Akai S950 Operator's Manual
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Akai S950 Operator's Manual

Midi digital sampler
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  • Page 2: Important For Your Safety

    Make sure that the Akai S950 is well ventilated and away from direct sunlight. with the letter L or coloured red. To avoid damage to the internal circuits and the external surface, keep away from heal (stoves, etc.).
  • Page 3 This can be done by leaving a 1U gap on top of the S950- which can be filled in with a blank rack panel. This will prevent any overheating of the unit. If you are going to be transporting the S950, especially if you are gagging with a band, we recommend the use of a sturdy flight case to protect your investment.
  • Page 4 Never let a child put anything, especially metal, into the S950. Also, keep children away from the polythene bag that the unit is wrapped in. Although the S950 has been built to withstand the many rigours of the music business, it is a precision instrument that must be treated as such. Look after your new instrument and it will look after you providing you with years of reliable service.

  • Page 6: Getting Started

    Now take a standard Jack-to-Jack lead from the MIX OUT socket on the rear of the S950 to the LINE input of a mixer or amplifier. If you are using a standard guitar amplifier, connect the lend to either the input on the front...
  • Page 7 IS ON AS YOU MAY DAMAGE THE DISK OR THE DRIVE. NEITHER MUST YOU TURN THE S950'S POWER OFF WHILST A DISK IS LOADING. After the disk has loaded, you are ready to play your S950 so turn up the volume on the amplifier and play a few notes on the keyboard - you should now hear a sound.
  • Page 8 Several new features include a 'load while play' function on the disk drive so that you can be loading new sounds from disk whilst you play. The S950 is also the first sampler in its price range to feature TIMESTRETCH which enables you to lengthen or shorten s sample by as much as 999% without any change in pitch.
  • Page 9 The most important thing about the S950 is that, despite the incredible versatility of the instrument, it is very easy to use and won't interfere with your music making. Naturally, you would rather play with your new instrument than read a manual but please, read the manual sometime. Even if you've been an S900 user for some time, there is still information in here which will be new to you and there may even be a few surprises.
  • Page 10 Once you have a sample or a collection of samples in the S950, you want to be able to play it from the keyboard (or any other MIDI controller such as a MIDI drum, guitar or wind controller or a MIDI sequencer).
  • Page 11 USING THE S950 - THE BASICS There ere 8 basic modes on the S950 which are selected using the 8 buttons that run underneath the display. These are PLAY, REC, EDIT SAMPLE, EDIT PROGRAM, MIDI, UTILITY, DISK and MASTER TUNE. These are all fairly self explanatory and their basic functions are as follows: PLAY - This selects the program you wish to play.
  • Page 12 Behind the deceptively simple control panel of the S950 lies a wealth of features. As we have seen, the main functions of the S950 are accessed simply by pressing the required button. After that, each mode (with the exception of PLAY and MASTER TUNE) have n number of 'pages' or sub-modes which give you access to further functions.
  • Page 13 Of course, there's more to it than that and so we will take you through each mode, control and function in greater detail so that by the time you have read through all this, you will have a greater insight to the fantastic creative possibilities offered to you by the S950.

  • Page 14: Using This Manual

    Of course, this may not necessarily be the order in which you wish to use the S950 so simply refer to the mode you wish to learn about.

  • Page 15: Entering Names

    You will need to name samples and programs when you begin to create your own sounds. The S950 allows you to name sounds of up to 10 upper case characters using ell letters in the alphabet. Numbers 0-9 can be used in a name as well and you can also include certain symbols such as #, + and -.

  • Page 16: Play Mode

    04 and if you want to hear program 13, type in 13 - it's as simple as that If your S950 has less than 10 programs you only need to type in the one digit. If you wish to select programs from your keyboard using MIDI, simply press the required program number on the MIDI keyboard.

  • Page 17: Troubleshooting

    This can be for a number of reasons. For example, it could be that you have ten or more programs in memory and you only typed in a one digit number in which case the S950 will stay on the last selected program.

  • Page 18: Audio Source

    Many people are frightened by the process of sampling but it is not very difficult as you shall see. To sample on the S950, plug either a microphone into the MIC input or, if you are using a line level signal such as a synthesizer, another sampler, a tape or cassette deck or electric guitar, use the LINE Input.

  • Page 19: Digital Audio

    The default setting for this page is 1 - Analogue input (l. e. the MIC or LINE input socket on the front panel of the S950). If you are using the IBI05 HARD DISK/CD DAT INTERFACE board, you can select 2 or 3 which will allow you to sample directly from the CD or RDAT's digital or fibre optic output (please refer to the IB105 documentation for information on this).
  • Page 20 To hear the incoming signal, adjust the MONITOR LEVEL control on the front panel. (NOTE: YOU WILL ONLY HEAR THE INCOMING SIGNAL THROUGH THE S950 IF THE MONO MIX OUTPUT IS USED.) Once you are satisfied with the incoming signal level, hit any key on the blue keypad and play the sample.
  • Page 21 S950's record level control. This could be for a number of reasons. 1. Check that the input source on the S950 is correctly set. If you are using the MIC or LINE inputs, make sure that you are not switched to '2' (Fibre optic) or '3' (Phono) but that the display reads '1' (Analog).
  • Page 22 6. If 5 checks out o. k., !s the S950 overloading the mixer and/or amplifier or is the amp overloading the speakers? Of course, to check for distortion, remove any effects such as EQ, echo or reverb that may be present on the mixer and/or amplifier.

  • Page 23: Edit Sample

    Using the grey CONTROL knob, you can scroll through the samples present in the S950's memory. Once you have found the sample you wish to edit, press ENT.
  • Page 24 Move to the next page using the 'page down' button. It will display: >03 #Loudness #Nom pitch #Fine pitch C3 60 This page allows you to adjust a samples level, its basic pitch and its fine tuning. LOUDNESS: This is where you can adjust the level of the sample so that it matches the level of other samples taken.

  • Page 25: Start Point

    To use the AUTO function, simply move the cursor to the AUTO field, enter the start point level you wish the S950 to search for (01 is the default and will find the lowest start point signal level whilst setting 99 will search for the highest start point signal level) and press the ENT button.

  • Page 26: End Point

    ABOUT LOOPING Because any sample you take on the S950 only lasts a finite amount of time, there will be occasions where you want to sustain that sound longer than the actual sample - this is especially true if the sample is only a second or so I ong as will often be the case.
  • Page 27 But even this is sometimes not enough to loop certain sounds, especially harmonically rich and varying sounds so the S950 has one further old in the search for the perfect loop celled CROSSFADE LOOPING.

  • Page 28: Loop Length

    Is not a falling of the S950 or yourself but the sound. On occasions, even the wealth of technological assistance That the S950's looping functions...
  • Page 29 You can now move the cursor to the AUTO field using the 'cursor >' button and by pressing the ENT button, the S950 will search for a better loop. You will note that the loop length you set gets smaller. Try playing the keyboard again and see if the loop has improved.
  • Page 30 (ensuring that they hove first been saved to disk, If necessary! so that you make room for the new crossfade loop sample. The field marked MEM on Page 09 will tell you how much memory the S950 has available for the creation of a new sample.
  • Page 31 Note: As above in crossfede looping, it is necessary to create a new sample for splicing. If you don't have enough memory, the S950 will not be able to create the new sample so it may be necessary to delete some samples form memory.
  • Page 32 When you have done this, move the cursor to the 'DO' field and press ENT and the S950 will pause for a short while whilst it calculates the new sample (the EDIT SAMPLE light will remain lit).
  • Page 33 That concludes examination EDIT SAMPLE. always, default settings in this mode have been well chosen and it is probable that, in the majority of sample editing situations, you will only need to edit start time, end time and looping with the rest of the functions being used for special applications.

  • Page 34: Edit Program

    EDIT PROGRAM Once you have your sample(s) In the S950, you will want to organize them so that they are properly laid out across the keyboard. All this and more is done in the EDIT PROGRAM mode using KEYGROUPS. We have already had a brief...
  • Page 35 You can now scroll through the programs in the S950 using the CONTROL knob and hitting ENT when you have found the program you want. To copy a program you simply type in the new program name using the LETTER button and hit ENT when that is complete.
  • Page 36 out resulting in a more consistent tonal change between keygroups. To switch positional crossfade on, move the cursor to where it says OFF end press the ON button. Fig. 1 - Positional crossfade You can now move to the next page using the 'page down' button. This will display: >03 KEYGROUP: #Select ( 0 to #) ^ #Put- #Get_ #Copy (+>, Delete <->...
  • Page 37 'grab' the snare drum from another program complete with the envelope shaping, tuning, volume end other keygroup parameters from another drum program currently in the S950. To achieve this, follow this procedure: Select the source program (i.e.
  • Page 38 Note: A setting of 128 will only play the soft sample since 1t is not possible to play a herd sample with a velocity value of more than 128. Similarly, a velocity switch threshold of 000 will only play the hard sample as it is not possible to play a soft sample softer then 000.
  • Page 40 In this way, you could, for example, transpose the whole program up an octave or any other interval or you could fine tune the program so that it is in tune with other programs in memory. You could also turn the whole program up or down in level to balance the program against other programs.
  • Page 42 Variations on those should be experimented with for a wide range of filter effects. Let us now move to Page 10, the amplitude envelope settings. This page looks like this: >10 ENV ;Attack *Decay *Sustain (Release #KG* where # is the current keygroup selected. This page.
  • Page 44 Furthermore, most, if not all acoustic instruments exhibit tonal envelope changes where the tone varies during the course of a note. By providing a separate envelope generator for the filter, we ere also able to imitate these effects as well as set up some interesting, electronic effects. The next page is concerned with the velocity parameters of a keygroup °...
  • Page 46 RELEASE: This allows you to control release time using keyboard velocity. A setting of +00 will have no effect whilst settings of +50 will give the effect that releasing the keys quickly will give long release times. Values of down to -50 will have the reverse effect and release time will be shorter when you take your fingers off the keyboard quickly.
  • Page 48 This is particularly useful for natural vibrato effects if yuu are not able to use the modulation wheel. DESYNC: There are no less than 8 LFO's in the S950, one for each voice. When DESYNC Is ON, these LFO's run slightly out of phase with each other allowing you to create more natural ensemble vibrato effects.
  • Page 50 The ONE-SHOT function caters for use of the 5950 with certain drum machines whose note on message is so fast, it cannot trigger samples in the 5950 properly. If you have such s drum machine and don't get a sound even though everything seems to be working o.
  • Page 52 CONTROL knob or the keypad. This will assign that keygroup to the chosen output. As in nearly all the various modes in the S950, there are many default settings which have been sensibly chosen to optimise the units performance.

  • Page 53: Midi Functions

    *Omni on/off (O1 to 16) 1 These are the default settings if you turn the S950 on with no disk inserted. It tells you that OMNI is switched to ON (i.e. it will receive all MIDI channels and so will operate with the MIDI controller regardless of its setting).
  • Page 55 Similarly, if you are sequencing the 5950 on many different MIDI channels, it will also display the lest note received along with that notes' MIDI channel. Page 04 allows you to set the S950's response to program change over MIDI, whether MIDI volume controller (07) is selected and pitch bend range. The display reads: >04 MIDI: tProg change ON *loudness OFF...
  • Page 57 The next page is concerned with the 5950's ability to be controlled using the RS232 muitipin port found on the rear of the unit. This allows the S950 to be controlled by computer for sample editing, etc., instead of MIDI.
  • Page 59 MIDI where you will find that OMNI is switched to ON (i.e. it is responding to ALL the incoming MIDI channels simultaneously). You should switch this to OFF and make sure that the S950's MIDI channel matches the one you wish the part to play on coming from the sequencer.

  • Page 60: Utility Mode

    *Send Settings- *Read Settings- In this mode you can either send parameters set up on the S950 to the ME35T or you can receive settings from the ME35T for further editing in the 5950 by moving the cursor to the appropriate field and pressing ENT.
  • Page 61 This sets the level of the incoming signal which is shown in the lower half of the display (##at####) as a bargraph meter. Trig This sets the threshold above which samples on the S950 will be thresh: triggered. All these pages' parameters are selected and edited in the usual way. Move the cursor using the 'cursor 7.and/or <' buttons to the appropriate field and...
  • Page 62 DISK LOADING AND SAVING - THE DISK DRIVE This is a very important part of the Akai 5950 as it allows you to load sounds for playback and editing. It also enables you to save the fruits of your labours onto disk. Because the-S950 will lose the contents of its memory when power is switched off, we cannot stress the importance of saving your work to disk.
  • Page 63 For example, a full DD disk on an un-expanded 5950 will show 100x. If the full complement of memory expansion boards are fitted so that the internal memory of the S950 is three times as large, the same disk would display 33x.
  • Page 64 next page allows load either individual program individual program with its relevant samples. Press the 'page down' button and the display will show: >03 LOAD PROGRAM (ENT) #PR only _ M Ox *name *########~R APR 3 samples where ########## is the currently selected program name. This page is invaluable as it allows you to use a program off disk and load that without its samples to use as a template for a program using the samples currently in the 5950's memory.
  • Page 66 DD disk or use HD disks o- a hard disk. To wipe the disk and save the contents of the S950's memory to disk, simply press ENT but be careful that you are not erasing a valuable disk as there is no stopping this procedure once it has been initiated.
  • Page 68 To format a floppy disk (i.e. a 3. 5 inch DD or HD disk), move the cursor one position to the right using the 'cursor >' button and press ENT. The S950 will now format the disk and the the display will slowly fill up with two rows of dots as the formatting process takes place.
  • Page 69 In any of the pages 05 to 10, when you try to save anything onto a disk or format a disk that has been write-protected the display will read: OOPS! Disk is write protected. Take it out and close the switch in the corner and all the mode lights will flash.

  • Page 70: Disk Handling

    DISK HANDLING Disks are very important pieces of equipment for anyone who owns a sampler and they represent many hours of work. As a result, it is important that you take good care of your disks to ensure reliable operation. Always use branded, high quality disks.

  • Page 71: Master Tune

    Without doubt, this is the easiest mode to understand and it is here that you can tune the S950 to different instruments. To tune the S950, press MASTER TUNE and use the CONTROL knob to adjust pitch up or down so that it is tune with other instruments. And that's it! ,Vote: If the tuning range in this page is not wide enough, you.
  • Page 72 APPENDIX...
  • Page 73 All of these have been sensibly chosen so that you can get on with your work with the minimum of button pushing and data entry. What follows now is a quick reference chart that will guide you through the most important functions in any of the S950's moaes of operation.
  • Page 74 FOR MORE SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS IN ALL THESE MODES, PLEASE REFER TO THE RELEVANT SECTION OF THIS MANUAL...
  • Page 76 This KWIKREF chart lists the optimum bandwidth of a variety of commonly used sounds. Using this as a guide to your own sampling will enable you to get more samples into the S950.
  • Page 77 You will note that these bandwidth figures are approximate. Of course, you require higher lower bandwidths than those shown certain instruments - it all depends entirely on the tone of the instrument you are sampling. If it is bright, It may require a higher bandwidth than the one recommended but if the sound is relatively mellow, you might like to try a lower bandwidth setting.

  • Page 78: Advanced Applications

    ADVANCED APPLICATIONS We have now covered the basic operation procedures on the 5950 but there is so much more that we can do with samples and programs once they are in the instrument. This section will take you through some of the more advanced possibilities available on the 5950.

  • Page 80: Using The Lfo

    For example, with a simple string program with gust one keygroup, to thicken the sound, simply make a copy of that keygroup in Page 03 and then detune it in Page 06. In a more complicated mufti-sample program that has, for example, four keygroups, copy KG1 to create a new keygroup, KGS, copy KG2 so the you create another new keygroup, KG6, copy KG3 so that you create another keygroup, KG7 and copy KG4 to create KGB.
  • Page 82 For example, say you have a sample but the loop is not that good and, despite your attempts to improve it, you still can't get rid of a slight glitch or tremolo effect, you can use the LFO to disguise the effects of this loop by adding some vibrato to that sample.
  • Page 84 It is also possible to control attack time using velocity and this can be put to a number of expressive uses. For example, you may have n flute sample with a very percussive 'blowy' attack but you may not always want that attack to sound on every note.

  • Page 85: Using The _Individual Outputs

    This technique can be extended by layering the same sample on top of itself and then transposing one sample up two octaves and setting the transposed sound to fade in slowly. Alternatively, you could layer guitar feedback effect on top of a distorted guitar sample and. have the feedback fade in slowly.
  • Page 87 USING THE 5950 WITH ANOTHER SYNTH Using MIDI, it is possible to layer the S950 on top of sounds generated by another synthesizer. This can be very useful in enriching the sound of either the synth or the sampler.
  • Page 89 EDIT PROGRAM, go to the MIDI buton and ensure that the parameter LOUDNESS is switched to ON - the S950 is now set up to respond to MIDI control 07. Now create a multi-channel sequence on your MIDI sequencer.
  • Page 91 The problem is, even the most critical ear and the S950's AUTOMATIC START POINT function is sometimes not accurate enough to detect a slight delay so here's how to set the start points more accurately.
  • Page 93 Hopefully, all this should give you an insight to the amazing creative possibilities offered by the Akai 5950 and we hope also that it will act as a catalyst for you to experiment and create and edit your own samples and programs.
  • Page 94 Individual keygroup control of filter track, constant pitch (keyboard on/off) Individual keygroup assignment to outputs Individual MIDI assignment per keygroup Other: Akai ME35T audio/pad-MIDI converter control Master tune Outputs: Mono mix, left and right, 8 individual assignable outputs Inputs: Mic, Line Other: MIDI IN, OUT and THRU.
  • Page 95 MIDI DIGITAL SAMPLER Nodes 5950 MIDI Implementation Chart Transmitted Recognized Remarks Function ... Basic Default ~ without Disk Channel Changed ~ 1 - 16 blemorized(Dis Default ~ Mode 1 Without Disk Mode Mode 1 - 4 Nemorized(Disk Messages Omni on/off.P/?1 Altered Note 0 - 127...

  • Page 96: What Is Sampling

    WHAT IS SAMPLING' Sampling is a method of digital recording but, unlike digital tape recorders, a sampler can only record a short amount of sound. Basically, a sampler is a bit like a movie camera. As you know, a movie camera does not take one continuous photograph of a moving object but takes a whole pile of snapshots which, when played back at the right speed, gives the illusion of motion.
  • Page 97 FIG. 2. Digitising an analogue waveform with a low sampling rate But this needn't concern you too much because you can rest safe in the knowledge that the 5950's sampling rate is up there with the big boys sampling away at 48kHz giving you a maximum bandwidth of 19.2kHz - it's only when you want to sample longer sounds that you may have to compromise on audio quality by bringing the sampling rate down and hence the bandwidth.
  • Page 98 So, once those numbers are in the sampler, you can EDIT the sample. Here, you can instruct the computer to mess around with the data rather like you can use a word processor to edit text. The most basic thing you tell it to do is to actually play the sound.
  • Page 99 You will notice that as you transpose the sample more than a few semitones up or down, the tonal characteristic starts to sound, well.. weird! This !s especially true voice samples where playing higher keyboard produces a sound not unlike some cheeky cartoon character whilst playing it lower on the keyboard, your voice sound like a space alien with indigestion! This happens...

  • Page 100: What Is Midi

    WHAT IS MIDI? Back in the early days of synthesizers, a system known as voltage control was used. Basically, when you played a note on the keyboard, you sent a voltage to voltage controlled oscillators and the value of that voltage determined the pitch of the oscillators.
  • Page 101 For example, play a note on the keyboard and the other instrument will play that same note. Use the pitch bend wheel or modulation wheel and the other synth will also respond. Furthermore, select different sound controlling synth and the other synth will change its sound also. Of course, sometimes this is not always desirable and so it is possible to switch off certain MIDI functions if you wish.
  • Page 102 MIDI THRU could give rise to slight delays so it is best to use a MIDI THRU box such as the Akai ME30P11 Programmable MIDI Patchbay and connect the equipment as shown in Fig. 2b.
  • Page 103 FIG. 2b Connecting a MIDI sequences to MIDI synths using the Akal ME30PIl But there is even more to MIDI than that. At its simplest level, you can layer one instrument on top of another to create a richer sound. At a slightly higher level, you can use a sequences to control as many as 16 synths or samplers and to synchronise drum machines where each instrument plays a different musical part.
  • Page 104 5950 (i.e. any samples that have the "j<" symbol after the sample name). What happens is that the S950 places the start point at the end of a soft sample so that it cannot be heard. This is not a fault of the 5950 and your 5950 or disk is not defective in any way.
  • Page 105 MIDI specification. Therefore, the S900 cannot directly send or receive samples to/from other samplers which do use SDS. The S900 can directly communicate with the Akai S700, X7000, and S950 samplers, as they share the same sample dump implementation.

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