Roland owner manual How the VK-8 Works, About the Virtual Tonewheel Sound Generator

Page 13

How the VK-8 Works

About the Virtual Tonewheel Sound Generator

A traditional tone wheel organ produces the sound by 91 toothed wheels called “tone wheels.” Each tone wheel produces a different pitch. A motor is used to rotate these tone wheels past electromagnetic coils, and as the teeth of each wheel pass by the corresponding electromagnetic coil, an audio signal is generated. The combination of harmonic bars and the notes that are pressed then select the audio signals that are output, producing the sound of the organ.

The virtual tonewheel sound generator of the VK-8 uses digital technology to precisely re-create the sound- production mechanism of a tone wheel organ. The 91 toothed wheels are constantly “rotating” digitally, and are able to produce sound at any time. The sound produced by these virtual tonewheels is determined by the combination of harmonic bars and the state of the notes played on the keyboard—exactly as on traditional tone wheel organs.

How the Organ Sound are Created

Tone Wheels

Tone wheels rotate constantly, and will therefore “speak” the instant you play a note. The virtual tonewheel sound generator of the VK-8 is also producing sound constantly, allowing very rapid response when you play a note. This rapid response is especially valuable when you use characteristic organ performance techniques such as glissando.

The organ sound consists of a fundamental and eight harmonics, and these are mixed according to the combination of the harmonic bars. You can use the harmonic bars to modify the tone even while you play, allowing a high degree of expressive flexibility.

Percussion

Tone wheel percussion is used when you want to add an attack to the notes you play, making the sound more crisp. Relative to the pitch of the note you play, you can specify either the second (SECOND) or third (THIRD) partial as the pitch of the percussion sound, and you can decrease the percussion volume (SOFT) or lengthen its decay (SLOW).

The percussion on tone wheel organs is of a type called “single-trigger,” meaning that percussion was not applied to all the notes that were played, but only to the note that was pressed first. If you release the currently-played key(s), percussion will sound for the next-played note. If you play legato (with notes smoothly connected), percussion will be applied only to the first note, and not to subsequent notes. If you play staccato, percussion will be applied to all notes. If you play rapidly when using percussion, the percussion circuit may not keep up with your playing, causing the percussion sound to become softer. However, the VK- 8 allows you to adjust the speed of recovery so that it will keep up even with rapid playing (p. 51). On a tone wheel organ, the way in which percussion is applied is a very important element in enhancing the expressiveness of the performance.

On tone wheel organs, the 1' harmonic bar was used to produce the percussion sound. This means that when you add percussion, the sound of the 1' harmonic bar will no longer be heard. Also, percussion will be applied only to the Upper Part.

On tone wheel organs, turning off percussion [SOFT] button would lower the volume of the organ, but the VK-8 allows you to adjust it so the volume of the organ won’t change when percussion [SOFT] button is switched on/off (p. 51).

Key Click

The first generations of traditional tone wheel organs produced a “blip” noise (separately from percussion) when a note was pressed or released. Initially, this click noise was considered a problem, but blues and rock musicians came to utilize it in their performances, and the key click became an indispensable part of the organ sound in jazz as well.

On the VK-8 you can independently adjust the volume of the key click for key-on and key-off (p. 51).

13

Page 12 Page 14
Image 13
Page 12 Page 14
Contents Dark blink Conventions Used in This ManualImportant Safety Instructions Page Using the Unit Safely Important Notes Contents Troubleshooting Memo Main Features Panel Descriptions Other Tones Level knob 19 -8 buttonPedal button Lower buttonMidi Keyboard in connector Power switchMidi Pedal in connector Rotary Tone Cabinet connectorAbout the Virtual Tonewheel Sound Generator How the VK-8 WorksHow the Organ Sound are Created Vibrato and Chorus How the Other Tones are CreatedHarmonic bars Amp Type Rotary, Overdrive, ToneAbout the Memories Preset memorySystem memory Before You Begin Playing Connecting the Power CordTRS Connecting Your Amp, Speakers, or HeadphonesConnecting an Expression Pedal or Pedal Switch Connecting the Pedal KeyboardBefore You Begin Playing Restoring the Factory Settings Factory Reset Listening to the Demo Songs Press the Preset button to make its indicator lightPress the Split button Demo Song Song Name Copyright NumberListening to Various Sounds Playing the OrganPlay the keyboard to hear the sound you selected About the Organ Voice Press the H-BAR Manual button to make its indicator lightMove the harmonic bars to edit the sound p Button PartAdjusting the Sound in Real Time Harmonic Bars 5th Root 8th 12th 15th 17th 19th 22nd Below Playing the Organ What Are Feet? Tone Wheel type Changing the Organ Sound Wheel Type, Leakage LevelLeakage Noise Turn the Leakage knobSecond Second Percussion button Adding Crispness to the Sound PercussionThird Third Percussion button Soft Soft Percussion button Fast Percussion Slow Slow Percussion buttonC-2, C-3 Adding Modulation to the Sound Vibrato and ChorusSLOW/FAST button Using the Cosm Rotary Speaker Effect Rotary SoundBrake button Rotary on buttonChanging the virtual amp Changing the Amp Type Amp Type Overdrive, ToneAdding distortion to the sound-Overdrive Changing Sound CharactersPress D Beam on button to make its indicator light Using the D Beam Controller to Produce Common Organ EffectsStopping the rotation of the tone wheels Wheel Brake Giving the sound a metallic character Ring ModulatorSpring Reverb Shock Manually adjusting the sensitivity of the D Beam controller Adjusting the Sensitivity of the D Beam ControllerAdding Ambience Reverb Press the Reverb button to switch the reverb typesChanging the Reverb Type Dividing the Keyboard Split Press the Split button to make its indicator lightChanging the Split Point Lower Part Upper PartUsing the Active Expression Function Using the Expression PedalApplying the Active Expression Function to the Organ Voice Applying the Active Expression Function to the Other TonesPreset button’s indicator is dark Button Parameter Using a Control PedalAssigning a Function to the Control Pedal Rotary SLOW/FASTOther Tones Glide Preset UPOverdrive Other TonesUsing the Hold Pedal to Sustain the Sound Playing Other Tones Turn the Other Tones Level knob to adjust the volumeLayering Other Tones with Organ Sounds Layer Button TonePlaying Other Tones Preset contains the following settings Saving Your Settings PresetSaving to a Preset in Another Bank Saving to a Preset in the Same BankCopying a preset Selecting the copy-source presetAdvanced Use Basic ProcedureAbout the Edit Modes Advanced Use If the setting is an on or OFF switchPreset button’s indicator extinguished Button Parameter Rotary-related SettingsPreset button’s indicator lighted Button Parameter Rotary Woofer Level On Click Level Click Noise and Percussion SettingsWhen setting things other than the Midi channel MIDI-related SettingsAdding Midi Thru functionality to the Midi OUT connector Connecting/disconnecting the sound generator and keyboardSetting Explanation OFFDrum Midi CH. Drum Midi Channel Initial setting 10 ch When making Midi channel settingsEQ Bass -5-0-+5 Equalizer and Other SettingsEQ Middle -5-0-+5 EQ Treble -5-0-+5Switching the polarity of the control pedal Effect and Other SettingsSwitching the polarity of the Hold pedal Transposing the entire VK-8 KEY Transpose -6-0-+5Selecting the part that will play the Other Tones Reverb TimeSLOW/FAST ContinuousAbout Midi Changing the function of the Midi in connectors SUBAbout Midi Channel KeyboardConnecting a Pedal Keyboard Using the VK-8 with a Dual KeyboardPlay back your performance Carry out the recordingLoading Back Data That’s Been Save the settingsSaved on an External SequencerPin No Output data Connecting a Rotary SpeakerTroubleshooting Click is heard when you press/re Problem Check SolutionLease a key Pitch is incorrectMidi messages are not transmit Preset memory contents are lostTed/receive correctly Can’t hear spring shock noiseWhen you turn on the power Error IndicationsAll indicators light for several seconds During normal operationPreset List Preset/OTHER Tones ListButton’s Number Tone Other Tones ListParameters that are stored in a preset Settings that are saved for the entire SystemEdit Parameters Drum List Channel Voice Messages Note off Midi ImplementationControl Change All Sound Off Controller number Reset All Controllers Controller numberAll Note Off Controller number Active SensingData Set 1 DT1 Data Request 1 RQ1Data Set1 Identity ReplyDT1 System Organ Midi Implementation Supplementary material How to calculate the checksumMidi Implementation Chart Main Specification Bank IndexIndex Memo Information Avis 02896667 ’03-6-3N
Top Page Image Contents