Kurzweil Forte User Manual
Page 281

Multi Edit Mode
CONTROLS Page
11-30
Selecting The Desired Velocity:
In order to have a note sound when using Shift Key Number, you first need to send a Key
Velocity message (KeyVel, controller destination 135) with a non zero velocity. To do this,
use the Multi Controls page to assign a controller to Destination 135. It’s useful to assign a
slider or other continuous controller in order to control velocity while playing. Make sure
this assignment uses the same Zone as ShKeyNum.
Notes triggered by Shift Key Number will be played with the last received KeyVel velocity.
One note triggered by these controllers sounds until another note is triggered or until a
KeyVel message with velocity 0 is sent.
Selecting The Desired Key (Root Note):
Shift Key (ShiftKey, controller destination 177) allows the user to select the key (root note)
of the Shift Pattern triggered by Shift Key Number. A Shift Pattern is a relative pattern based
on a root note. All notes triggered by a Shift Pattern are shifted from the root note by the
value of each pattern step (in half-steps.)
Shift Key Settings
Value
Key (Root note)
0-9
C
10-19
C#
20-29
D
30-39
D#
40-49
E
50-59
F
60-68
F#
69-78
G
79-88
G#
89-98
A
99-108
A#
109-118
B
119-127
Last Note Played
When using a Shift Pattern with Shift Key Number you can select the key with one or more
controllers assigned to the Shift Key destination. (Make sure this assignment uses the same
Zone as ShKeyNum.) You can use a continuous controller such as a slider to cycle through
keys, or switches set to predetermined keys. For example, if you are playing a song that
moves between 2 or 3 keys, a couple of switches could be programmed in order to send the
appropriate Shift Key message for each key change. That way all the notes you are triggering
with a Shift Key Number controller will be in the appropriate scale. You could also create
a Multi for a song with multiple zones, each with its own pre-set key and appropriate shift
pattern. That way, for each chord change you could move a different controller that would
create the correct harmony.
Another way to choose a key is to set Shift Key to Last Note Played mode, in which the
last note played in the zone will set the key. For example, you could set the zone being used
for Shift Key Number to have a Key Range that covers only a few of the keyboard’s lowest
octaves. This would allow you to play root note bass lines that change the key that Shift Key
Number plays in, leaving the upper octaves of the keyboard open for use by other zones.