Kurzweil PC3A User Manual page 173

Unipolar means that after playing up to the shift limit, the Arpeggiator begins shifting notes in
the opposite direction, until it reaches the original pitch, where it reverses again. To determine
the next note when it reaches the shift limit, the Arpeggiator calculates the interval between the
shift limit and what the next note would be if the shift limit weren't there. It then plays the note
that is the calculated interval lower than the last note before the shift limit. The same thing
happens in reverse when the arpeggiated notes get back down to the original pitch. The
following table makes this easier to visualize by showing the result of arpeggiating one note (C4)
in Unipolar mode, with Shift Amount set to 3 ST and various values for Shift Limit.
Resulting Arpeggiation (When LimitOption is Unipolar)
Shift Limit
Up
6 ST (F#4) C4, D 4, F
#
7 ST (G4) C4, D 4, F
#
8 ST (G 4) C4, D 4, F
# #
9 ST (A4) C4, D 4, F
#
10 ST (A#4) C4, D 4, F
#
11 ST (B4) C4, D 4, F
#
12 ST (C5) C4, D 4, F
#
Bipolar starts out the same way as Unipolar, but during downward note shifting, it continues
past the original pitch until it hits the shift limit in the opposite direction, where it reverses again.
Float Res adds a bit of apparent randomness to the process. "Float" means that when the
Arpeggiator reaches the shift limit, it resets—but not to its original pitch as with plain Reset. Like
Unipolar and Bipolar, it looks at the first note that would exceed the shift limit, and calculates the
interval between that note and the shift limit. It then restarts the cycle of latched notes,
transposing the entire cycle by the interval it just calculated, then shifting each subsequent cycle
by the value of Shift Amount, until it reaches the shift limit again.
Here's a very simple example. Suppose that the only note in the Arpeggiator cycle is C4, Shift
Amount is 4 (a third), and Shift Limit is 7 (so notes won't get shifted above G4). The Arpeggiator
plays C4, then E4. The next note should be G
calculates the difference between that G
difference to the original starting note (C4) and plays that note next—C
within the shift limit, but the next note (A4) isn't, so it gets translated into D4—and so on.
Float Uni uses the same concept and applies it to Unipolar mode: when the Arpeggiator reaches
the shift limit, it calculates the difference between the next note and the limit, and transposes the
next cycle of notes down by that interval, then shifts each subsequent cycle down until it reaches
the original pitch. Float Bip is similar to Float Uni, but the downward shift limit isn't the original
pitch, it's the negative of the Shift Limit value.
Down
4, D 4, C4
# #
4, E4, C 4,
# #
4, F4, D4,
#
4, A4 F 4, D 4, C4,
# # #
4, A4, G4, E4, C 4,
# #
4, A4, G 4, F4, D4,
# #
4, A4, C5, A4, F 4, D 4, C4,
# # #
4, but that's above the shift limit—so the PC3A
#
4 and the shift limit (G4): one semitone. It adds that
#
The Ribbon Configuration (RIBCFG) Page
Comment
Up
Same notes play in both directions
D#4, ... when Shift Limit is a multiple of Shift
Amount
Last upward note before shift limit is
F#4, next upward note would be A4,
D 4, ... which is 2 ST from shift limit (G4);
#
therefore first downward note is E4
(2 ST below last upward note)
A4 is 1 ST from shift limit, therefore
D 4, ... first downward note is F4 (1 ST
#
lower than last upward note)
All symmetrical again; now A4 is
D#4, ...
within shift limit
Next upward note would be C5,
D 4, ...
#
which is 2 ST from shift limit
D 4, ... C5 is 1 ST from shift limit
#
D#4, ... Symmetrical again, including C5
4. The next note (F4) is
#
Setup Mode
7-47