Novation MiniNova Instructions Manual

Also see for MiniNova: Owner's manual

8Octave ShiftThese two backlit buttons [24] transpose the keyboard up or down one octave each timethey are pressed, to a maximum of four octaves. The colour displayed by the buttonsindicates the number of octaves shifted: when both LEDs are off (the default state), thelowest note on the keyboard is one octave below Middle C.Middle CSHIFT COLOUR(no buttons pressed) LEDs off± 1 octave Red± 2 octaves Magenta± 3 octaves Purple± 4 octaves BlueNormal keyboard pitch may be reinstated at any time by pressing both Octave buttonstogether.Storing a PatchNovation have worked hard to create a really useful and great-sounding set of factoryPatches, and we are sure that many of them will meet your needs without furthermodification. However, the scope for altering – or creating completely new - sounds in theMiniNova is almost limitless, and when you have done so, you will probably want to save thesounds for future use.It is possible to store or write your own patches directly into the MiniNova without usingthe MiniNova Editor and Librarian software applications. Once any of the parameters of aPatch have been changed, the SAVE flag will illuminate in the LCD, to remind you that youare no longer working with an unmodified Patch. To save the modified Patch:1. Press the SAVE button [10], which will display the name that the Patch hadwhen it was first loaded.NOTE: The Memory Protect function is active by default, so you are likely to see the wordsMemory Protect! flash on-screen. It will not be possible to save a modified version of thecurrent patch, without turning this option off. See “Parameter: Memory Protection” onpage 12.MemoryProtectNote that the screen will prompt you for a new name for the modified version (Name?), andthat the current name will be offered as a suggestion, with the first character flashing. Usethe DATA control [6] or the PATCH I and H buttons [11] to select a different alphanumericcharacter.• Use the PAGE I and H buttons [7] to move to the next character, and continue in thismanner until the new name has been entered.• Press SAVE again. You will now be prompted to choose the location where the newPatch is to be saved. The location of the original Patch will be offered as the default;if you choose this, the original patch data will be overwritten. Use the DATA control[6], or PATCH I and H buttons [11] to select a different location. Note that Bank C(128 locations) has been left empty for you to save your own patches; this avoidsoverwriting any of the original versions.• Press SAVE again, and you will now be prompted to choose the TYPE Categorythat will allow MiniNova’s sorting system to retrieve it. Use the DATA control to selectthe most appropriate one, and press SAVE again.• You will finally be prompted to choose the GENRE for filing purposes. Use the DATAcontrol to select the most appropriate, and press SAVE again.• The screen will now confirm the new Patch with the messagePatch Saved. Note that whichever location is chosen for the new Patch, anyPatch data already saved to that location will be lost.NOTE: A faster method of managing patches (writing, loading, renaming, reordering etc.)is by using the downloadable MiniNova Librarian. This can be downloaded free of chargefrom www.novationmusic.com/support.Updating the MiniNova’s Operating SystemOS update files will be available from time to time at www.novationmusic.com/support inthe form of a MIDI SysEx file. The update procedure requires the MiniNova to be connectedvia USB to a computer which has first had the necessary USB drivers installed. Fullinstructions on performing the update will be supplied with the download.SYNTHESIS TUTORIALThis section covers the subject of sound generation in more detail and discusses thevarious basic features available in the MiniNova’s sound generation and processing blocks.It is recommended that this chapter is read carefully if analogue sound synthesis is anunfamiliar subject. Users familiar with this subject can skip this chapter and move on to thenext chapter.To gain an understanding of how a synthesizer generates sound it is helpful to have anappreciation of the components that make up a sound, both musical and non-musical.The only way that a sound may be detected is by air vibrating the eardrum in a regular,periodic manner. The brain interprets these vibrations (very accurately) into one of aninfinite number of different types of sound.Remarkably, any sound may be described in terms of just three properties, and all soundsalways have them. They are:• Pitch• Tone• VolumeWhat makes one sound different from another is the relative magnitudes of the threeproperties as initially present in the sound, and how the properties change over theduration of the sound.With a musical synthesizer, we deliberately set out to have precise control over these threeproperties and, in particular, how they can be changed during the “lifetime” of the sound.The properties are often given different names: Volume may be referred to as Amplitude,Loudness or Level, Pitch as Frequency and Tone as Timbre.PitchAs stated, sound is perceived by air vibrating the ear drum. The pitch of the sound isdetermined by how fast the vibrations are. For an adult human, the slowest vibrationperceived as sound is about twenty times a second, which the brain interprets as a basstype sound; the fastest is many thousands of times a second, which the brain interprets asan high treble type sound.Time TimeA BIf the number of peaks in the two waveforms (vibrations) are counted, it will be seen thatthere are exactly twice as many peaks in Wave B as in Wave A. (Wave B is actually anoctave higher in pitch than Wave A). It is the number of vibrations in a given period thatdetermines the pitch of a sound. This is the reason that pitch is sometimes referred to asfrequency. It is the number of waveform peaks counted during a given period of time whichdefines the pitch, or frequency.ToneMusical sounds consist of several different, related pitches occurring simultaneously. Thelowest is referred to as the ‘fundamental’ pitch and corresponds to the perceived note ofthe sound. Other pitches making up the sound which are related to the fundamental insimple mathematical ratios are called harmonics. The relative loudness of each harmonicas compared to the loudness of the fundamental determines the overall tone or ‘timbre’ ofthe sound.Consider two instruments such as a harpsichord and a piano playing the same note on thekeyboard and at equal volume. Despite having the same volume and pitch, the instrumentsstill sound distinctly different. This is because the different note-making mechanisms ofthe two instruments generate different sets of harmonics; the harmonics present in a pianosound are different to those found in a harpsichord sound.VolumeVolume, which is often referred to as the amplitude or loudness of the sound is determinedby how large the vibrations are. Very simply, listening to a piano from a metre away wouldsound louder than if it were fifty metres away.