P2 – AssignKnobs:

P2: Spectral “Form” (64) is in the “ODD 1” family (pulse wave) range, with the Skirt set a bit more than half-way, to taste – move Part AsgnKnob 3, “Skirt”, to hear the subtle tone color change from smoother (lower) to more edgy (higher). Play in different ranges on the keyboard to check out how the timbre changes as the Skirt is unfurled. As you continually tap the keys, change the setting and hear how the timbre changes. Then stop and play it at a setting to get a feel for how it plays.

Explore the settings here as you have learned to do in the previous two articles. The arrangement of Modulator (OP1) to Carrier (OP2) is the same in all examples – what is changing is how these eight Assignable Knobs are set to alter the resulting timbre.

Quick Reminder: the “Frequency” Knob is changing the tuning of the Modulator (OP1); “Form” is a pulse wave (Odd 1); “Skirt” will allow more harmonics on all Forms except the Sine; “Reso” will work only when Form is above 98 (Res1/Res2); “Feedback” will intensify the energy of the Modulator; “EG Level” is offsetting the envelope of the Modulator; “OP1 Decay” shortens/lengthens the Modulator; “OP2 Decay” shortens/lengthens the Carrier.

FORM Values:
Sine: values 0-19
All 1: values 20-39
All 2: values 40- 58
Odd 1: values 59-78
Odd 2: values 79-97
Res 1: values 98-117
Res 2: values 118-127 

P1 – AssignKnobs:

P1: Spectral “Form” (0) is the traditional “Sine”, “Feedback” is at maximum – move AsgnKnob 5 to hear the affect of the Modulator set to Feedback on itself. From round (0) to nasal (127). There are times when the Feedback parameter had a subtle effect on the overall timbre, but here, with “EG Level” up a bit – raise it to 114, then changing the amount of Feedback routed through the Modulator has a profound affect. You can begin to hear the creation of “noise”.

Noise by definition is the opposite of Music (no jokes, please, about some music being noise), but Noise is the result of all frequencies combined simultaneously, in differing balances. While Music is the antithesis, it is the organized vibrations that relate to each other in a supportive way. While Noise is chaos, Music is order. Noise as a waveform looks very random, Musical tones have a pattern that repeats.

Take the “EG Level” up to 127, and as you increase “Feedback” you will hear a bit of noise, sounds like the whoosh of wind or the ocean surf.

Return your settings to the P1 “starting position”. Explore the setting here as we have learned in the previous examples. With Feedback on the Modulator, you will notice a radical “ringing” when the FREQUENCY (Knob 1) is swept. Because we are tuning the Frequency of the Modulator and there are non-whole integer relationships being swept – you will hear what we describe as bell tones, ring modulation, ringing… (A little math here: When the Modulator to Carrier RATIO is whole numbers like 1:1 and 2:1 or even 4:1 or 4:3, the results are musical tones that we describe as pure, but when fractions are involed like, 1.50:1 or 3.50:1 or 1.73:1 we describe the tone as ‘ringing’ or a bell tone).

In this particular PART, P1, a Compressor and an Auto Wah TYPE are assigned as Insertion Effects A and B, respectively. When working with FM-X you can send the CARRIER’s output into the Insertion Effects. To view this routing:

• Press [EDIT].
• Press [PART SELECT 1] to view PART 1 parameters.
• Press the lower [COMMON] to veiw “PART 1 – Common”.
• Touch “Effect” > “Routing”:

Here you can see the signal flow going left to right across this screen: the Carrier is being routed through the 3-Band EQ, which is routed to INSERT A (“VCM Compressor 376”) which is routed to INSERT B (“VCM Auto Wah”), which is routed to the 2-Band EQ, which is then delivered to SYSTEM processing – Reverb, Variation, a send is available to the Envelope Follower, and the PART Output assignment.

The Wah Effect seems to make this nasal Clavinet-type tone complete some how. The Wah Effect, in itself, is a moving filter. The Modulator “Feedback” (AssignKnob 5) seems to revel in the Auto Wah.

TASK:
Try to make as many different tones as you can from manipulating just the 8 Knobbed paramters presented here in this example. Make yourself comfortable with both when and how these parameters will interact. Know that when they have, or seem to have, no effect on the result, it is probably because the context is not proper. You should not expect to hear RESONANCE, for example, when the Spectral FORM is not “RES 1” or “RES 2” (in the range of 98-127). You will not hear the Modulator’s affect on the Carrier if the “EG Level” is too low, or the “OP1 Decay” is too quick (short) – same goes for Feedback. If Feedback is on the Modulator and the Modulator’s influence is too low or too short, then it will be impossible to hear the Feedback.

The way that you can find these things out is by going over them through exploration and experimentation. As your ear and brain start to commit some of these relationships to memory, you will know just what to do when you want a particular timbre. It is how you can become familiar with the tones and how to get them.

You should be aware now that when Operators are (Coarse/Fine) tuned to whole integer numbers 1.00, 2.00, 3.00 etc, you can make musical tones, and when Coarse/Fine results in a fraction, you make musical “bell” tones. One of the early reviews of the DX7 was confused about this, they thought that the potential for making Bell and ringing tones was some how far too dominating in the DX7 – well, if you don’t tune the Operator to WHOLE INTEGER Ratios, you will get bell tones. That’s not just true in FM synthesis, it is true in nature; it is the mathematics of what we call music! There are simply many fractions: Between 1.00 and 2.00 are 99 fractions. 1.01, 1.02, 1.03 etc.

SUPER KNOB INVOLVEMENT:
Up until now we have simply been working directly with the 8 Assignable Knobs, and nothing has been assigned (linked) to the Super Knob’s movement at all. From our experiments you may have concluded that some things make better moving controls than others. For example, assigning the SPECTRAL FORM to a Knob like the Super Knob might not be an audibly pleasing for real time manipulation, but when building sounds you might wish to have it on a Knob you can change when you desire. Spectral Form is the parameter that selects the wave shapes: Sine, All 1, All 2, Odd 1, Odd 2, Res 1 or Res 2. Once you observe the range of control you can make a decision on just how far you want your assigned controller to change the value. If Resonance is left to travel the full range you may find that the piercing high frequencies go just a little too far for comfortable listening. This is where setting limits for parameter movement becomes important. This is very much personal taste. There is no right or wrong.

So lets make an informed decision about assigning a few things to movement of the Super Knob.

Recall example PERFORMANCE: P2
We will assign control of the Modulator “Frequency” and the “EG Level” of the Modulator to the Super Knob. There are basically two steps in this process: You Assign the Part parameter to PART AsgnKnob, then you link that AsgnKnob to one the SUPER KNOB’s AsgnKnobs.

Super Knob Assignments take place, not on the PART Edit level of editing, but on the upper “COMMON/Audio” level of the architecture. Just like each Part has 8 Assign Knobs and 16 Source/Destination Control Sets, this top “Common/Audio” level of the architecture has its own 8 Assign Knobs and 16 Control Sets, as well. It is important to understand this point. The Super Knob assignments can be directed at any or all of the 16 PARTS in a PERFORMANCE. Each PERFORMANCE has an upper COMMON/Audio level of programming, and it is here that a PART joins the community of PARTS. (For more on the workings of the Super Knob see the Mastering Montage tutorial on the Super Knob).

Each Performance has a unique relationship with its PARTS via this level of the architecture. When you move or add a PART to an existing PERFORMANCE, you must establish a new relationship with the Super Knob in its new home. The settings linking a PART to the Super Knob assignments are not transferable from Performance to Performance… this is not a problem, it is a matter of each PERFORMANCE has its own relationship to its PARTS. Add a New PART you must then create a relationship for it with THIS Super Knob.

Let’s create the first one. 
Here’s how: From the P2 HOME screen:

• Press [EDIT].
• Press [COMMON].
• Touch “Control” > “Control Assign”.
• Touch the “AUTO SELECT” option to activate it (green), if necessary.
• Turn Assign Knob 1, The KNOB name will appear in the DISPLAY FILTER: “AsgnKnob 1”.
• Touch the box “+” to ADD a CONTROL (Source/Destination) Assignment to PAGE 1.

There are no assignments here on the upper COMMON/Audio level, initially. (FYI: there are 4 Pages of 4 Control Boxes). “InsA Param 1” will appear, as the default assignment – “touch” that parameter name to open the POP-IN menu and view your assignment options:

• Use the DATA DIAL (just to the right of the screen) to move through the possible Destinations… or if you see the Destination you want, simply touch it.
• Select “Part 1” > “Part 1 Assign 1”, press [ENTER]. Your screen will look like this:

Literally, this means: Part 1’s Assign Knob 1 – which we know is “OP Frequency” (Modulator). As you turn the Super Knob you get the same result as we got previously when we turned the PART 1 Assign Knob 1, directly.

Next, lets assgin the PART 1 “EG LEVEL” (which we know is AsgnKnob 6) to Super Knob AsgnKnob #2:

• Turn Assign Knob 2, its name will appear in the DISPLAY FILTER: “AsgnKnob 2”.
• Touch the next “+” to ADD a CONTROL DESTINATION Assignment. It will be designated “Destination 2” as this is our second assignment.

“InsA Param 1” will appear by default. Touch that parameter name to view the POP-IN menu and your assignment options.
Select “Part 1” > “Part 1 Assign 6”, press [ENTER].

Literally: Part 1’s Assign Knob 6 – which we know is “EG Level” (OP AEG Offset) of the Modulator is now linked to the movement of Super Knob’s AsgnKnob2:

We have now linked two of the eight Part Assign Knob parameters to the Super Knob. Turning the Super Knob, or moving an FC7 pedal plugged into Foot Controller 2, will move the assigned parameters:

• Return to the HOME screen.
• Press [PART SELECT 1] so you can view the 8 AssignKnobs for PART 1. 

Notice now when you turn the Super Knob (or move the optional FC7 plugged into Foot Controller 2) that Assign Knob 1 (Frequency) and Assign Knob 6 (EG Level) will move when the Super Knob is in motion!

We have linked Part Knobs 1 and 6 to the Super Knob-controlled Assign Knobs 1 and 2. This means when we turn the Super Knob, its Assign Knob position for Knobs 1 and 2 are in control of what happens to PART 1’s Assign 1 and 6 Knobs, respectively.

Next we can set a range of motion for the knobs.

Say we want to have the “Frequency” Knob sweep the entire range from 0 to 127, but would like the “EG Level” Knob to only increase from its stored condition of 80 through to 127. We can set up ranges for the movement of the Super Knob’s Assign Knobs.

To be clear: We can restrict or limit the range of movement, even change the direction of movement, by setting the minimum and maximum values for the Super Knob’s 8 Assignable Knobs:

• From the HOME screen, touch “Motion Control”.
• Touch “Super Knob”.
• Here we can set the Super Knob controlled Assign 1 to full range: 0-127.
• And set Assign 2 range to 80-127:

Now when you move the Super Knob observe (see and hear) the changes.

You can select whichever AssignKnobs you want and link them to the movement of the Super Knob. Some parameters make more sense than others to control via the Super Knob. 

REVERSE THE CURSE
Let’s reverse the application of FREQUENCY parameter by reversing one of the Super Knob controlled knobs. We’ve already seen that a parameters direction can be altered on the Control Assign screen by setting the Curve, Polarity, Ratio and Param 1 appropriately. Here we will take a look at reversing the application of the Assign Knob system.

Here’s how:

• Navigate to the Motion Control > Super Knob screen.
• From the Home screen touch “Motion Control” located in column 1.
• Touch “Super Knob” in column 2.

Here you can see the 8 Super Knob linked Assign Knobs. We are going to reverse the direciton of Assign Knob 1 by setting the VALUE 1 = 127 and the VALUE 2 = 0:

You can see that the KNOB now moves contrary to the others. Value 1 shown in green and Value 2 shown in blue. And likewise the parameter now works in reverse. In our last installment, we learned that the application of the Controller can be customized on the Control Assign screen by using the CURVE TYPE, RATIO and even the parameter itself. There are many ways to accomplish the same function. Why? Because as you start to build your sounds or design your Performance PARTS you may want to link all parameters that move in the opposite direction to a specific Assign Knob. If, for example, we had another parameter we wished to reverse, we could link that parameter with COMMON Assign Knob 1. 

Programming can get very involved (and you wouldn’t want it any other way) – as you go deeper and deeper into MONTAGE you will discover that a single Knob can be doing multiple things to multiple parameter Destination each with a different scaling. For more background on the Super Knob programming see the article here

Explore and Experiment.
We have included a BONUS download: Containing the PARTS we have studied combined – since P3 and P4 are ‘bookends’ and P1 and P2 are also ‘bookends’ – they compliment each other so well. And together the random/alternate panning makes so much sense!

Performance, “P3-P4”, that combines the Parts P4 and P3 together. You will discover that they both are meant to work together. The Random Panning (hopefully you are listening in “glorious stereo” so that you can hear how they interact with each other). Assign Switches 1 and 2 will defeat the Reverb and Variation (delay), respectively, when activated. When performing these remember you can choose to either put all parameters in motion (Super Knob) or grab an individual parameter to control by directly addressing the knob. Again, we have named both the Common Assign Knobs and the individual Part Assign Knobs.

We also built a Performance, “P1-P2”, that combines P2 and P1 together. You will discover that they both are meant to work together, as well. Assign Switches 1 and 2 will defeat the Reverb and Variation (delay), respectively, when activated.

In our next installment in this series, we will look at Multi-Part AWM2/FM-X Performance that includes Arpeggios – and more. It will pull together much of what we have learned thus far.

Until next time. Enjoy!

In the meantime, join in the conversation about this lesson on the Forum here.

And if you need to catch up, check out the earlier lessons:

• Part 1
• Part 2

And if you are ready for the next lesson – Part 4 now available!

Download here:

P2_P1
Bonus

Let’s explore PART 5:

• Press [PART SELECT 5];
• Press [EDIT];
• Touch “Mod/Control” > “Control Assign”; and,
• With the AUTO SELECT box active (green) move the MOD WHEEL to recall the screenshot shown below.

The MW is actually responsible for Volume, Cutoff, and Resonance. [SOLO] PART 5 and move the MW to hear this:

The assignment of both FILTER “Cutoff” and “Resonance” to the same SOURCE (controller) allows a single gesture to simultaneously open the Filter (raise the Cutoff frequency) and decrease the Resonance so that the sound doesn’t “run away” and go crazy, howling at the moon (remember “resonance” is that spike at one particular frequency making it louder than all others that can send harmonics flying off into the stratosphere); all this while increasing the volume of the PART. You can hear this by holding a chord as you slowly raise the MW. Hear how it is not just a linear sweep, it is multi-dimensional. You can see in the graphic above (Curve Type) how Cutoff is increasing as the MW is advanced. It begins to increase at about 1/3 of the way. But there is more going on….

Part 5 is single Element AWM2 PART – in keeping with the very minimalist construction. In the graphic below, we’ve highlighted the Resonance Control Box (Destination 3) to show how Resonance changes when the MW is advanced. At about half way, the Resonance is reduced:

The MW is responsible for moving three parameters simultaneously. When you highlight the VOLUME parameter (Destination 1, shown below) you will see that it immediately increases as the wheel is moved – the “Param 1” weights this Curve so that the change in volume occurs early in the movement of the MW… while the movement of the Cutoff Frequency and Resonance is delayed a bit. This, as we’ve seen is how the Control Box for each assignment allows you to shape the application of change. It does not have to be a linear movement, it can be customized to a dizzying degree, and shaped as you desire:

On an analog synth, opening the filter, reducing the resonance while increasing volume could take two hands, and possibly, a foot Control pedal. I say this not to imply that this is better, but just to point out how you can program moves you maybe used to make on an analog front panel can instead be accomplished here, ‘ganged’ to a single gesture on a single control – allowing massive changes while you are occupied playing the keys. After all, the role this pad sound plays in this Performance is like the background chordal movement. It is not the “featured sound,” it is simply the sonic harmonic glue holding the patch together.As you slowly change the Volume/Cutoff/Resonance by advancing the MW you can hear an interesting movement – in an AWM2 PART, each Element has its own Filter and Filter settings. To view this Element’s FILTER, from the screen shown above:

• Touch “Elem1” along the bottom of the screen or press the first button in row 3 on the right front panel (Element Select 1) while in PART EDIT.
• Touch “Filter” > “Type”:

When reading the FILTER diagram you are looking at Frequency from low-to-high as you move left-to-right on the graphic. The shaded area of this Dual Low Pass Filter is the relative loudness of the frequencies the filter is allowing to Pass. The dip in the middle there can be heard – if you listen closely enough as you sweep the MW. This particular PART is just a single Element, but each Element in a Normal AWM2 Part can have its own Filter, with its own unique Filter settings and movement in response to controller movement.In future Explorations, we’ll see how FM-X sounds can be routed through one of the 18 Filter Types of MONTAGE.

Extra Credit: Move MOD WHEEL parameters with FC1
For those of you with two FC7 pedals, you can opt to assign FC1 to become your Mod Wheel – allowing you to control this movement with your foot while keeping both hands on the keys.
This is done by navigating to the “COMMON/Audio” > “Control” > “Control Number” screen and setting Foot Ctrl 1 = 1:

The “Buttons Map”
Performance Control – allows you to ‘work’ the front panel while performing. This is a synthesizer, so you expect that working with the front panel is a part of performing.

From the Home screen: The [PERFORMANCE CONTROL] button is lit (#1 in screenshot below) using the top row of right front panel buttons Select the Part.
A close look at the front panel reveals that the [Performance Control] button is connected by a dotted line to the words “PART SELECT” (row 1). Selecting a PART means its Knob Assignments will appear on the screen and the twenty-four TONE, EQ/FX, and ARP/MS Knobs apply to just this one selected PART:
The second row of buttons, “PART MUTE” can [MUTE] or [SOLO] the corresponding Part directly, 1-8. Get comfortable Muting and unMuting Parts. This will be an essential skill in focusing our listening attention on specific components.[SOLO] let’s you listen to just the ONE selected Part, while manipulating several of the the MUTE buttons you can chose to listen to any combination of Parts. Therefore, to listen to multiple Parts in combination, you would use the [MUTE] function.

Once you’ve selected a Part – its [PART SELECT] LED will be lit – you have, in effect, entered that Part and you’ve “opened” it for exploration. You will notice that the FADERS now become OUTPUT LEVEL for the ELEMENT (if AWM2) or OPERATOR (if FM-X) of the currently Selected PART.

If you then press [EDIT] – you enter Edit mode on the Selected PART – you can then Mute and unMute the individual Operators or Elements (within this Part) using the bottom (4th) row of buttons. The 3rd row (directly above) lets you Select the different Operators/Elements. Again your [MUTE] and [SOLO] buttons for the Operators or Elements are to your lower right.

_ If FM-X is involved, please remember, you cannot hear a Modulator directly, you can only hear the influence the Modulator has on the Carrier it is attached to in the Algorithm… therefore, Solo’ing a Modulator alone will result in silence (vibrato without the violin string = silence).
_ If AWM2 is involved you will be able to hear when that Element is active if it meets the required parameters as outline within the PART (key range, velocity range, etc).

Experiment:
For this experiment set the MW at minimum (Heel down if using FC1 as MW). If you do so, you will hear just the following PARTs as stored in the Scenes: While holding a Chord or note on the keyboard advance through the 8 SCENES (blue buttons) allowing each to play for several measures:

• Scene 1: Part 4, 6
• Scene 2: Parts 3, 4, 6
• Scene 3: Parts 3, 4, 6
• Scene 4: Parts 2, 3, 4, 6
• Scene 5: Parts 1, 2, 3, 6
• Scene 6: Parts 1, 2
• Scene 7: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 6
• Scene 8: Parts 3, 4, 6

And again, you can bring in PART 5 at any time by advancing the MW (or FC1).

ARPEGGIO NAVIGATION:
Let’s take a look at the ARPEGGIO ASSIGNMENTS. We want to call to your attention two different views of the ARPEGGIO data.
In the first view, shown below, you are seeing an overview of all the active PARTS (you can view either 1-8 or 9-16) and the assignment of the ARPEGGIO Phrases for each of the 8 ARP SELECT locations. This view is helpful, when multiple PARTS are following arps. You are viewing what is happening right now for the currently Selected Arp, 1-8 : ARP SELECT #1 is active in the screenshot:

• Press [PERFORMANCE (HOME)].
• Touch “Motion Control” > “Arpeggio”:

Here you are looking at PARTs 1-8. You see that PARTS 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 will at some point, be responding to an arpeggio phrase. Currently ARP SELECT 1 is active (bottom of the screen). Notice that PARTs 1, 2 and 3 are assigned to play an ARP named “Mute 4/4” — this is equivalent to placing a musical REST in this location. It allows the PART to stay ‘armed’ and in synchronization with the clock – it will just be silent – like a musician reading rests on a page – they don’t play, they simply count the time. This is quite different from “OFF”. And that is the takeaway here. “OFF” means you would have to re-arm and then re-trigger a key to restart the PART arpeggiating. If you use a MUTE ARP phrase Type, then the PART will simply come in automatically at the top of the next measure, if an arp phrase is posted in the next SCENE. This screen view shows us what each of the PARTs is doing for ARP SELECT 1. The MUTE Type arpeggio phrase is used instead of the regular PART MUTE button.

Notice: Arps are set to change at the “top” of the next measure. When you press a SELECT button to change SCENEs, the phrase does not change immediately – you can choose to have the ARP wait until the top of the next measure.

But what if we want to view just the ARP Phrases assigned to the PART 4, individually, for example. There is a Part view of the Arpeggio assignment:

• Press [PART SELECT 4];
• Press [EDIT];
• Press the lower [COMMON] button or make sure “COMMON’ is active in the lower left of the screen; and,
• Touch “Arpeggio” > “Individual”:

Here you are looking at the PART 4 Arp Phrase assignment across the eight ARP SELECTIONs.

For now, recognize these two different views. As they will come in handy when you are making and assigning your own Arpeggio Phrases. The take away here is that for convenience you have these two views. The overall view (all Parts) and the individual Part view. Each PART will have its own set of assigned phrases.

SCENE 1:
PART 4 is active
For this experiment, select SCENE 1. Press [PART SELECT 4]
Doing so will show you the PART 4 Assign Knobs in the screen:

As you move the SUPER KNOB (or advance the FC7 pedal assigned to Super Knob), you will observe that Part 4’s AssignKnobs 1, 6 and 7 are linked to its movement. PART 4’s AsgnKnob 1 moves the distance 0~127, PART 4’s AsgnKnob 6 moves from its stored value 64~127, while AsgnKnob7 advances from its stored value 50~127:

• AsgnKnob 1 is doing “Operator Frequency” (Modulator).
• AsgnKnob 6 is changing “EG Level” (Modulator).
• AsgnKnob 7 is changing “OP1 Decay” (Modulator).

You should recognize this as “P4” in our FM-X Explorations article: the range settings for each of the PARTS is being determined by the Motion Control > Super Knob VALUE 1 and 2 settings. These determine just how much change is applied. The assignments to the Super Knob’s Assign Knobs, takes place here:

• Press [EDIT]
• Press [COMMON]
• Touch “Control”
• Touch “Control Assign” (there are 8 Assignment Destinations in this Performance, four are shown per PAGE, tap “PAGE” and advance to PAGE 2.)

The “Display Name” box is where you can assign a nickname for the SOURCE function – tap that box to create a Name. This can be tricky when you have more than one thing assigned to a particular controller or Knob. But you do not have to use any official title, you can call it “Purple” if that helps you remember what you’ve designated a particular controller to do. Below, it is called “P4_Freq” because it is only assigned to do Part 4’s Modulator Op Frequency. This reminds me what this Knob is going to do and to which PART it is going to do it. You can touch the “Destination to Name” box to use the default Destination name and assign it to the “Display Name”:

 

We should expect to see among the assignments the following concerning Part 4: “PART 4 Assign 1”; “PART 4 Assign 6”; “PART 4 Assign 7” linked to Knobs on the upper Common/Audio level that move 0-127, 64-127 and 50-127, respectively.In the screenshot above DESTINATION 6, “Part 4 Assign 1” is linked to the Super Knob’s AsgnKnob6 as its SOURCE.
If you highlight “Part 4 Assign 6” you will see it is linked to the Super Knob’s AsgnKnob7 as its SOURCE.
And if you highlight “Part 4 Assign 7” you will see it is linked to the Super Knob’s AsgnKnob8 as its SOURCE.

From this we now know that on the Super Knob level of editing: Knobs 6, 7 and 8 will move 0-127, 64-127 and 50-127, respectively. If you now press the upper [COMMON] button, you will see the COMMON ASSIGN knobs in the screen. And you can see that Knobs 6, 7 and 8 are being applied to PART 4. The Display Name appears for KNOBS: Knob 6 (“P4_Freq”), Knob 7 (“P4_Mod”), and Knob 8 (“P4_Decay”). You can directly move these Knobs to affect change on PART 4. Try it:

SCENE 2:
PARTs 3 and 4 are active, along with the Drums.
SOLO PART 3 and SELECT it. View PART 3 Assign Knobs in the screen. As you move the SUPER KNOB, you will observe that only Part 3’s Assign Knob 4 (Resonance) is linked to the movement. You will recognize this as “P3” from our second article in this series.
Press the [MUTE] button and use the second row of right front panel (PART MUTE) buttons to isolate just PART’s 3 and 4.You can hear how PART 3 is mostly in your left speaker with some content that sneaks over to the right channel, and PART 4 is mostly in your right speaker with some content that sneaks over to the left channel. This is accomplished though PART Pan parameters (Part 3 is panned “L32”; Part 4 is panned “R32”). The bits that sneak over to the opposite channel do so because the “Alternate Pan” and “Random Pan” parameters on the PART ‘x’ > “Part Settings” > “General” screen – shown below for PART 3 and PART 4, respectively:

  
SCENE 3:
Same as SCENE 2 except the Drums have added a Snare sound layered with the Kick drum.

SCENE 4:
PARTs 2, 3 and 4 are active along with the Drums.
PART 2 has joined PARTs 3 and 4, bringing in a counter-rhythm. You should recognize this as “P2” from the previous article.
SOLO PART 2 by pressing the [SOLO] button, and then [PART SELECT 2]
Part 2 has two parameters linked to the Super Knobs: Operator Frequency (Knob 1: 0-127) and EG Level (Knob 6: 80-127)

When you return to the COMMON ASSIGN view, you can see the two linked parameters listed as “P2_Freq” (Common AssignKnob 3) and “P2_Mod” (Common AssignKnob 4) – giving you direct access when on the HOME screen.

SCENE 5: 
PARTs 1, 2, 3 and 6 are active. PART 1, which is a bookend to PART 2, joins in and replaces PART 4. PART 1 is duplicating the arp phrase of PART 2. PART 1 (“P1”) has the same two parameters linked to the Super Knobs. Again, it is Operator Frequency and EG Level, but moving through a different range for “EG LEVEL”. “Operator Frequency” (Knob 1: 0-127) but “EG LEVEL” (Knob 6: 87-127) – creating a bit of dissonant ring.

When you return to the COMMON ASSIGN view, you can see the two linked parameter listed as “P1_Freq” (Common AssignKnob 1) and “P1_Mod” (Common AssignKnob 2) – giving you direct access when on the HOME screen.

SCENE 6:
PARTs 1 and 2 are active; all other arps are resting (MUTE 4/4). You can play chords with your right hand and fade in the Pad (PART 5) by slowly raising the MW.

SCENE 7:
PARTs 1 and 2 continue with the same phrase, but are joined by all the others; 3, 4 and 6, slowly fade out the Pad (PART 5).

SCENE 8:
PARTs 3 and 4 continue, while PARTs 1 and 2 go to MUTE 4/4; a hihat joins the Kick drum in PART 6.

The individual Assign Knobs can be moved directly, whenever you desire. We have brought the Super Knob linked parameters and show their “DISPLAY NAME” so you have access to them. Because moving the Super Knob (at any time) will cause all those parameters linked to it to change together, while accessing a COMMON ASSIGN Knob directly gives you individual unique control.

Summary and Final Thoughts
How you go about editing and approaching any MONTAGE Performance is a personal thing. Hopefully some of the instructions here will tweak your imagination to go in directions of your own. Do not feel the need to over analyze everything. We picked out a few things that make a point about how things are designed to work. It becomes very easy to disappoint yourself when learning through this exploration and discovery method. When you first learn to drive a car, it is very easy to make the complaint that “how come the car can’t fly?” You get so used to getting from place to place faster than you could walk or ride your bicycle – but don’t jump to conclusions that it will take you to the moon. For its purpose, the car moving as it does, will suffice. That said, we probably never would have flown to the moon if someone hadn’t thought ‘wouldn’t it be cool if…’ but that is product design, not SOUND DESIGN. The purpose here was to learn to use the Crayons in this box, to create your picture – not to design a different product. (Although it’s fun to imagine the future…)

Just because you can link something to be offset by the Super Knob or an Assignable Knob, please do not expect that every parameter you are offsetting will animate to show how that parameter value is changing – it is enough to program the response “by ear” and hear the change. While it might be helpful to actually see how the envelopes change, for example, but it is totally NOT necessary. If you assign the PB Wheel to change the Pitch – the parameter setting does not show you HOW FAR you’ve bent the pitch. Not because you couldn’t have the instrument do that, but simply because it is quite unnecessary (music is for the ears, not the eyes) – this is something that the musican does “by ear”. You do not need to see the confirmation of how the Pitch parameters changed on the screen. Offsetting an Envelope Generator, or the Pitch of a sound, is better analyzed as a musician (not as a technician) – the whole purpose of this series was to show that “by ear” or by listening, you can begin to learn how to edit and program FM-X.If you are going to over analyze anything, do so trying to figure out what the original programmer was attempting to do with each assignment. Then decide what you would like to do with the assignment. The parameters that you do see animate to physical controllers are those that are directly assigned (as opposed to being OFFSETS). For example, when you move the Element Level, or Part Volume parameters, directly.

Once you begin to see the scope of what is happening here, such a request would require (perhaps) just a little too much CPU power. We have been looking at a PERFORMANCE that uses only a small portion of the processing power of the MONTAGE. We have left 48 Operators doing absolutely nothing. We have used an AWM2 (Pad) PART that leaves 7 of its Elements doing absolutely nothing. And from the Drum Kit with 73 Elements, we are using approximately a half dozen different sounds (kick, snare, hihat, etc). When you start to realize the size of the controller matrix you are actually dealing with, you begin to appreciate what is going on.

This Performance (Moving Floor) is a ‘snorkeler’s delight’, because of its simpicity. When there is actually a lot going on, you may begin to scratch your head about what is doing what to what. Please come back for future Exploration tutorials. It is important to experiment and to learn to navigate to the various areas of the MONTAGE architecture. Getting used to Performance Control and PART selection, and then Part parameter controls.

FM-X Final Notes: This particular Performance had a very unique selection of knob assigned parameters. Each FM-X sound is likely to be entirely different in layout and assignments. The idea is when finding a sound you enjoy playing, lose the fear, dive in and explore what is assigned to do what. We basically had one thing assigned per knob, with one or two exceptions. When going deeper you will discover that multiple items can easily be assigned to a single Controller each with customized results, there is no one-way to accomplish a goal.

Enjoy Mastering MONTAGE!

Need to catch up/revisit the earlier lessons? Find them here:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Want to discuss this article or series? Join the conversation on the Forum here.

And keep your eyes – and ears – open for more on mastering your MONTAGE soon!

Download here: Moving_Floor_ex.X7B