Octave Shift; Storing A Patch; Updating The Mininova's Operating System; Synthesis Tutorial - Novation MiniNova Instructions Manual

Octave Shift

These two backlit buttons [24] transpose the keyboard up or down one octave each time
they are pressed, to a maximum of four octaves. The colour displayed by the buttons
indicates the number of octaves shifted: when both LEDs are off (the default state), the
lowest note on the keyboard is one octave below Middle C.
Middle C
SHIFT
(no buttons pressed) LEDs off
± 1 octave Red
± 2 octaves Magenta
± 3 octaves Purple
± 4 octaves Blue
Normal keyboard pitch may be reinstated at any time by pressing both Octave buttons
together.

Storing a Patch

Novation have worked hard to create a really useful and great-sounding set of factory
Patches, and we are sure that many of them will meet your needs without further
modification. However, the scope for altering – or creating completely new - sounds in the
MiniNova is almost limitless, and when you have done so, you will probably want to save the
sounds for future use.
It is possible to store or write your own patches directly into the MiniNova without using
the MiniNova Editor and Librarian software applications. Once any of the parameters of a
Patch have been changed, the SAVE flag will illuminate in the LCD, to remind you that you
are no longer working with an unmodified Patch. To save the modified Patch:
1. Press the SAVE button [10], which will display the name that the Patch had
when it was first loaded.
NOTE: The Memory Protect function is active by default, so you are likely to see the words

SYNTHESIS TUTORIAL

This section covers the subject of sound generation in more detail and discusses the
various basic features available in the MiniNova's sound generation and processing blocks.
It is recommended that this chapter is read carefully if analogue sound synthesis is an
unfamiliar subject. Users familiar with this subject can skip this chapter and move on to the
next chapter.
To gain an understanding of how a synthesizer generates sound it is helpful to have an
appreciation of the components that make up a sound, both musical and non-musical.
The only way that a sound may be detected is by air vibrating the eardrum in a regular,
periodic manner. The brain interprets these vibrations (very accurately) into one of an
infinite number of different types of sound.
Remarkably, any sound may be described in terms of just three properties, and all sounds
always have them. They are:
• Pitch
• Tone
• Volume
What makes one sound different from another is the relative magnitudes of the three
properties as initially present in the sound, and how the properties change over the
duration of the sound.
With a musical synthesizer, we deliberately set out to have precise control over these three
properties and, in particular, how they can be changed during the "lifetime" of the sound.
The properties are often given different names: Volume may be referred to as Amplitude,
Loudness or Level, Pitch as Frequency and Tone as Timbre.
Pitch
As stated, sound is perceived by air vibrating the ear drum. The pitch of the sound is
determined by how fast the vibrations are. For an adult human, the slowest vibration
perceived as sound is about twenty times a second, which the brain interprets as a bass
type sound; the fastest is many thousands of times a second, which the brain interprets as
an high treble type sound.
8
COLOUR
Memory Protect! flash on-screen. It will not be possible to save a modified version of the
current patch, without turning this option off. See "Parameter: Memory Protection" on
page 12.
Memory
Protect
Note that the screen will prompt you for a new name for the modified version (Name?), and
that the current name will be offered as a suggestion, with the first character flashing. Use
the DATA control [6] or the PATCH I and H buttons [11] to select a different alphanumeric
character.
• Use the PAGE I and H buttons [7] to move to the next character, and continue in this
manner until the new name has been entered.
• Press SAVE again. You will now be prompted to choose the location where the new
Patch is to be saved. The location of the original Patch will be offered as the default;
if you choose this, the original patch data will be overwritten. Use the DATA control
[6], or PATCH I and H buttons [11] to select a different location. Note that Bank C
(128 locations) has been left empty for you to save your own patches; this avoids
overwriting any of the original versions.
• Press SAVE again, and you will now be prompted to choose the TYPE Category
that will allow MiniNova's sorting system to retrieve it. Use the DATA control to select
the most appropriate one, and press SAVE again.
• You will finally be prompted to choose the GENRE for filing purposes. Use the DATA
control to select the most appropriate, and press SAVE again.
• The screen will now confirm the new Patch with the message
Patch Saved. Note that whichever location is chosen for the new Patch, any
Patch data already saved to that location will be lost.
NOTE: A faster method of managing patches (writing, loading, renaming, reordering etc.)
is by using the downloadable MiniNova Librarian. This can be downloaded free of charge
from www.novationmusic.com/support.

Updating the MiniNova's Operating System

OS update files will be available from time to time at www.novationmusic.com/support in
the form of a MIDI SysEx file. The update procedure requires the MiniNova to be connected
via USB to a computer which has first had the necessary USB drivers installed. Full
instructions on performing the update will be supplied with the download.
A B
Time
If the number of peaks in the two waveforms (vibrations) are counted, it will be seen that
there are exactly twice as many peaks in Wave B as in Wave A. (Wave B is actually an
octave higher in pitch than Wave A). It is the number of vibrations in a given period that
determines the pitch of a sound. This is the reason that pitch is sometimes referred to as
frequency. It is the number of waveform peaks counted during a given period of time which
defines the pitch, or frequency.
Tone
Musical sounds consist of several different, related pitches occurring simultaneously. The
lowest is referred to as the 'fundamental' pitch and corresponds to the perceived note of
the sound. Other pitches making up the sound which are related to the fundamental in
simple mathematical ratios are called harmonics. The relative loudness of each harmonic
as compared to the loudness of the fundamental determines the overall tone or 'timbre' of
the sound.
Consider two instruments such as a harpsichord and a piano playing the same note on the
keyboard and at equal volume. Despite having the same volume and pitch, the instruments
still sound distinctly different. This is because the different note-making mechanisms of
the two instruments generate different sets of harmonics; the harmonics present in a piano
sound are different to those found in a harpsichord sound.
Volume
Volume, which is often referred to as the amplitude or loudness of the sound is determined
by how large the vibrations are. Very simply, listening to a piano from a metre away would
sound louder than if it were fifty metres away.
Time