KORG OASYS musical instruments - Manual (Page 56)

Playing and editing Programs
48
Keyboard
Velocity
Velocity is a measure of how hard you play a note on
the keyboard. This can be used to modulate many
different aspects of the sound, such as volume,
brightness, or the character of the attack.
After Touch
The keyboard can also measure how hard you press
down after you play a note–hence the term “after
touch.” You can use this to shape notes over time,
controlling (for instance) volume or vibrato amount.
Note Number
Sounds can be programmed to change in character
based on the note being played. As you play higher or
lower on the keyboard, the note number can modulate
the timbre–such as becoming brighter as you play
higher. Envelopes may also become faster or slower;
the volume may change; and so on.
Foot Pedals and Switches
Damper Pedal (Sustain)
The damper pedal is also sometimes called the sustain
pedal. It acts like the similarly-named pedal on an
acoustic piano; when you hold down the pedal, notes
will continue to sustain even when you lift your hands
off of the keyboard.
Damper Switch vs. Half-Damper
You can use either a standard footswitch (such as the
Korg PS-1) or a special half-damper pedal (such as the
Korg DS-1H) as the Damper.
If you use a footswitch, it will work like a normal
synthesizer sustain pedal: notes will sustain forever, as
long as the pedal is held down.
A half-damper pedal is a special type of continuous
foot pedal (normal foot pedals won’t work properly for
this application). It offers more subtle control of
sustain, which can be especially useful for piano
sounds.
The off and full-on positions of the half-damper work
just like the footswitch, but intermediate positions
modulate the release time to increase sustain without
making it infinite.
The OASYS will automatically sense when a half-
damper is connected to the rear-panel DAMPER input.
For proper operation, you will also need to calibrate
the pedal, using the Calibrate Half-Damper command
in the Global page menu.
Damper and MIDI
The Damper Pedal is sent and received as MIDI CC
#64. In Combi and Sequence modes, you can “filter”
CC# 64 so that it only affects some of the sounds in the
Combi or Song.
Assignable Foot Switch
This lets you use a simple footswitch, such as the Korg
PS-1, as an assignable controller. The footswitch can
perform a wide variety of functions, such as:
• An assignable source for modulating sounds and
effects
• Portamento on/off
• Program select up or down
• Sequencer start/stop or punch in/out
• Tap Tempo
• KARMA on/off, Latch on/off, or Scene select
• Duplication of many front panel controls, including
the modulation joystick, ribbon, value slider, Real-
Time Knobs, SW 1/2, the drum pads, KARMA
sliders, or KARMA switches
The switch’s function is set in Global mode (on the
Controller tab of the Controllers/Scales page), so that
it always works the same regardless of the current
Program, Combi, or Song.
For more information, please see “Specifying the
function of the ASSIGNABLE Switch and
ASSIGNABLE Pedal” on page 149.
Assignable Foot Pedal
This lets you use a continuous controller pedal, such as
the Korg EXP-2 foot controller or Korg XVP-10
EXP/VOL pedal, as an assignable controller.
Like the Assignable Foot Switch, described above, the
Foot Pedal can be used for many different functions,
including:
• Master Volume
• Channel Volume, Pan, or Expression
• Assignable sound modulation, as several different
AMS or Dmod sources
• Effects Send level control
• Duplication of many front panel controls, including
the modulation joystick, ribbon, value slider, Real-
Time Knobs, or KARMA sliders
The pedal’s function is set globally (on the Controller
tab of the Controllers/Scales page), so that it always
works the same regardless of the current Program,
Combi, or Song. For more information, please see
“Specifying the function of the ASSIGNABLE Switch
and ASSIGNABLE Pedal” on page 149.
Drum & Chord Pads
There are eight velocity-sensitive trigger pads below
the LCD screen. These look like drum machine pads,
and playing drum sounds is certainly one use for
them.
However, they can also play up to eight-note chords on
any sound–not just drums. The pads even remember
the velocities of the individual notes within the chord,
as well as the notes themselves.
In addition to playing sounds directly, the pads are
also used to select chords for Chord mode. For more
information, see “Using Chord mode” on page 49.