VA-76 – Sampling your own phrases

Press a key on the keyboard (or the [Preview] field) to play back the audio material, and adjust the Edit Start position so that the phrase starts at the desired posi- tion whenever you press a key on the keyboard (or the [Preview] field).

Use the [Coarse] and [Fine] fields to select the reso- lution of the [TEMPO/DATA] dial. [Coarse] is help- ful for roughly locating the desired beginning of the phrase (somewhere around “I”). Once you have found that position, select [Fine] to move the Edit Start address to the exact position where you want the sample to start. Don’t forget to repeatedly press a

Normalize

Another thing you may want to do before going on, is maximize the level of the phrase you have just sam- pled. This sometimes improves the dynamics of your audio data, while it certainly increases the level. This may come in handy if the recording level was a little low, so that the phrase is a bit too soft.

Note: See also “Amplitude” on page 78 for how to change the volume of a phrase at a later stage.

Normalize boosts the level of the audio data in such a way that the volume is maximized, while distortion is avoided.

key while setting the Edit Start value. Coarse and Fine can be real time savers.

Original level

Maximum level without distortion

Note: It would be a good idea to work with headphones at this stage, switch off the external amplifier, and set a rather high volume. If you listen very carefully, you will notice that a properly pronounced “I” starts with a slight pressure. Don’t discard that. Likewise, be careful no to create too short a “you”. A good indicator for both addresses is to listen to the phrase in a loop (by holding down the [Preview] field or the key you pressed). If the rhythm “fits”, your Edit Start and End points are perfect.

21.Press the [Edit End] field.

22.Use the [TEMPO/DATA] dial to select a different Edit End point.

The [Step] field (which is in fact an on/off switch for the [Preview] field) allows you to listen to the vari- ous steps created with the Event Sense parameter. If the [Step] field is displayed in white, press the [Pre- view] field or any key on the keyboard repeatedly to step through the various “audio events”. See page 75 for details. You probably don’t really need it here.

If you are sure the sample sounds alright with the new Start and End positions, you can finalize its new size by erasing the audio information before the Edit Start and after the Edit End position.

23.Press the [EXECUTE] field to truncate the sample. The animated clock tells you that the audio data are being edited.

I wanna be phrased by you

 

 

The phrase’s

 

 

After using

 

volume

Normalize

 

increases

I wanna be phrased by you

1.On the Phrase Edit page (see above), press the [Normalize] field in the upper right corner. The display now looks more or less as follows:

2.Use the [i][m] fields to set the desired Normalize percentage.

In most instances, “97%” is probably a good choice. Do not select a higher value because that may lead to distortion.

Note: Be aware that if the audio data contain noise, that noise will also be amplified.

3.Press [EXECUTE] to change the level of the selected phrase.

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Page 71
Image 71
Roland VA-76 owner manual Use the im fields to set the desired Normalize percentage