Yamaha Djx 2 Manual
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51 Chapter 15 Part Controller Power Tips 68Activator textures Here’s a key to getting the same smooth, shifting textures you hear in a lot of pro mixes! Select the Activator key in the Part Selector and turn the Part Controller volume to zero. Now, with the Pattern playing, trigger one of the Activator Loops, and bring up the volume gradually. Hear how the Activator Loop slowly fades into the mix, adding more texture to the sound. Turn the Vol- ume knob back down, and the Activator Loop fades out. 69Dark mixes and deep grooves — cut the Cutoff! Here’s a powerful trick to instantly darken up your tracks — if that’s what you’re after. It’s also great for getting a phat, bottom-heavy sound! Select all of the Parts with the Part Selector, then set the Cutoff and Resonance to zero. Notice how all the high end disappears from the sound, and all your left with is a pulsing bass! You can accen- tuate this effect even more by boosting the Isolator Low knob to the maximum and setting Mid and High to the minimum. From this starting point, try bringing up the Resonance to max. Then play with the Cutoff knob in time with the rhythm for some stunning filter sweep effects. It’s a great way to fade in the other rhythm parts — plus bring in some killer textures! To bring things back to normal, turn the Cutoff and Resonance knobs to their center positions. Do it on the “one”! Fade in the Activator Loop. Fade out the Activator Loop.
52 70Instant reset! Once you’ve made a few changes to the Part Controller settings — especially if you’ve tweaked more than one Part — it’s not so easy to get back to where you started! Often, you’ll want to be able to backtrack and reset all the Parts to their original sound. In such a case, the best and easiest way to return to home base is to re-select the Pattern. Press PATTERN/ENTER so that the Pattern number appears in the display. Then turn the dial for- ward one step (+1) and then back again (-1), to return to the currently selected Pattern. Finally, press PATTERN/ENTER again. Doing this fools the DJX-II into thinking you’ve selected a new Pat- tern! However, this effectively starts the same Pattern with all its original settings, including reset- ting the Key Shifter to “0” — and puts you back at home base! 71Pitch Bend for keyboard voices Play some of the Synth Lead voices of the DJX-II and work out on the Pitch Bend! Set the Ribbon Controller to PITCH BEND, and use this expressive device to give your playing a more dynamic, human feel! Naturally, Pitch Bend can be used on any of the voices — and you should try some of those out! — but it’s especially effective on Synth Lead. For the technically inclined, the Pitch Bend range is +/- two semitones. When you release your fin- ger from the ribbon, the pitch returns to center. Try using Pitch Bend for some wild and fun effects on the human voices (V123 - V171), or even your own sampled voices (V203). (For info on making your own samples, see the next section, Tip 72!) p36 p3636. 3736. 36 Flashes Flashes Current PatternNew Pattern (in standby)Current PatternNew Pattern (in standby)
53 Chapter 16 Sampling Sampling has become such an important music-making tool — in virtually all styles of modern music. Thanks to the DJX-II’s Sampler functions, you can use it for your music, too! 72Sample it! Roll your own samples! With the DJX-II, you can record any audio source — such as a CD or MD player, or your own voice with a microphone — and create and play your own original samples. It’s simple! Just follow the easy steps here, and you’re off! 1 Set up the source. Connect the external audio source (CD player, MD player, cassette deck, microphone, etc.) to the appropriate rear panel jack on the DJX-II. • Never connect a line level signal (CD player, cassette deck, electronic instrument, etc.) into the MIC input jack! Doing this could damage the DJX-II and its Sampling functions. Start playing back the audio. If your audio source has a level (volume) control, make sure that is set appropriately. Also, adjust the INPUT LEVEL knob on the DJX-II so that the level is high enough to record properly, but not so high that there is distortion. Helpful hint: While you’re playing back the audio during setup, start one of the Patterns of the DJX-II — prefera- bly one you plan on using with the sample. With the Master Volume up to an appropriate level, this lets you set the level of the external audio so that it will be heard properly as a sample. 2 Set Sampling to standby. Stop the audio, then simultaneously hold down the SAMPLING/STOP button and press one of the SAMPLE PADS (1 - 6). You’re ready to record! Sampling indications Notice that while you hold down the SAMPLING/STOP button, the display indi- cates the level of the signal. Also, when you set Sampling to standby, the letters “ SAmp” flash; when sample recording starts, the letters light continuously. 3 Start/stop recording. Start the audio source, or sing into the microphone — sampling starts automati- cally! Maximum sample time for one pad is three seconds and maximum sample time for all pads is six seconds. To stop recording (if your sample is shorter than three seconds), press SAMPLING/STOP again. 4 Play the sample. Simply press the appropriate Sample Pad to play the sample. The DJX-II gives you six pads for recording your samples. Be careful! Avoid pressing three or more panel buttons simultaneously (for example, in trying to play three samples at the same time, etc.). Doing so can cause the DJX-II to behave erratically. CD MD
54 73Erase the sample Want to erase a sample and start from scratch? Easy! Simultaneously hold down the SAMPLING/STOP button and press the appropriate Sample Pad (the one con- taining the sample you wish to erase). After about three seconds, the sample data is erased. When the sampled voice is selected for playing (Tip 75), you cannot erase the sam- ple. 74Loops and One Shots The DJX-II has two different kinds of Sample Pads — One Shot and Loop — that let you play back the samples two different ways. If you record a sample to a One Shot Pad, that sample plays back once and then stops — hence the name, “One Shot.” If you record a sample to a Loop Pad, that sample plays back repeatedly (or “loops”) — until you stop it by pressing the same Pad again. The One Shot Pads are useful for little chunks of audio — such as sound effects, hits (like cymbal crashes, orchestra hits, etc.), and voice sound bites — that you don’t intend to loop. The Loop Pads are for audio that you want to repeat, especially for rhythmic effect — such as drum and per- cussion rhythms and arpeggiator phrases. Loop Pads are also good for sustaining sounds that you want to continue indefinitely. Loop One Shot Sample Sample
Chapter 16 Sampling 55 75Play samples from the keyboard! Create melodies with your original samples. Pitch them low and slow down the speed for special effects. Pitch them high and speed them up. Or play several samples together as a chord. You can even play complex rhythms and stutter Patterns with them. All of this — and more — is possible by playing samples from the keyboard. To do this, simply switch to the Keyboard mode and select V203. Playing a sample from one of the Sample Pads results in the same pitch. When you play the same sample from the keyboard, that sample is given a different pitch (and speed) depending on the key you play. Try it out — and see what wild stuff you can come up with! Tech Talk The recorded samples are assigned to the keyboard according to the following simple rules: • The original sound of the Pad is assigned to the central F key. Lower keys play at lower pitches; higher keys play at higher pitches. • If all Pads have recorded samples, each Pad’s sample occupies one entire octave (12 keys), except Pad 6, which is assigned to the remaining single key. • When only one Pad has a recorded sample, it is assigned to the entire keyboard. • When two to five Pads have recorded samples, or if one or more Pads have been erased, each Pad’s assignment moves to take over the “unoccupied territory” of its adjacent Pad. • Changes made to the Key Shifter also affect the playback pitch and key assignment of the sam- ples. For example, if the Key Shifter is set to “+1,” all samples will play back one semitone lower than normal; in this case, the original sound will play at E instead of F. • When all pads have been recorded... • When only one pad has been recorded... • When some of the pads have been recorded... U203 Pad1 Pad2 Pad3 Pad4 Pad5 Pad6 The original sound of the Pad is assigned to the central F key. All keys are available for the recorded pad. Original sound Pad1 Pad3 Pad4
56 Chapter 17 Performance Recorder By now, you’re well on your way to becoming a master DJ. In fact, you’ve probably got a slew of hip ideas and cool moves that you’d like to record for posterity. Enter the Perfor- mance Recorder! 76Record your performance Here’s another powerful DJX-II function you’ll love! Record all your DJ moves to this amazing Performance Recorder, and play them back — any time you want! Six Perfor- mance Recorder buttons give you recording space for up to six performances. Really easy to use, too! Here’s how: 1 Enable recording. Simultaneously hold down the RECORD button and press one of the PLAYER Pads (1 - 6). You’re ready to record! 2 Start recording. Start performing on the DJX-II — recording starts automati- cally! Just about anything can be used to start — playing a Pat- tern or Activator key, pressing one of the Sample Pads, scratching the Ribbon Controller (with Scratch 1 or 2), or even by tapping the BPM/TAP button four times (see Tip 79). 3 Stop recording. To stop recording, press PATTERN STOP or RECORD. Performance Recorder records the following performances. • Mode status (Pattern or Keyboard) • Keyboard performance (Keyboard mode) • Voice number • Pattern Player settings and performance (Pattern mode) • Pattern number • bpm (including BPM/TAP performance ) • Key Shifter performance (Pattern mode) • Activator settings and performance (Pattern mode) Flashes or ¥ Live Effector settings and performance ¥ Sample Pad settings and performance ¥ Ribbon Controller settings and performance ¥ Part Controler settings and performance If youÕve recorded to a Pad when the external clock is set to ÒSync,Ó the bpm value is not recorded. This means that when you play back the performance, it will play at the current bpm value, and not necessarily the one intended. Tech tips: • The length of your recorded performance is quantized to the next downbeat. This ensures that the recorded data makes rhythmical sense — even if you stop a Pattern between downbeats. Be careful, though! Always try to stop slightly before the downbeat, or the recorded performance may carry through to the next beat! • A maximum of 2500 events (for all six Pads) can be recorded to the Performance Recorder. What constitutes an “event” differs depending on the control used. For example, pressing a button or a key is a single event, but turn- ing a knob or working the Ribbon Controller use up dozens of events at a time. 4 Play the performance. Simply press the appropriate PLAYER Pad to play the recorded performance. The DJX- II gives you six pads for six separate performances. Playback continues repeatedly until you press PATTERN STOP. Pressing the same Pad during playback instantly re-starts the recorded performance from the beginning. Pressing a different Pad during playback stops playback of the pre- vious Pad and starts playback of the pressed Pad. Naturally, you can record your entire performance to one button. Or you may want to divide your performance up into several parts, and record each separately, one-by-one. This lets you change the order of playback as you see fit, and it lets you repeat individual performances as many times as you like, and string them all together in various orders and... well, you get the idea! It’s an awesome tool for live performance!
Chapter 17 Performance Recorder 57 77Jamming with Performance Player Wow! This is like having an extra pair of hands — or even more — to help you onstage! Let the Performance Player take care of the basics while you work out on the Activator. Or while you arrange on the fly with the Part Mixer. Or while you tweak and mangle the sound with the Part Controller and Live Effector. Which means you can sound like a whole battalion of DJs — just on one machine! Let’s say for example, you want to have different Patterns and Variations play in succession, com- plete with various Cutoff and Resonance moves, plus some twiddling on the Live Effector controls. Just try and do that with one set of hands! To perform all that live by yourself would be difficult, if not impossible! However, if you record your Pattern playback plus the Cutoff and Resonance tweaking to the Per- formance Recorder beforehand, you can work the Live Effector controls onstage as much as you want, while the DJX-II plays back your recorded performance! NOTE: To erase the recorded performance, simultaneously hold down the RECORD button and press the appropriate PLAYER Pad (the one containing the performance you wish to erase). After about three seconds, the performance data is erased. Record
58 Chapter 18 BPM/Tap Power Tips 78Tap out the beat! Change the bpm in real time! Tap the BPM/TAP button twice rhythmically, while the Pattern is run- ning — and the bpm automatically changes to the tapped speed. 79Start with a tap... You can also get the Pattern going at whatever speed you like by simply tapping it out. Select a Pat- tern, then instead of hitting one of the Pattern Player, tap the BPM/TAP button — four times, in rhythm — and the Pattern starts automatically at the bpm you’ve tapped. While you’re tapping, the display shows each of your four taps, then displays the resulting bpm. Tech note Only two taps are needed to start Pattern 42, since that Pattern is in 2/4 time. 120. 0 BPM The Pattern changes bpm according to your tapping. One Two Three Four BPMBPMBPMBPM The Pattern starts at the bpm of your tapping.
Chapter 18 BPM/Tap Power Tips 59 80Down and out! In Tip 42, you learned how to recreate the sound of a turntable grinding to a halt — here’s a Varia- tion on that trick. This slows down the speed of the Pattern without changing the pitch. While the Pattern is running and the bpm display is active (press BPM/TAP), turn the dial and slow down the bpm gradually. After the bpm gets as slow as you want, wait until the right downbeat, then press PATTERN STOP to stop the Pattern. 81Check the bpm Need to know what the bpm of a certain track on CD or vinyl is? Here’s a convenient tool! Just tap out the rhythm of the music as you listen to it, and the DJX-II displays the bpm for you — automat- ically! (Make sure to turn down the MASTER VOLUME to keep the DJX-II Pattern from sounding.) 120. 0
60 Chapter 19 The Outside World Here are a couple of tips that get you started interfacing the DJX-II with external gear. Go for it, and get your sound out there! 82Expanding your DJ setup The DJX-II can easily do double-duty as part of a larger DJ setup. For example, you can connect the LINE OUT jacks to two of the inputs of a DJ mixer. Hook up a turntable to the other channels of the DJ mixer, and you’ve got a full dance production setup to rival the pros! This way you can play the DJX-II as well as your favorite vinyl tracks, and mix and switch them with the controls on the DJ mixer. Naturally, you can also hook your DJX-II up to an MD recorder or cassette deck and record your DJ performances to disk or tape. LINE INPHONO IN LINE OUT DJ mixer Turntable Amplifier