Newbie questions about slots, splits, and zones

[ebrown88]

Hi All,

I'm the proud owner of a new Stage 2 SW 73 (it arrived three days ago), and I just want to clarify a few things about splits, slots, and zones.

First, I know that each program has two slots (if you choose to activate 2 slots, that is) and each slot can contain up to three instruments (one piano and/or one organ and/or one synth sound). I think I've got that right - let me know if not.

Example one: I want to have a Rhodes sound on the left side of the keyboard and two layered synth sounds on the right side. So, I set up the instrument for 2 zones and set an appropriate split point. Then, with slot A selected (indicated by a flashing LED) I turn on the piano section and select the Rhodes sound I want. I set the piano section to play only in the Lo zone. I also shift the piano section up one octave because I'll be playing chords down in the lower regions of the keyboard.

With slot A still selected I turn on the synth section and select one synth voice. I set the synth section to play only in the Up/Hi zone.

Next, I make Slot B active and turn on just the synth section, selecting the sound that I want to layer with the synth sound I selected for Slot A. I set this sound to play only in the Up/Hi Zone.

Finally, I save the program in one of the D bank locations.

So far, so good, I think. Question one is: as I activate each instrument and set a volume level for it, will that initial volume level be saved with the program? For example, if I set the Slot A synth to full initial volume, then switch to Slot B and set the initial volume of the synth to roughly half, will those settings be saved with the program? If I apply a morph to the volume of one of the synth voices, is that saved with the program too? I want to be able to bring up the volume of one of the synth voices with the control pedal, and fade it down too.

I've tried a couple of things with morphs and they are really a cool feature of this keyboard.

If everything above is correct, then I guess I have the basics down. I just need to build more programs so that it becomes second nature.

The Stage 2 is a fantastic instrument. The sonic possibilities seem almost limitless.

Any comments or corrections or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-- Dennis B.

[MrSitcom]

Congratulations on your new instrument! I have the same one

Yes, everything you said is correct.

Couple of tips:
-You can make sort of a synthpad with Farfisa in the organ section, spice it with chorus or flanger. That way you can have two leadsounds/samples/more complex synths plus the farfisa"pad".
-I find it convenient to morph one sound with control pedal and one with modwheel. Aftertouch is also very usable morph-tool.
-Like in some factory presets, it's a good idea to use (for example) a clean piano sound in Slot A and a wet sound with all the effects you want in Slot B and layer them when you want the effect.

[Kayj_prod]

As Mr Sitcom says, you've got is sussed. When you save, what ever settings you've made are all saved. I commonly set up two synths and then morph between them using the control pedal... an extra layer for a chorus section perhaps. (When I'm saving settings for a set, I often make a note on my music as to whether I need to start with my control pedal/mod wheel up or down.) It's just unfortunate that the reverb and compressor is global... I could often use a dry layer and a wet layer.

[kblok]

I ran into a problem when I assign a volume knob to the mod wheel. When you switch to a program with a volume assigned to the mod wheel that volume won't be the volume saved but the volume modified by the current position of the mod wheel.

This is kind of problematic because you have to remember which is the "role" of the mod wheel in each program and change it before start playing it.

Any suggestions?

[Kayj_prod]

Edit- you're right. But still, my habit is to reset physical positions when I load a new patch anyway. That's why when I save patches I make sure I know which position I need to take the wheel/pedal to (full on or full off).

[ebrown88]

Thanks everyone for your comments.

MrSitcom - that's a great tip about layering the Farfisa under another voice, and bringing it up with the control pedal or mod wheel as needed. I think I heard a similar thing done with a B3 sound layered under a piano in one of the YouTube demo videos I watched.

Kblok - there's apparently no solution to the problem you describe, other than getting in the habit of returning the mod wheel (or control pedal) to the off position before changing to a new program.

I did have another question. The manual states that when building a new program you should first press piano init or synth init or organ init. It's not clear, however, what "init" does. Exactly what does init do?

Thanks!

[kblok]

I ran into a problem when I assign a volume knob to the mod wheel. When you switch to a program with a volume assigned to the mod wheel that volume won't be the volume saved but the volume modified by the current position of the mod wheel.

This is kind of problematic because you have to remember which is the "role" of the mod wheel in each program and change it before start playing it.

Yes, and it's even worse if you morph other things... Like the detune amount in the synth section...

For me, the solution kind of came "for free" when I started changing programs via MIDI (and only via MIDI). If you send an additional CC message (#1 for mod wheel and #11 for control pedal if I remember correctly), the NS2 will keep that value until you touch the wheel/pedal.

I did have another question. The manual states that when building a new program you should first press piano init or synth init or organ init. It's not clear, however, what "init" does. Exactly what does init do?

I don't know it exactly and I don't think I have ever used that feature. I remember reading somewhere that, in addition to resetting the given section to its defaults, it also sets the source of all effects to that section.
I guess it might sometimes be useful to reset the synth section if you want to make sure that no filter or whatever is applied to a sample.

[Kayj_prod]

'Init' is short for initialise; it takes that section back to basic settings.

[ebrown88]

Thanks again everyone for your responses.

Regarding "init" - I did read in the manual that it does set the source of effects to the section being initialized. It's not yet clear to me, however, what the "default" settings of a section are. I'll just do some experimentation to see what happens when I initialize the section.

Clearing all filters in the synth section would be very useful because I've already gotten into trouble with filters and LFOs doing crazy things in the synth section. I haven't yet dived into the intricacies of the synth section, and I've learned that randomly twiddling with the knobs and other controls is not a great idea.

But that's perhaps a subject for another thread.

-- Dennis

[Rewjr]

Clearing all filters in the synth section would be very useful because I've already gotten into trouble with filters and LFOs doing crazy things in the synth section. I haven't yet dived into the intricacies of the synth section, and I've learned that randomly twiddling with the knobs and other controls is not a great idea.

But that's perhaps a subject for another thread.

-- Dennis

Yes I spent a couple hours yesterday trying to get my synth sounds to normalize. Wierd stuff, like a high filter kicking in after several seconds of playing and with no apparent warning, ZAP! sound changes to high pitch fuzz... I'm guessing it was something on a very slow attack that took a long time to come in. Never did really figure out what was causing it.