Interfacing
Interfacing capability
is
perhaps
the SH-09's
most
striking advantage,
an
ability
to
expand
in many
directions and
to
virtually
customize
itself
to a
per-
formers needs. An
instrument
such
as electric
piano
or
guitar may be
processed through
the SH-
09 for synthesizer
style effects, any
polyphonic
instrument with.a gate output
may
be linked
through the SH-09 to
achieve polyphonic syn-
thesizer
sounds and the
SH-09 control inputs
and
outputs
allow it to be used
with other
synthesizers
or with units such as
the Roland CSQ digital
sequencers
for flexibility
and freedom
to create.
Combining the
SH-09 with
another
instrument
gives much
greater
flexibility than using
the two
instruments independently.
Either
or both
may still
be
played independently,
switched to play as
a
single
new
instrument
or
used
both
for
the sounds
of
the external
instrument
and of the SH-09 com-
bination
at the
same
time
for
orchestration style
layering. Using a
Roland CSQ
Digital
Sequencer
with
the
SH-09 allows
musical lines either pre-
programmed
or programmed
as
you play to be
automatically repeated or altered at
will,
expanding
the talents and
capabilities of
a
player
beyond his
normal hands-and-feet limitations. These abilities
32
are very
helpful in the
studio,
but virtually
essential
in live
performance where
a keyboard
player
must
in
one playing recreate
the thick,
complex
sounds
his audience
expects
—
sounds
originally
created
through multitrack recording
and/or
the
use of
many
session musicians.
Interfacing
capability
not
only
allows
great
artistic
freedom
and
choice,
but allows
an
involved
keyboard
setup
to be built
gradually
as money
becomes available.
Building
a system
this
way
pro-
vides the
performer
with
an
instrument
immediate-
ly,
lets him become
more familiar
with
each
instru-
ment
as
he builds
gradually,
and
allows
him
to
purchase
absolute top quality
instruments
such
as
the SH-09
at
each
step of
the way
instead
of
buy-
ing
a
more expensive
instrument
which
com-
promises quality and flexibility
in order
to be more
comprehensive. You may
feel
confident that
the
SH-09
quality and extensive
expansion
options will
not
lock
you into a closed
concept
that must
be
traded
in
and changed
completely
each time your
musical needs
change
or
expand.
Interfacing
External
Instrument
Without
Gates
An
external
source with no
Gate output
such
as a
microphone,
an electric
piano or electric
guitar
may
be processed through
the SH-09
using
the Audio
Mixer, VCF
and Modulator
sections. The
VCO,
Envelope
and Delay Time
functions
of the
SH-09
cannot
be used in this
application
because
there
are
no Control
Voltage or
Gate commands
for
them
to follow.
Example
1 uses the natural volume
shape of
the
Roland MP-600
Electronic Piano
to modulate
or
move the filter
using the SH-09's
self-contained
Envelope Follower.
The Envelope
Follower
in
the
VCF
raises and lowers
the Cutoff
Frequency
in
direct proportion
to increasing
and
decreasing
volume levels from
any incoming
external
signal.
The MP-600
is an ideal
instrument for
this
applica-
tion
because its touch
sensitive dynamics
let
you
control the
depth
of
the SH-09 filter
sweep from
the piano keyboard,
it has an
adjustable Decay
time
to shape the filter sweep,
and
includes both
mixable Tone
sliders and
a six band
Graphic
Equalizer
to
control
the sound
presented
to
the SH-
09
for
processing. Block
chords
or
unison rhythms
work
best
with
this patch
because there
is only
one
set
of
synthesizer
components
to
process the
summed
output of the
piano. The
same process
will work
with other
external
instruments,
using the
natural
note
shape and
tone
for
a basic starting
point.
Examples
2
and
3
continuously
pass the external
instrument
signal through
the SH-09,
adding
either
a constant Wah-Wah
or
Sample
and Hold effect
to
the sound
as it
passes through
the
VCF,
acting as
a
sophisticated effect
device.
You may find
the
Sample and
Hold patch
the most
effective, since
that effect
is exclusive
to
synthesizers and
therefore
unexpected
and
unusual
on other
instruments.
Interfacing
External
Instruments
With
Gate
Outputs
The
most popular application of SH-09
interfacing
is with polyphonic keyboard
instruments
that
have
Keyboard
Gate
outputs
such
as the
Roland RS-09
Organ/Strings and
the
Roland SA-09
Saturn. In this
application
the SH-09 controls function normally
with
the exceptions that the pitches, basic
tone
selection and the Keyboard
Gate
are provided
by
the
external instrument (the SH-09 VCO
and
keyboard are
not used). When the two instruments
are linked, the combined
instrument is
played from
the external instrument keyboard
using the SH-09
controls
as
an
extension of the external
instrument.
The great
advantage of connecting an
instrument
possessing
a Gate
output to the SH-09
is that the
Envelope
may
now
be used to sweep the filter
—
a
critical
element in many
synthesized sounds. The
gate will also initiate
the
delayed LFO output of the
SH-09
modulator, although
you are restricted
to
applying it
as
Tremolo
within
the
VCF
since you
are
not using the SH-09
VCO. Instead
use the
delayed Vibrato
available
on both the RS-09
Organ/Strings
and the SA-09
Saturn oscillators.
Standard
Keyboard
Gate
logic
is followed and the
most
successful keyboard
technique is usually
to
play in block
chords
or
with
unison, separated
rhythms.
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