Key Names/Octaves Buttons; Getting Started - M-Audio Keystation 49e User Manual

Getting Started

Even though you have successfully completed the installation process, please
note that when you press a key you will not hear any sound. This is because
pressing a key causes the keyboard to send out MIDI data. MIDI data gives
instructions on how a sound should play, but in order to actually hear that
sound, you need to configure your music software to read the MIDI data being
sent from the Keystation 49e and play the sound back accordingly. This set up
will more than likely entail going into an Options or Device Set-Up menu in your
music software application and selecting the appropriate device. The
Keystation 49e should appear under the name "USB Audio Device" for
Windows XP or as "eKeys-49 USB MIDI Keyboard" for other Operating Systems
in the MIDI devices section of your music software application. Please consult
the manual that came with your software for the proper set up procedure.
Key Names
Each white key on the Keystation 49e is labeled with a letter and a number. The
letter represents the note you play, and the number represents the octave (the
concept of an "octave" is explained in the next section).
Although the black keys are not labeled, they also have names. For example,
the name of a black key can be something like F# 4 or Eb2.
If a (black) key letter name is listed with a # sign, it is referring to the black key
above the white key with the same letter name. For example F# 3 refers to the
black key above (white key) F3. If listed with a b sign, it is referring to the black
key below the white note with that letter name. For example, Eb3 refers to the
black key below (white key) E3. As a result, the name of the black key between
C3 and D3 is both C#3 and Db3.
Octaves Buttons
An octave contains 12 notes. Each octave is marked out clearly on your Keystation 49e
keyboard, by black and white sections starting on C. Each octave is given a number.
The Keystation 49e is able to shift the pitch of it's keys up or down by one or
more octaves. When the keyboard's octaves are not shifted (octave shift set to
0), the lights above both the octave "+" and octave "-" buttons will be lit (this is
the default octave shift designation is "0" andwill be the octave setting each
time you power up the keyboard).
If you press the octave "+" button once, the light above the octave "-" button will
go out, indicating the keyboard is now playing an octave higher. If you press the
Octave "+" button again, the keyboard will be shifted up 2 octaves, and so on. It
is possible to shift the keyboard up 4 octaves. To shift the octave downwards,
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