COMMODORE SOUND EXPANDER USER'S GUIDE SFX Computer Software C= Commodore INTRODUCTION The Commodore Sound Expander adds a Hi-Tech Digital FM Synthesizer to your Commodore 64 or 128 giving you up to eight channels of brilliant FM sound, plus rhythms with INTRO and OUTRO, auto accompaniment, riff sequencer, and much more. Music can be played using the QWERTY keyboard, the Music Maker overlay keyboard, or the optional full size keyboard which plugs into the Sound Expander module. As you play, the notes are simultaneously displayed on a music stave on the screen. This is the most exciting music package yet for the Commodore 64 or 128, so let's start making music. CONTENTS FM Sound Module. Audio Lead. Software (disk or cassette). User's Guide. Chord Stickers. SETTING UP Make sure your Commodore 64 or 128 is correctly connected to a TV or monitor and a disk drive or C2N cassette unit. BEFORE SWITCHING ON your computer, plug the SOUND EXPANDER module into the cartridge port at the rear of your Commodore 64 or 128. If you want to hear the sound through your TV, plug the phono to DIN lead supplied into the phono socket on the SOUND EXPANDER module and the VIDEO socket on the computer. Turn up the volume on your TV. If you wish to hear the sound through a Commodore monitor, connect a phono to phono lead to the phono socket on the SOUND EXPANDER and the audio input socket on the monitor. If you wish to hear the sound through your Hi-Fi or other amplifier, connect a suitable lead from the phono socket on the SOUND EXPANDER to the input on your Hi-Fi or amplifier. If you have the optional full size keyboard, plug the connector into the socket on the side of the SOUND EXPANDER module. LOADING THE PROGRAM FROM CASSETTE Switch on your computer and TV or monitor. The screen should display the 'READY' signal with a flashing cursor. Insert the cassette into the cassette unit and ensure the tape is fully rewound. Hold down SHIFT and press RUN/STOP. Press PLAY on the cassette unit. The program screen appears when the program has loaded. LOADING THE PROGRAM FROM DISK Switch on your disk drive, computer and TV or monitor. The screen should display the 'READY' signal with flashing cursor. Type LOAD "*", 8, 1 and press RETURN. The program screen appears when the program has loaded. OVERLAY KEYBOARD If you have the Music Maker Keyboard overlay, place it on your Commodore 64 or 128 so that it fits and operates correctly. If you are not using the Music Maker Keyboard the QWERTY keys may be used as shown in the table on back cover. OPERATION Now the program has loaded, you will see a musical stave in the middle of the screen, plus a menu selection bar at the top, giving a choice of SETUP, SYNTH, RHYTHM, RIFF OR *DISK. *Disk version only. Play a few notes on the keyboard and you will hear the realistic VIBRAPHONE sound. You will also see the notes appear in the appropriate position on the music stave. SYNTH To change to a different sound, move the menu selection bar cursor to SYNTH using Fl and F3 and press F7. The SYNTH menu will now appear. Choose a different sound by moving the cursor to the desired sound using Fl and F3 and press F7. OCTAVE Select using Fl and F3 then press F7. You can now move the voice up one octave in pitch (+1) or down one octave in pitch (-1) using Fl and F3 and press F7 to set octave. ENSEMBLE This is an effect which enriches the sound to which it is applied. N.B. This effect halves the number of notes playable at once. L.H. VOICES This is applicable only after selecting either *SPLIT KEYBOARD, ONE FINGER CHORD or *FINGERED CHORD (See SETUP menu), and enables you to select a different sound for left hand play on the lower section of the keyboard. Move the cursor to LH VOICES using Fl and F3 then press F7. The LH VOICES menu will now appear. Select the desired sound for the left hand using Fl and F3, then press F7. *ONLY USABLE WITH THE OPTIONAL FULL SIZE KEYBOARD OCTAVE As in the main voices section, you can move the pitch at which the voice sounds, up (+1) or down (-1) one octave (independently of the main voices), using Fl and F3, then press F7. To return to the menu selection bar, move the cursor to EXIT using Fl and F3, then press F7. ALTERING A SOUND Select the sound you wish to change using Fl and F3 then press F7. You can now make the sound brighter by using the ?/ key, or mellower using the >. key. To return the sound to its original tone, press =. FINE TUNE Hold SHIFT and press ?/ to sharpen, press >. to flatten the pitch. SETUP Move the menu selection bar cursor to SETUP using Fl and F3 then press F7. The SETUP menu will now appear. Select options using Fl and F3, then press F7. NORMAL When selected (signified by a tick) the sound selected from the SYNTH menu can be played over the entire keyboard. ONE FINGER CHORD When selected (signified by a tick) a single key pressed on either the lower two rows of the QWERTY keyboard, or the lower section of the optional full size keyboard, will produce a complete three note chord (as displayed on screen) plus bass. When played on the QWERTY keyboard the following keys represent the chords as shown. MAJOR CHORDS - A S D F G H J K Eb Bb F C G D A E MINOR CHORDS - Z X C V B N M , Ebm Bbm Fm Cm Gm Dm Am Em When played on the optional full size keyboard, depressing a single key produces the corresponding major chord. If another key to the left is depressed at the same time, the chord changes from major to minor. When a rhythm is used with ONE FINGER CHORD, (see RHYTHM section) a complete accompaniment arrangement is played, based on the chord selected. A different arrangement is pre-programmed to suit each rhythm pattern. FINGERED CHORD Applicable only when using the optional full size keyboard. When selected (signified by a tick), any three or four note chord played on the lower section of the keyboard produces a preset inversion of that chord plus bass. When a rhythm is used with FINGERED CHORD, a pre-programmed arrangement (similar to that on ONE FINGER CHORD) will play when a three or four finger chord is played on the lower section of the keyboard. MEMORY Used with ONE FINGER CHORD or FINGERED CHORD. When selected (signified by a tick), any ONE FINGER CHORD or FINGERED CHORD played will continue to sound after you release the keys. When you play a different chord, the first chord is released and the new chord is memorised. The exception to this occurs when a rhythm is not being used and the sound selected on the LH VOICES menu is a sound which decays e.g. a guitar. To cancel a memorised chord, press the space bar. SPLIT KEYBOARD Applies when using the optional full size keyboard, but is also automatically selected when in ONE FINGER CHORD or FINGERED CHORD mode. This feature enables you to play two different sounds on the keyboard at once, one on the upper part of the keyboard (selected from the SYNTH menu), and one on the lower section of the keyboard (selected from the LH VOICES menu). Select SPLIT KEYBOARD using Fl and F3 and press F7 (a tick signifies ON). Select EXIT using Fl and F3 then press F7. Select SYNTH using Fl and F3, then press F7. Choose the voice for the upper part of the keyboard from the SYNTH menu using Fl and F3, then press F7. Select LH VOICES using Fl and F3 and press F7. Choose your voice for the lower section of the keyboard from the LH VOICES menu using Fl and F3 then press F7. SET SPLIT Enables you to specify the point at which the KEYBOARD SPLIT occurs. Select SET SPLIT using Fl and F3 then press F7. Depress any key on the optional full size keyboard to set the split at that point. BORDER COLOUR Select using Fl and F3 then press F7. You can now change the screen border to any of 16 different colours (numbered 0 to 15) using Fl and F3 then press F7. BORDER FLASH Used with a rhythm or the RIFF MACHINE, causes the border colours to change with the rhythm. Select using Fl and F3 then press F7 (a tick signifies ON). DISPLAY MODE Two different ways of displaying the notes on screen are available. Mode 1 shows all the black keys as sharps (#) when depressed, mode 2 shows all the black keys as flats (b). TRANSPOSE Enables you to move the pitch at which the keyboard plays up or down, in steps of one semitone, to a maximum of six semitones up (+6) and five semitones down (-5). Select using Fl and F3 then press F7. Move the pitch up or down using Fl or F3 then press F7 to set pitch. To return to the menu selection bar select EXIT using Fl and F3 then press F7. RHYTHM Select RHYTHM from the menu selection bar at the top of the screen using Fl and F3 then press F7. The RHYTHM menu will now appear, with a choice of 12 different rhythms. Select a rhythm using Fl and F3, then press F7 to start the rhythm. To stop the rhythm, press F7. To speed up or slow down the rhythm, select TEMPO at the bottom of the RHYTHM menu, using Fl and F3 and press F7. The tempo can be changed using Fl and F3 to any number between 44 and 208. (These numbers conform to normal metronome settings). Press F7 to set tempo. INTRO & OUTRO These are novel features used with a rhythm, which produce a pre-programmed INTRO or OUTRO (or rhythm break). They are controlled by the 'cursor up/down' and 'cursor left/right' keys. pressing the 'cursor up/down' key while a rhythm is playing produces an INTRO, while 'cursor left/right' produces an OUTRO. An alternative method is to select a rhythm using Fl and F3 and before starting the rhythm press 'cursor up/ down' or 'cursor left/right'. When you press F7 to start the rhythm, the INTRO (or OUTRO) will play, then the rhythm will continue. RIFF MACHINE Select RIFF from the menu selection bar at the top of the screen, using Fl and F3 then press F7. The RIFF MACHINE menu will now appear, with a choice of riff titles. (Fairy Dance is a demonstration tune). Each riff title consists of twelve pre-programmed riffs which can be played in a sequence, in any order you like. To do this select a riff title using F1 and F3 and press F7 (a tick signifies title selected). Each of the twelve riffs is assigned to a different key on the keyboard, (C to B, on either the *Music Maker keyboard or the optional full size keyboard) and are sequenced by pressing the keys one after the other, as fast or as slow as you like in the order you wish them to play back. As soon as you press the first key, the riffs will begin to play. A sequence of up to 256 steps can be programmed in this way. Press F7 to stop the RIFF MACHINE. * See chart on back cover for equivalent QWERTY keys. DISK (disk version only) Included on the SOUND EXPANDER disk is an alternative set of SYNTH VOICES, plus more titles for the RIFF MACHINE and demonstration tunes. To load SYNTH VOICES, select DISK from the menu selection bar using Fl and F3 then press F7. The disk menu will now appear displaying a choice of: LOAD VOICES. LOAD MUSIC. Select LOAD VOICES using Fl and F3 and press F7. The LOAD VOICES menu will now appear displaying a choice of: VOICE BANK 1. VOICE BANK 2. VOICE BANK 1 is identical to the one which appears when you first load the program, so select VOICE BANK 2 using Fl and F3 then press F7. When the new voices have loaded, you will be returned to the menu selection bar. To load riff titles or demonstration tunes, select DISK using Fl and F3 then press F7. The DISK menu will now appear displaying a choice of riff titles and demonstration tunes. Select the desired title using Fl and F3 then press F7. When the music has loaded, you will be returned to the menu selection bar. To play the music you have loaded, select RIFF and follow the instructions for RIFF MACHINE on page 3. DISCLAIMER Although these programs are thoroughly tested by Commodore before release, no claim is made regarding the accuracy of this software. Commodore and its distributors cannot assume liability or responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of these programs. Programs are sold only on the basis of this understanding. Individual applications should be thoroughly tested before implementation. Should you require installation, maintenance or training, please contact your Commodore dealer. The following diagram represents which musical notes correspond to the keys on your computer. COMPUTER KEY = MUSIC NOTE Q = C 2 = C# W = D 3 = Eb E = E R = F 5 = F# T = G 6 = G# Y = A 7 = Bb U = B I = C 9 = C# O = D 0 = Eb P = E @ = F - = F# * = G £ = G# UP ARROW = A HOME = Bb DEL = B < Diagram of keyboard showing above information > SFX Computer Software C= Commodore Commodore Business Machines (UK) Limited 1 Hunters Road, North Weldon Industrial Estate, Corby, Northamptonshire, England. (c) 1985 Music Sales Limited All rights reserved. No part of this literature may be duplicated, copied, transmitted or otherwise reproduced without the express written consent of the Publishers. Back Of Box: Commodore Sound Expander for a New Musical Experience on your computer. Contains Sound Expander Module, Software, Audio Lead and User's Guide. Sound Expander is a hardware and software package, which gives unheard of sound quality and versatility from your computer. * Using the revolutionary digital FM technology, as used in many hi-tech synthesizers, means you are able to play up to eight notes at one time, plus rhythms, automatic bass and accompaniment, all with that unmistakable FM sound quality. * Music can be played using the computer keyboard, the keyboard overlay, or ideally, the optional 49 note full size plug-in keyboard. * Incredibly Realistic Voices. A large selection of preset sounds, including vibraphone, bass, strings, plus synth sounds and many more. In split keyboard mode, two different sounds can be played at once. * Sounds can be easily changed at the touch of a button. * 12 preset rhythms, each with its own different arrangement, available on one finger chords or fingered chords. Thrill to the trill of the fife on the march rhythm, or boogie with the bass on the rock rhythm. * Sound can be output through your TV or monitor, or for best effect through your hi-fi or an amplifier. * The amazing 'Riff Machine'. A novel feature enabling you to arrange your own pop, rock or swing compositions. < Six screenshots explained below > Sound Expander music stave displaying 8 notes playing simultaneously. Easy-to-use pull down menus, here showing the 'Setup' options. A Synth Voices menu showing some of the preset voices available. 'L.H. Voices' lower half voices menu. 'Rhythm menu displaying huge choice of exciting rhythms available. The amazing 'Riff Machine'. Program the riffs into your own compositions. MADE IN ENGLAND CD10263 (DISKETTE)