Kurzweil PC2R Musician's Manual page 24

Playing Your PC2R
The Front Panel
You'll find KB3-mode programs in banks with IDs 4 and 5. Unlike Internal-Voices programs and
setups, they don't display a bank index.
KB3 programs use tone-wheel synthesis to produce sound. When you select a KB3 program (or
a setup that contains one), the tone wheels start up and run constantly while the program is in
use. This requires quite a bit of processing, and consequently has an effect on the polyphony
available for other programs. KB3 programs use 44 of the PC2R's 64 available voices, so when
you use a KB3 program in a setup, you have 20 voices of polyphony available for the remaining
programs in the setup.
Because of the special processing requirements of KB3 programs, you can play only one KB3
program at a time (this is true in all performance modes). There's a parameter in the Global
menu called KB3 MIDI Chan, which specifies which MIDI channel is available for playing KB3
programs. You can't play KB3 programs on any other channel. This is important to note if you're
playing the PC2R from an external sequencer. In this case, make sure that the sequencer selects
KB3 programs only on the KB3 channel; otherwise, the KB3 program won't play.
KB3 programs have nine adjustable drawbar settings, with harmonic wavelengths ranging from
1 to 16 feet. You can change the drawbar settings using the drawbar controls: Knobs A–D and
the Drawbar Toggle (Shift) button. Here's how it works:
When the LED in the Drawbar Toggle button is green, Knobs A–D represent drawbars 1–4 (the
four longest—or lowest-pitched—harmonic wavelengths). Press the Drawbar Toggle button,
and its LED turns amber. The knobs then represent drawbars 5–8 (shorter, higher-pitched
wavelengths). Press Drawbar Toggle again, and its LED turns red. Now Knob A controls
Drawbar 9 (the shortest), and Knobs B–D control other KB3 features.
There are nine digits in the bottom line of the display that show the current drawbar values.
From left to right, they correspond to drawbars 1–9. Moving one of the drawbars changes the
corresponding drawbar values, and changes the nature of the organ sound.
Try it out. Make sure you're in KB3 mode, then move one of the knobs. You'll see one of the
values on the bottom line change. By default, moving a knob all the way to the left is equivalent
to pulling out the drawbar on a real organ. The corresponding value is 8. Conversely, turning
the knob all the way to the right is equivalent to pushing the drawbar in, with a corresponding
value of 0. If you change the value of the MIDI In parameter (in the Global menu) to Normal or
Merge, you'll reverse the effect of the drawbar control knobs.
When the Drawbar Toggle LED is red, the Pre-Amp knob (Knob B) is at minimum when all the
way to the left. The Chorus/Vib On/Off knob (Knob C) turns chorus or vibrato off when you
turn it to the left past the halfway point, and on when you turn it to the right past the halfway
point. The Chorus/Vib Depth knob (Knob D) scrolls through the chorus and vibrato settings as
you turn the knob from left to right.
To the left of the drawbar values, there's a letter (either P or L) that indicates whether the
program has preset or "live" drawbar values. A program with preset drawbars always starts
with the same factory-set drawbar values when you select the program. Moving the drawbar
controls changes their values temporarily, but the next time you select that program, the
drawbars will once again be at their preset startup values. (You can edit the startup values for
programs with preset drawbars; see Changing Preset Drawbar Values on page 4-32.)
A program with live drawbars starts with drawbar values that reflect the positions of the
drawbar controls. Moving the drawbar controls changes their values further. Most of the KB3
programs have preset drawbars, although you can also edit them to have live drawbars.
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