into the K-Station’s memories. For
this reason, it is important to make sure that the Global Memory
Protect switch is set to OFF (see Page 35) before loading a whole
bank of Programs or Global data, otherwise the dump will be rejected.
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