Alesis QS7.1, QS8.1 manual HAT is a MIX?, Polyphony in MIX Play Mode

Editing Mixes: Chapter 5

PART 7

EDITING MIXES

W HAT IS A MIX?

Mix Mode is one of the most powerful features of the QS7.1/QS8.1. Although in Program Mode you can play only one Program at a time, in Mix Mode you can play up to 16 Programs at once, either from the keyboard (as layers or splits) or from an external sequencer (via 16 MIDI channels) or a combination of both.

With Mix Mode, you can do the following:

•Combine (“stack” or “layer”) different Programs so they can be played simultaneously from the keyboard. For example, stack a piano on top of a brass sound and a string sound, adjusting the volume of each for a desirable mix. (Note that the stacking of Programs in Mix Play Mode will impact polyphony according to the total number of Sounds that may be stacked in the four sound layers of each Program.)

•Split the keyboard into different zones--for example, the classic bass guitar on the left-hand side of the keyboard, and synth or piano on the right. You can split the keyboard into as many as 16 zones, which may overlap.

•Use the QS as a master MIDI keyboard. It can transmit on as many as 16 different MIDI channels simultaneously, and send MIDI volume and panning information to each channel.

•Receive up to 16 MIDI channels from an external sequencer, with each channel representing a different instrument--piano on Ch. 1, bass on Ch. 2, drums on Ch. 10, trumpet on Ch. 16. Mix Play Mode is the multitimbral mode of the QS.

•Set the level, panning, transpositions and effect send of each MIDI channel.

POLYPHONY IN MIX PLAY MODE

The QS has 64-voice polyphony. In Mix Play Mode, if you have all 16 MIDI channels assigned to the same keyboard range, and each channel’s Program has only one active Program Sound, you’ll have 4-note polyphony as you play the keyboard (but a really thick layer...). This is extreme, of course, but should tell you what you can expect when you really pile on the layers from the keyboard. And of course, polyphony will be reduced in this example if one or more of the Programs uses more than one Sound each.

PROGRAM ASSIGN FOR EACH MIDI CHANNEL

Once a Mix is recalled, you will likely want to choose different Programs than the ones the Mix has stored with it. This does not require that you be in Mix Edit Mode. Assigning Programs to the 16 channels of a Mix is done by first using the [ PAGE] and [PAGE ] buttons (which are also labeled [MIX CHANNEL PROGRAM SELECT]) to select a channel and then using the [0] – [9] and

[00]– [120] buttons to select a Program. If desired, you can use the [ BANK] and [BANK] buttons to select a Program from any of the internal or card banks.

QS7.1/QS8.1 Reference Manual 99