Kurzweil Forte User Manual
Page 282

Multi Edit Mode
CONTROLS Page
11-31
A Note About Octave Range:
When using Shift Key Number, shift patterns with more than 12 steps begin triggering notes
in higher octaves. This is done because longer shift patterns use up more of a controller’s
range, and limit the number of octaves that a single controller can trigger. Since the lowest
octave of a program is often too low to be musically useful, the Forte will automatically
start triggering notes from longer shift patterns in higher octaves. This saves room in the
controller’s range of values for triggering more useful octaves. See the table below for Shift
Pattern step ranges and their corresponding starting octave.
If Shift Key is set to Last Note Played and no note is played, the default key is C. Each zone
can have a different Shift Key, so you can have zones preprogrammed with the keys you want
to use, or have them all in the same key, or just change the key in real time while you are
playing.
Default Octave Shifting
Total # of Shift Pattern Steps
Starting Octave
1-12
C0-C1
13-24
C1-C2
25-36
C2-C3
37-48
C3-C4
Selecting The Desired Octave Range:
You can adjust the pattern’s starting octave by using the Add parameter on the Multi Edit
Controls page containing your ShKeyNum assignment. In the Add field, the addition or
subtraction of the number of steps in your current shift pattern will raise or lower the starting
octave in relationship to the default starting octave. For example, in a shift pattern with
3 steps, an Add value of 9 would cause a controller value of 0 to make Shift Key Number
trigger notes in octave C3-C-4, 3 octaves above the default C0-C1. Add values that are not
multiples of the number of current shift pattern steps will change which step the pattern
begins on at controller value 0, thus offsetting the relationship between all of the controller’s
values and current shift pattern’s steps. (See
.)
Adjusting Controller Range:
When using Shift Key Number, the number of steps in the Shift Pattern also affects the
range of values that will cause a controller to trigger a shift pattern step, and in turn affect
the useful range of the physical controller. With a shift pattern of 12 notes, the 128 different
notes that the Forte can trigger are evenly spaced over the range of the controller. Patterns
with less than 12 steps will trigger notes in every octave over a shorter range of the controller.
For example, in a shift pattern with 3 steps, by default the controller values 0 to 2 will
trigger notes starting in the lowest possible octave, and controller values 27 to 30 will trigger
notes in the highest possible full octave. Using a slider for this controller, only about 1/4th
of the length of the slider would be triggering notes. This decreased useful range makes the
controller harder to use accurately. To remedy this, you can adjust a controllers behavior by
using the Scale parameter on the Multi Edit Controls page containing your ShKeyNum
assignment. Adjust the Scale value to stretch the useful values of the controller across it’s
whole physical range. A scale value of less than 100% will be helpful for patterns with