How The S3000Xl Works - Akai S3000XL User Manual

INTRODUCTION

HOW THE S3000XL WORKS

Despite its versatility, the S3000XL is very straightforward and once you have a basic
grasp of the flowcharts shown on the next pages, things will make more sense.
Basically, you can have SAMPLES. These are the pieces of raw digital audio that are
always the basis of any sound in the S3000XL. These may be derived from floppy disk,
hard disk (including Magneto Optical (MO) Disks, removable cartridge types), CD ROM or,
of course, you may sample your own sounds via the analogue or the digital inputs.
Once you have a raw sample, there are many things you can do with it within EDIT
SAMPLE. You may TRIM it - that is, remove any unwanted audio from the start or end.
You may CHOP it - that is, remove a section in the middle and splice the two remaining
sections together or you may CUT it - that is, remove a section in the middle and keep the
gap thus created. You may also EXTRACT part of the sound - that is isolate a section
(such as one snare drum in a breakbeat) and extract that snare hit from the original. You
may also TUNE and/or REVERSE the sample.
Of course, one problem always associated with sampling is LOOPING. Because any given
sample is only a few seconds long, if you want to sustain that sample longer than its
original length, some method has to be sought to do this. This is LOOPING. A loop is a
section of the sound that repeats as long as you hold your finger on the key and is set by
setting a start and end point for the loop. This is something of an art and a science and
something we won't delve into here in great detail. To make looping as easy as possible,
the S3000XL has FIND and CROSSFADE functions to help you set good loops.
Other sample editing functions include TIMESTRETCH which allows you to lengthen or
shorten a sample without changing its pitch (again, we will look at this in more detail later
in this manual) and RE-SAMPLING, a technique that allows you to squeeze the optimum
performance out of available memory space. On the S3000XL, you may also
NORMALISE a sample's level for optimum signal to noise performance.
Once you have edited a sample you place it into a PROGRAM.
A PROGRAM is where you assemble your sample(s) for playback. In a program, you
allocate a sample to a KEYGROUP (in fact, you can allocate 4 samples to one keygroup
for layering, velocity switching and velocity crossfading but more on that later!). A program
may have as little as one keygroup spanning the entire keyboard or as many as one
keygroup for every key each with four samples in them! To overcome the abrupt tonal
discrepancies sometimes experienced when two different samples are placed 'side by
side' on the keyboard, positional keygroup crossfading can be used for a smoother
transition.
Once in a keygroup, the sample may be passed through resonant filters for tonal
modification, through amplifiers for amplitude control and through a pan section for stereo
placement. Keygroups may be freely assigned to the individual outputs for external
processing on a mixing console.
On top of this, you may apply modulation from 2 x Low Frequency Oscillators (LFOs) for
vibrato and other effects. A SINGLE TRIGGER LEGATO mode allows you to emulate solo
instruments such as woodwind and brass more realistically and to allow for greater
expression when playing synth bass parts or lead sounds.
One powerful feature of the S3000XL is the flexible ASSIGNABLE PROGRAM
MODULATION known as APM for short) in EDIT PROGRAM. Using this, any modulation
source may be routed to virtually any control input. In this way, the S3000XL is a powerful
synthesiser as well, except that you may use almost any sampled sound (of your own or
from a sound library) as the basis of your own powerful and expressive sounds.
S3000XL Operator's Manual Page 19