Alesis K2661 specifications Live Mode Programs, Some Ideas for Using Live Mode, 14-11, Usage Notes

Sampling and Live Mode

Live Mode

Live Mode Programs

ID	Program Name
740	LM VirtualDesk 1
741	LM VirtualDesk 2
742	LM EQ Room Hall
743	LM TubeAmp_ Gtr
744	LM Synth Sliders
745	LM EQ StIm Hall
746	LM ParaFlange
747	LM EQ Overload
748	LM Filters
749	LiveMode Default

Live mode also includes two Live mode keymaps at 197 and 198 (Left and Right respectively).

Usage Notes

To use the programs, you must hold down a key (C 4, unless you’re going for a special effect) for the inputs to run through VAST. An alternative way to trigger the sound is to edit the control setup found in the MIDI-mode TRANSMIT page. For example, on the SWITCH page in the Setup Editor, you could set the switch type (SwType) to note toggle (Note T), and set the destination (Dest) to C 4. This allows you to turn the program on and off via a button press, and keeps sound sustaining while the button is on. Keep in mind that if you change the Live mode program, you need to restrike a key (or button) for the signal to go through that program.

You can also edit the Live mode keymap to ignore release if you want to use the keyboard to activate Live mode.

You cannot sample and use Live mode together, the two functions use the same components.

Some Ideas for Using Live Mode

If you’ve ever used an old-fashioned mono analog synthesizer with an audio input (anything from a Moog Rogue to an ARP 2500 or Serge Modular), you know how much fun it can be to pass a musical signal through the synth and modify it in real time with the filters, envelopes, modulators, etc. Live mode brings that concept to digital synthesis, and lets you use all of the power of the K2661 on any kind of input signal.

For starters, you can simply hook up a CD player to one of the K2661’s sampling inputs, get a bunch of your favorite CDs, and start fooling around. (A turntable works well too.) Here are some ideas for going further:

Pitch Changing

Unlike an analog synthesizer, the K2661 makes it possible to alter the pitch of the incoming signal in real time. But the K2661 is not a conventional pitch shifter, so if you are used to working with such a device you will have to alter your thinking a little.

For example, when you bend the pitch down from the unity pitch (C 4), using a VAST function, it slows the playback of the incoming signal, but it doesn’t change the rate at which the signal is coming in—your CD is still spinning, and putting out a constant audio signal. So as you lower

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