Korg POLYSIX M Owner's Manual page 10

C) OMNI
The WRITE LED indicates omni mode. When the WRITE LED is on omni mode is selected ('omni on') and the
synthesizer disregards the channel number of incoming MIDI data resulting in data being received from all MIDI
channels. When omni mode is off (WRITE LED is off) MIDI data is only received on the channel indicated by 1..8.
Note that local and omni modes can be controlled via MIDI using the LOCAL and OMNI MIDI commands (see the
Polysix M MIDI implementation).
D) MIDI IN CHANNEL
The MIDI IN channel is indicated and selected in the same manner as the MIDI OUT channel.
11) ARPEGGIATOR PARAMETERS
To set the arpeggiator parameters press the CHORD MEMORY button in tape enable mode. CHORD MEMORY
lights up to indicate that arpeggiator parameter mode has been selected.
The following parameters are available:
A) NORMAL/MIDI CLOCK
This is indicated on the MANUAL LED. When MANUAL is lit, this means that the arpeggiator is controlled using
the ARPEGGIATOR SPEED knob on the front panel (or the ARPEGGIO TRIG IN connector on the rear panel if
something is connected to this connector). If MANUAL is not lit, clock pulses are derived from the incoming MIDI
clock.
Note that when the machine is in MIDI clock mode (MANUAL not lit) and the arpeggiator is on, it will not start
until a START (250) or CONTINUE (251) MIDI message has been received. In the same way the arpeggiator will
stop when a STOP (252) message is received. Sequencers and drum machines usually send these messages
when they are started and stopped.
B) STEP SPEED
LEDs 1..8 indicate how fast the arpeggiator runs when synched to MIDI:
LED
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
The step speed is selected by pressing the corresponding button.
C) HOLDOFF TIME
A..D indicate the holdoff time. This is, to put it precisely, the time after the arpeggiator has been retriggered by
pressing a new key (after all keys have been released) that it will not respond to an external clock pulse.
Simple, isn't it! For those interested in arpeggiator details there is a further explanation below; otherwise simply
disregard this parameter!
The full story is as follows: Normally when all keys have been released and a new key (or several keys) is
pressed the new note to be arpeggiated should be triggered immediately without waiting for a clock pulse.
Otherwise there would be the risk of missing the first arpeggiated note if the key was pressed the millisecond after a
clock pulse was received. The arpeggiator would seem to miss a step. On the other hand, another possibility is that
a key is depressed a few milliseconds before a clock pulse is received. In this case a double trig would be the result
- one trigger caused by the key pressed and another by the clock pulse. The result of the double trig would be that
the arpeggiator would advance an extra step for no apparent reason. (This problem does not arise when the
arpeggiator is clocked internally as the internal clock generator is reset every time a new key is depressed - try for
yourself by setting a slow arpeggio rate and retriggering the arpeggiator clock generator by pressing a key on the
keyboard!) In order to avoid double triggering when keys are pressed just before a clock is received a holdoff period
has been implemented which disables clock pulse reception for a certain length of time after the arpeggiator has
been triggered by a key depression. The holdoff time can be set using A..D, from about 10ms at setting A up to
about 35ms at setting D. The power-on default is D.
In practice the holdoff value should make little difference but if you experience strange triggering when using the
arpeggiator with MIDI sync, experiment with other holdoff settings.
10
one step is equivalent to
32nd note triplet
32nd note (demisemiquaver)
16th note triplet
16th note (semiquaver)
8th note triplet
8th note (quaver)
quarter note triplet
quarter note (crotchet)