M-Audio 49-KEY manual Octaves Buttons, Pitch Bend Wheel, Modulation Wheel, Volume Slider

Octaves Buttons

An octave contains 12 notes. Each octave is marked out clearly on your Keystation 49e keyboard, by black and white sections starting on C. Each octave is given a number.

The Keystation 49e is able to shift the pitch of it’s keys up or down by one or more octaves. When the keyboard’s octaves are not shifted (octave shift set to 0), the lights above both the octave “+” and octave “-” buttons will be lit (this is the default octave shift designation is “0” andwill be the octave setting each time you power up the keyboard).

If you press the octave “+” button once, the light above the octave “-“ button will go out, indicating the keyboard is now playing an octave higher. If you press the Octave “+” button again, the keyboard will be shifted up 2 octaves, and so on. It is possible to shift the keyboard up 4 octaves. To shift the octave downwards, press the octave “-“ button in the same manner, pressing once for 1 octave, twice for 2 octaves, and so on. It is possible to shift the keyboard down 3 octaves.

To return the keyboard’s octave shift to 0, press both the octave “+” and “-“ buttons together (both LEDs will light, indicating that the octave shift has returned to 0 - if the light shows above the octave “+“ key only the octave’s shifted up, if above the octave “-” key only, the octave’s shifted down).

The Pitch Bend Wheel

As the name indicates, the pitch bend wheel is usually used to bend the notes played on the keyboard up or down. This allows you to play phrases not normally associated with keyboard playing, including guitar-style riffs.

Your sound source determines how far you can bend the note. The usual setting is two semitones but can be up to two octaves +/-.

The Modulation Wheel

The modulation wheel is typically used for modulation of the sound you are playing. This type of real-time controller was originally introduced on electronic keyboard instruments to give the performer options such as adding vibrato just like players of acoustic instruments do. Just like the pitch bend wheel, the modulation wheel is fully MIDI assignable.

The Volume Slider

The Volume slider sends a MIDI message that controls the volume of the notes you are playing.

The volume slider can also be assigned to different effects such as pan (balance), attack, reverb, chorus and many more. (See “Advanced Functions” Section.)

Using with a Foot Pedal

You can plug any polarity foot pedal (not included) in to the foot switch input on your M-Audio keyboard. The keyboard will automatically detect the correct polarity when powering up. If you want to reverse the polarity, just make sure the pedal is pressed when you switch on your keyboard.

The foot pedal is normally used for sustaining the sound you are playing without having to keep your hands on the keyboard, just like a piano.

The Advanced Function Button

The button to the left of the keys labeled “Advanced Functions” is used to access all the remaining (‘advanced’) functions of the keyboard.

When this button is pressed, the keyboard will go into “Edit Mode.” While in Edit Mode, the keys on the keyboard can be used to select functions and enter data.

The light above the Advanced Functions button indicates whether or not the keyboard is in Edit Mode. When in Edit Mode, the black keys on the keyboard are used for selecting functions, while the white keys are used for data entry and channel selection.

Your keyboard will slip out of Edit Mode as soon as either a function is selected or the CANCEL or ENTER keys are pressed (the light above the Advanced Functions button will turn off). The keyboard can then be used to play notes again.

The following diagram shows what each key on the keyboard represents when in Edit Mode:

6