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Chapter 14
Keymap and Sample Editing
The Keymap Editor
The Keymap Editor lets you customize the PC3A's factory preset keymaps and save them to
RAM. You can also build your own keymaps from scratch (see Building a Keymap
Keymaps are an integral part of every layer of a program. Each keymap contains a set of
parameters determining which sample(s) the PC3A will play when you trigger a note. Each layer
has at least one keymap, but it can have two keymaps when you're working with stereo samples.
Each of these stereo keymaps uses two of the 128 available voices.
Each keymap consists of a set of key (note) ranges—C 4 to G 4, for example. The entire span of
each keymap is from C 0 to G 10. Each range has a sample root assigned within the range. Each
sample root is a distinct ROM or RAM sample. Within each key range, the sample root is
transposed up and down to play on each of the range's notes. You can view each range by
changing the value of the Key Range parameter on the Keymap-editor page. You can mix
samples of different timbres within a single keymap, and even tune individual keys to any pitch
by defining key ranges to single notes and assigning samples to each of those notes.
When you trigger a note, the PC3A identifies the key range where the Note On event occurred. It
also checks the attack velocity value of the note. It then addresses its memory, and retrieves the
sample root that's assigned to that key range and attack velocity value. If the note that's triggered
is not the note where the sample root is assigned, the sample is transposed to play at the correct
pitch. The PC3A then generates the digital signal that represents the sound of the note. At this
point the keymap's job is done, and the signal proceeds through the layer's algorithm and on to
the audio outputs.
You can assign as many key ranges to a keymap as you like, even creating a separate range for
each note. This would allow you to tune each key independently, to create microtonal tunings.
For keymaps that use a single timbre, like the Grand Piano, there's a key range for each sample
root stored in memory. For acoustic instrumental sounds, the more key ranges you have for a
keymap, the more realistic the sound will be, since there will be less pitch shifting of the sample
root within the key range.
Of course, you can assign sample roots with different timbres within the same keymap. Many of
the drum kit keymaps in ROM, for example, have about 20 key ranges, with several different
timbres assigned as the sample roots. You can also create a keymap with a single key range that
spans from C 0 to G 10, if you want to stretch a single sample root from C 0 to G 10. Keep in mind,
however, that samples can only be transposed upward by an octave from the sample's original
pitch. Samples can be transposed downward without limit.
Think of a keymap as if it were a single piece of string, divided into different sections that adjoin
one another. Sections cannot overlap. If you have one range that goes from C4 to F4 and another
that goes from F#4 to C5, then if you change the first range to be C4 to G4, the second one will
change to be G#4 to C5.
Also, you can't have "nothing" assigned to a key range. Even if it is Silence (#999), there will
always be a sample assigned to every range in the keymap. This is something to watch out for
when creating drum programs. For example, let's say you are creating a program with 20 layers.
Each layer has its own keymap, which has just one sample assigned to part of the keyboard with
the rest of the key range assigned to Silence. Make sure that you limit the note range of each layer
Keymap and Sample Editing
The Keymap Editor
on page
14-7.)
14-1
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