Assignable Program Modulation - Akai S3000XL User Manual

EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE

ASSIGNABLE PROGRAM MODULATION

First introduced on the Akai S2800, S3000 and S3200, the S3000XL has Assignable
Program Modulation (or APM for short) and this allows you to route virtually any controller
(such as the LFOs, envelope generators, MIDI controllers such as modwheel, pitchbend,
etc.) to a number of destinations (pitch, amplitude, tone, etc.). Many synthesisers have
had such facilities before but it is uncommon on samplers and APM turns the S3000XL
into a powerful synthesiser as well as offering a great deal of flexibility in the manipulation
of acoustic samples.
In the early days of synthesisers, each building block of sound was referred to as a
'module' and it was possible to route any module to any other using patch cords. This was
called 'modular synthesis'. On the S3000XL, each 'module' (i.e. the filters, amplifiers, pitch
inputs, LFOs, envelope generators, etc.), has several control inputs and, although we
don't use patch cords, controllers may be freely assigned to these modules. On other
samplers (and indeed even some synthesisers), these control inputs are fixed - that is,
you have no choice as what you can send to them. Whilst acceptable a lot of the time,
this can be a bit frustrating when there is some specific sound you want to make or
musical effect you want to achieve.
Here are some examples:
• You may route the mod wheel to open the filter in a brass program for swells and
growls. You could use aftertouch for the same effect.
• You could route aftertouch to control the panning's LFO speed to emulate the sound
of a rotary speaker speeding up and slowing down in a classic rock organ sound.
• The multi-stage envelope generator ENV2 could be routed to pitch for special effects
whilst, at the same time LFO1 (whose rate may separately be being controlled by the
modwheel) is being routed to a resonant filter cutoff.
• You could use ENV2 to control LFO1 depth for 'shaped' vibrato that fades in, fades
out and fades back in again.
• To reduce the 'cyclicness' of normal vibrato, you could modulate LFO1's rate very
slightly with LFO2.
• It is possible to 'trigger' the RANDOM wave from the keyboard so, if LFO2 is applied to
filter, each note can have a totally random tone. With LFO2 applied to panning, each
note will appear at a randomly different position in the L/R stereo field (great when
sequencing or arpeggiating percussive sounds)
All sorts of things are possible from the subtle to the ridiculous! We are the first to admit
that this kind of modulation is not that useful when trying to accurately recreate the sound
of a Gamelan orchestra but, when the need arises to create that special sound or when
your synthesiser just isn't up to it, the S3000XL will oblige you willingly - in fact, you may
get so used to the S3000XL's versatility as a synthesiser that some of your current
synth(s) may be in the classifieds sooner than you think!
Page 54 S3000XL Operator's Manual