Alesis QS8.1, QS7.1 manual Performance CONTROLS, PT, Transposing the Keyboard

Part 3: First Session

THE PERFORMANCE CONTROLS, PT. II

We described these real-time controllers in Part 2: Overview. Now that you know how to find your way to all the different Programs and Mixes, it’s time to explore just what the controllers can do.

Your assignment: Call up a Program or a Mix and try out the items listed just below. When you think you’ve got a sense of how they work (or don’t) with your current choice, call up a different Program or Mix and try them again. As you move around you’ll see some interesting variations!

Here ‘s the list, as a reminder.

•Velocity.

•Aftertouch.

•Pitch Bend Wheel.

•Modulation Wheel.

•Controller A–D Sliders.

•Sustain Pedal.

•Expression Pedals.

TRANSPOSING THE KEYBOARD

One of the great conveniences of electronic keyboards is how easily they can be transposed, allowing you to play all possible keys (even the more difficult ones) without having to learn as many different fingerings and hand positions.

Just to round things out before we move on, why not experiment with your QS’s Performance Transpose feature?

All you have to do is:

1)Hold down the [TRANSPOSE] button.

2)Tap the key that represents the interval you’d like to shift by. If you want to shift up a semitone, for example, you would tap any C-sharp on the keyboard that lies above Middle C. And if you want to shift a major third down, you’d press any G-sharp below Middle C. See the chart on the next page for further guidance.

3)Now let go of the [TRANSPOSE] button.

It’s that simple. Try it and see for yourself. When you finally want to return things to normal, just hold down [TRANSPOSE] again and tap on the MIDDLE C key

before letting go.

You can go up or down as much as an octave, giving you a total of two octaves of transposition range.

This technique gives you a quick way to make transpositions “on the fly.” You can also transpose your QS using one of the Global commands. That works just a little differently, and will be covered in the next part of this manual.

34 QS7.1/QS8.1 Reference Manual