Summary of the content on the page No. 1
C M Y K
D-ST A TION
Part No: MAN-DST-UK
Vers. 1.1
O d-station
n
in music, anything is possible.
Novation EMS Limited
drum synthesizer
Platinum House 32 Clivemont Road Maidenhead Berkshire England SL6 7BZ
Phone +44 1 628 678520 Fax +44 1 628 671122 E-mail sales@novationmusic.com
s
User Manual
Novation USA Limited
Int. Toll-free Tel: 011 - 800 - NOVATION (6682-8466) E-mail salesusa@novationmusic.com
in music, anything is possible.
Specification subject to change without prior notice.
www.novationm
Summary of the content on the page No. 2
Tom Toms Section 22 Table of Rimshot / Handclap / Cowbell Section 24 Hi Hat Section 25 Contents Cymbals Section 26 Introduction Section 1 Congas / Maracas / Claves Section 28 Front Panel Controls 2 Utility Mode 30 Rear Panel Connections 3 Operation 30 Connections & Setting up 4 Drum Select 31 Applications - Basic 5 Front Cut 32 Applications - Advanced 6 Controller / Velocity 33 Master Volume Section 7 Note Off Recognition 35 Data Entry / Program Section 8 General MIDI Setup 36 Keypad 8 Output Se
Summary of the content on the page No. 3
Thank you for buying the Novation D Station Rack drum synthesizer. The module you have Introduction purchased is ideal for producing the kind of classic synthesized drum sounds which have returned to popularity in recent years in various styles of dance music. Section The two most popular drum machines which originally produced these sounds - Roland’s TR808 & TR909* - are no longer manufactured and as a result, second-hand units are now changing hands for far more than their original selling pri
Summary of the content on the page No. 4
Front Panel Controls 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 Master Volume Section This section contains the Rim Shot and HandClap Level, Tune and Select This section contains the Master Volume control, Drum Kit select buttons, controls. Headphone output socket and the Program write switch. 7 Hi Hat Section 2 Data Entry/Program Section This section contains the Hi Hat Level, Tune, Decay and Select controls. This section contains the 12 Data Entry buttons, Display and Menu LED’s, Audition/AutoTrigger and Mode sele
Summary of the content on the page No. 5
Rear Panel Connections 1 2 3 4 5 1 DIN Sync. Out 4 MIDI This connector is used to control the Tempo/Start-Stop of classic analogue IN - This connector is used to receive MIDI Data from an external device. drum machines or synthesisers from the MIDI Clock. OUT - This connector is used to Transmit MIDI Data to an external device. THRU - This connector re-transmits MIDI Data received by the MIDI IN socket 2 Individual Outputs to an external device. The six connectors in this section are used to se
Summary of the content on the page No. 6
Connections & Setting up Novation PSU-6 BASIC SETUP Power Supply Mixer/Amplifier Audio Inputs MIDI OUT MIDI IN MIDI OUT MIDI IN Mixer/Amplifier Computer/Sequencer Master Keyboard/Module Connect the ‘Master output’ sockets of the D Station Rack to a suitable amplifier or mixing desk’s stereo inputs and set the ‘Volume’ control on the front panel to a reasonably high output level (9-10). This will maintain a good signal to noise ratio. Make sure that the input volume setting on your amplifier or
Summary of the content on the page No. 7
On page 4 is a diagram of the basic way to set up the DrumStation Rack. Normally the Applications setup should be as follows: If the Master Keyboard is a “Workstation” i.e. it has a Synthesiser built in, turn “Local Off” or the equivalent in its MIDI setup. ( Refer to the manu- Basic facturers Owners Manual for details on how to do this. ) Turn the Computer Software/Sequencer’s “Soft Thru” (or sometimes called “Echo Back”) to the “ON” or “Enabled” position. Now when selecting a “Track” in the C
Summary of the content on the page No. 8
Applications Advanced Novation ADVANCED SETUP PSU-6 Power Supply MERGE Vintage Equipment DIN Sync Input Mixer/Amplifier Audio Inputs MIDI OUT MIDI IN MIDI OUT MIDI IN Mixer/Amplifier Computer/Sequencer Master Keyboard/Module This is the advanced way to setup the DrumStation and utilises all of the rear panel features. This setup allows realtime recording of knob movements onto the Computer Software/Sequencer as both the MIDI output of the keyboard and the MIDI output of the DrumStation are merge
Summary of the content on the page No. 9
Volume - Rotary Master Volume This knob adjusts the overall output volume of the D Station on both the Main L/R and Headphone outputs. The volume of a drum sound can be set individually using the ‘Level’ Section controls in each section. NOTE: This control can be overidden by MIDI Volume data. If a MIDI Volume of ‘0’ has been received by the D Station, no output will be heard regardless of the position of this knob. To reset the volume either transmit the relevant MIDI Volume level or move the V
Summary of the content on the page No. 10
This is where you select the programs on the D Station Rack, set the MIDI transmit Data Entry/Program and receive channels, set the various utility functions and store newly edited pro- grams. Keypad NOTE: When editing a program, the current position of a knob or switch will probably be totally different to that of the program selected, so when you turn a rotary control more than a few degrees or move a switch expect the sound parameter to “jump” to the new value. Data Entry Keypad - Buttons The
Summary of the content on the page No. 11
Audition / Auto Trigger - Button Data Entry/Program This button is used to trigger a drum sound from the currently selected program. It provides a convenient way of monitoring a sound whilst working at the control panel. The Auto- Audition/AutoTrig Trigger function will play the currently edited sound automatically at a pre-determined tempo. Audition Press the Audition button to trigger the currently edited drum sound. When a control or switch in another section is moved, the Audition button wil
Summary of the content on the page No. 12
buttons on the data entry keypad to speed up or slow down the auto-trigger sequence. Auto- Data Entry/Program Trigger tempo is a global setting and is not saved with each program. The Audition and Auto-Trigger features can also be used when editing sounds in the various Program Change Utility functions - see Utility Mode on page 30. MODE - Button This button is used to select which of the five main parameter ‘Modes’ are accessed by the ‘Data Entry’ keypad. The cur- rent mode is indicated by one
Summary of the content on the page No. 13
MODE 2 - MIDI Receive Channel Data Entry/Program This is where you set the MIDI receive channel for the D Station Rack. Use the ‘Mode’ but- ton to select the ‘MIDI RX Ch.’ mode - LED on, and then the ‘Data Entry’ keypad to enter MIDI/Utilities/Save your selection. The recognised numbers in this mode are from ‘01’ to ‘16’. NOTE: the ‘MIDI RX CH.’ LED will flash when MIDI data is received on this channel. MODE 3 - MIDI Transmit Channel This is where you set the MIDI transmit channel for the D S
Summary of the content on the page No. 14
Ensure that your data storage device is ready to accept the data. Use the ‘Mode’ button to Data Entry/Program select ‘SAVE’ mode - LED on, the display shows: PROGRAM Loading Sysex MIDI RX CH MIDI TX CH UTILITY EDIT WRITE SAVE NOTE: The program ‘Saved’ will be the program currently selected in the ‘Program’ mode. If you were editing a program, the modified version will be saved. Press the ‘SAVE’ ( ‘+’ ) button to transmit the single program. To save all the programs in the D Station Rack press
Summary of the content on the page No. 15
2 If you want to listen to a program before committing it to memory, select the ‘Program’ Data Entry/Program mode ( don’t worry about which program number comes up ). Ensure that the ‘Write’ switch is in the ‘Protect’ position and then transmit the sysex dump from your computer. The ‘Edit’ Editing/Writing LED on the display will come on to show that the program available is different to the one displayed i.e. an ‘edited’ program. Now you can use the ‘Compare’ procedure to select a suitable loca
Summary of the content on the page No. 16
If you want to start creating a drum kit of your own from scratch, use one of the ‘Blank’ kits Data Entry/Program initially stored in the user program locations. To store a new or edited program, move the ‘Write’ switch to the ‘Enable’ position - LED Compare flashes. Now, using the ‘Data Entry’ buttons ( ‘0’ to ‘9’ only ) select the program number where you want to store the program. To store the program in the same location ( 25 to 39 only ) simply press the ‘WRITE’ button. If you want to list
Summary of the content on the page No. 17
Voice Architecture Voice Architecture In the original TR808 and TR909 , many analogue circuits were used to produce the imita- tions of the various drum sounds. The essential sounds produced by skins (Bass Drum and ASM TomToms) rely mainly on a pitched element, those produced by struck metal (HiHat & Cymbals) are based on multiple noise sources. Sounds like Snare and Rimshot use a combination of the two, one for the skins and one for the snare chain. As a result, there are different parameters
Summary of the content on the page No. 18
Drum Sounds TR808 / TR909 The TR808 and TR909’s range of drum sounds were not identical. For your reference, the full set of sounds from the original units and the method used to re-create them in the D Notes Station are listed below. Drum Sound ID TR808 TR909 ASM SAMPLE Bass Drum BDll4 Snare Drum SNll4 Rim Shot RSll 4 Handclap HCll 4 Closed Hi Hat CH l ** l +44 Open Hi Hat OH l ** l +44 Ride Cymbal RC l4 Crash Cymbal CY l ** l +44 Low Tom LTll4 Mid Tom MTll4 High Tom HTll4 Cowbell CBl4 Low Cong
Summary of the content on the page No. 19
Drum Sound Controls TR808 / TR909 The TR808 and TR909 also had differences in their sound editing controls. To give the D Station enhanced sonic capabilities, the controls in each section will affect both drum kits. Notes For your reference, the controls of the original units and the D Station’s are as follows: 808 KIT l D Stationl + m 808 KIT BD SN RS HC CH OH CY LT MT HT CB LC MC HC MA CL LEVEL llllllllllllllll TUNE mmmmmm lllmlllmm TONE ll l ATTACK DECAY l ml l mmm SNAPPY l 909 KIT l D Statio
Summary of the content on the page No. 20
Bass Drum This section controls the timbre of the Bass (or kick) drum, the lowest pitched instrument in both the conventional or electronic drum kit. This is one of the most crucial sounds for dance Section and many other styles of music. The classic analogue Bass drum’s are the TR909 and TR808 Bass drums. All the character of the original TR909 & TR808 Bass drums are faith- fully reproduced using ASM Technology. Level - Rotary This knob controls the volume of the Bass drum on both the stereo a
