Antares Portable Public Address Speaker System ATR-1a manual

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©2000 Antares Audio T echnologies. All Rights Reserved. Antares Audio T echnologies 231 T echnology Circle, Scotts V alley , Califor nia 95066 USA voice: (831) 461 7800 fax: (831) 461 7801 service: (831) 461 7814 web: www .antarestech.com Printed in USA Rev 1.0-10/00[...]

Contents Getting Started W elcome 5 T ech Support 6 A few words from Dr . Andy 7 Intr oducing the A TR-1a Chapter 1 Background 9 So what exactly is it? 9 A little bit about pitch 10 Some pitch terminology 10 How the A TR-1a determines pitch 11 How the A TR-1a corrects pitch 12 Program Mode vs. Song Mode 13 Setting Up the A TR-1a Chapter 2 Setting u[...]

Program Name page 27 Save Program page 27 Song Edit pages 27 Song Speed page 28 Song Items page 28 Song Vibrato page 29 Song Name page 30 Save Song page 30 System Edit pages 30 Bass Mode page 31 Sensitivity and LCD page 31 Foot Switch and Detune page 32 MIDI page 1 33 MIDI page 2 34 MIDI page 3 35 MIDI page 4 35 MIDI page 5 36 Owner Message page 36[...]

5 W elcome! On behalf of everyone at Antares Audio T echnologies, we’d like to of fer both our thanks and congratulations on your decision to purchase the absolute best intonation correction hardware in the world. Before you proceed much farther , we’d like to str ongly encourage you to fill out and return the A TR-1a registration card. As an A[...]

6 T echnical Support In the unlikely event that you experience a pr oblem using your A TR-1a, try the following: 1. Make another quick scan through this manual. Who knows? Y ou may have stumbled onto some feature that you didn’ t notice the first time through. 2. Check our web page for tips, techniques, or any late-breaking information: www .anta[...]

7 A few wor ds fr om Dr . Andy I remember , as if it were yesterday , sitting in my junior high school band, happily playing away on my flute, when I noticed that our conductor was screaming and jumping up and down on the podium. What was this about? Suddenly , I realized she was screaming at me. And just in time too — since I was able to duck an[...]

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9 Chapter 1: Intr oducing the A TR-1a Some backgr ound In 1997, Antares first introduced the ground-breaking Auto-T une Pitch Correcting Plug-In for ProT ools™ (followed a bit later by the VST and stand-alone versions). Here was a tool that actually corrected the pitch of vocals and other solo instruments, in real time, without distortion or arti[...]

10 A little bit about pitch Pitch is typically associated with our perception of the “ highness ” or “ lowness ” of a particular sound. Our perception of pitch ranges from the very general (the high pitch of hissing steam, the low pitch of the rumble of an earthquake) to the very specific (the exact pitch of a solo singer or violinist). The[...]

11 Pitches are often described relative to one another as intervals, or ratios of frequency . For example, two pitches are said to be one octave apart if their frequencies differ by a factor of two. Pitch ratios are measured in units called cents. There are 1200 cents per octave. For example, two tones that are 2400 cents apart are two octaves apar[...]

12 How the A TR-1a corr ects pitch The A TR-1a works by continuously tracking the pitch of an input sound and comparing it to a user-defined scale. The scale tone closest to the input is continuously identified. If the input pitch exactly matches the scale tone, no correction is applied. If the input pitch varies from the desired scale pitch, an ou[...]

13 An example As an example, consider this before-and-after graphic representation of the pitch of a vocal phrase that contains both vibrato and expressive gestures. In the original performance, we can see that although the final note should be centered around D, the vocalist allowed the tail of the note to fall nearly three semitones flat. The “[...]

14 If a performance is quite close to begin with and only requires minor correction (i.e., never more that 50 cents), it ’ s often sufficient to simply choose the Chromatic scale, set Speed to about 10 and leave it there. If you are working in the studio to correct an already recorded track, you might use Program Mode to deal with the track one s[...]

15 Chapter 2: Setting Up the A TR-1a Setting up the A TR-1a is a very straightforward. 1. Find a suitable location. The A TR-1a is designed to be mounted in a standard 19-inch equipment rack. 2. Confirm that the included power supply is correct for the electricity in your part of the world. If you are not sure, or the power supply has a plug that i[...]

16 An Important Note About Monitoring: If the A TR-1a is used to pitch- correct an artist ’ s performance in real time, it is very important that the performer is able to monitor their original signal, not the pitch-corrected signal. T rying to react musically to the processed signal will drive them crazy and, in most cases, drive them farther of[...]

17 Chapter 3: Panel Contr ols and Connectors As you have almost certainly noticed, the A TR-1a has relatively few controls. We ’ ll cover them here. The Fr ont Panel 1 Non-existent Power Switch That ’ s right. Ther e isn ’ t one. The A TR-1a is designed to remain on continuously . Y ou can, of course, plug it in to a switched power strip or p[...]

18 7 SYSTEM Button Press this button to set various parameters that affect the A TR-1a ’ s overall functionality (MIDI response, LCD contrast, etc.) The accompanying LED lights to remind you that you are in System Edit Mode. When the LED is lit, press the SYSTEM buttom again to exit the System Edit Mode. 8 BYP ASS Button Press the Bypass button t[...]

19 The Back Panel 1 AC POWER INPUT Plug the 7-pin DIN connector from the included power supply in here. Do NOT use a supply which is not expressly intended for the A TR-1a (even if you could find one with the that weird plug on it). Bad things could happen. 2 MIDI IN Connect the MIDI Out from a MIDI keyboard, sequencer , or other MIDI source in her[...]

20 Chapter 4: Display Scr eens and Menu Pages Flash Scr een ATR-1a version 1.3 ATR-1a Processor The Flash Screen appears for a few moments after the A TR-1a is powered on. The first line displays the firmware version. The second line can display any message that will fit in 20 characters. As it comes from the factory , the A TR-1a displays the rath[...]

21 T o select a Program, move the cursor to the Program Number field and use the data knob to choose the desired Program. If the Program Mode Main Screen is displayed and MIDI Program Changes are enabled in the SYSTEM menu, a MIDI Program Change command of 1 – 50 will select the corresponding Program. If the Program Mode Main Screen is displayed [...]

22 Each Song Step must contain one of the following items: ITEM CODE MAIN SCREEN STEP DISPLA Y 0 (no program) ## (Program number) the program name B (B bypass) <- (<- loop) E (E end) -> (-> link) Please note: In the Song Mode main screen, the Cursor buttons can be used to move the cursor to the YY field and the data knob can then be use[...]

23 Speed Page The first edit page displayed is the SPEED page: Program:XX Speed (0 is fast): yy The SPEED control determines how rapidly pitch correction is applied to the incoming sound. V alues range from 0 to 25. A value of zero will cause instantaneous changes from one tone to another and will completely suppress a vibrato and any purposeful ex[...]

24 Now simply play the melody to be corrected from your keyboard or sequencer . T empo and rhythm don ’ t matter , so take your time and make sure you don ’ t play any wrong notes. As each note is played, its name appears in the top line of the display . Assume, for example, that your melody starts with D  , B, and then A. After playing thos[...]

25 This page allows you to specify the scale notes to which the A TR-1a tunes the input sound. If you have used the Make Scale From MIDI function described above, the notes input via MIDI will already appear on the page and can be further edited here. There are 12 notes in this scale, i.e. C, C #, … etc. Each note in the scale can be set to one o[...]

26 This phrase is in D Major and, if all the pitch errors were no greater than about 49 cents, would work fine with a standard D Major scale (D, E, F  , G, A, B, C  ). However , the pitch error of three semitones at the end of the last note is so large that with B and C  present in the Scale, as the pitch fell, the A TR-1a would see first [...]

27 Pr ogram Name Page This page allows you to name each of your Programs. T ypically , you would name the program after the scale that it contains. Alternatively , you could name it after the song or portion of a song in which it ’ s used. Do whatever helps you best remember what you had in mind when you created the Program. Program:XX Name:aaaaa[...]

28 T o edit a specific Song, you must first select that Song as the current Song. Do that by calling up the appropriate Song number on the Song Mode Main Screen. Then, press the PROGRAMS button (the red LED under the PROGRAMS button will light). The number of the Song being edited will always appear in the top left corner of the various Song Edit p[...]

29 <- (Loop) When a Song Step containing a Loop command becomes active, the Song immediately resets to Song Step #1. If Song Step #1 contains a “ 0 ” (No Program) item, the Song moves forward to the next non- ” 0 “ Step. Use Loop when you want to repeat a harmonic structure multiple times. E (End) When a Song Step containing End becomes [...]

30 Song Name Page This page allows you to name each of your Songs. Song:XX Name:aaaaaaaaaaaaa T o enter the name, place the cursor under each character space and use the data knob to select the appropriate character . Names may be a maxi- mum of 13 characters. The following characters are available for naming (in this order): (space) (UPPER CASE LE[...]

31 When editing System parameters, you progress from one edit page to the next by pressing the P AGE button. After you have finished making changes, press the SYSTEM button again. Unlike Program and Song editing, you are not prompted to save the changes, they are automatically saved for you. Bass Mode Page Bass Mode OFF When operating in its normal[...]

32 If you are working with a well-isolated solo signal (e.g., tracking in a studio or of f of a multi-track tape) you can typically set the Sensitivity control to 10 and forget it. If, on the other hand, your signal is noisy or not well-isolated (as might be more common in a live performance situation), it may be necessary to allow more signal vari[...]

33 DETUNE SETTING A=HERTZ -20 435 -16 436 -12 437 -8 438 -4 439 0 440 +4 441 +8 442 +12 443 +16 444 +20 445 This table can be extended in either direction by adding or subtracting 4 cents per Hertz, as appropriate. MIDI Page 1 Channel Note Sustain aaaa bbb ccc The Channel parameter selects the channel over which the A TR-1a receives MIDI messages. [...]

34 The source of the MIDI input would typically be a MIDI keyboard or sequencer , and could consist of chords, scales, or even the exact melody that the input should be corrected to. If you will not be defining the A TR-1a ’ s target pitches via MIDI, be sure that MIDI NOTE MODE is set to OFF . If MIDI NOTE MODE is set to ON and no MIDI note data[...]

35 MIDI Page 3 These next two MIDI Control pages allow you to assign various MIDI controllers to set selected A TR-1a parameters in real time. (Note that all MIDI controller data must be sent on the MIDI Channel set on MIDI Page 1 in order to be recognized.) Midi Speed Step Control aaa bbb Assigning a MIDI Continuous Controller to the Speed paramet[...]

36 MIDI Page 5 SysEx Device Number aaa The A TR-1a supports a number of MIDI System Exclusive (SysEx) messages using the Antares manufacturer ID. (See the SysEx Appendix for details.) The A TR-1a SysEx device number is similar to the Device ID found in SysEx Real T ime and Non-Real Time messages. By setting each unit to a dif fer ent device number [...]

37 Chapter 5: Cr eative Applications for the A TR-1a The A TR-1a works on vocals so well you may think that ’ s all it can do. Actually , lots of instruments can use it to great advantage. Fretless bass, electric violin, trombone, even the theremin, all feature continuous pitch potential, unconstrained by frets or keys. Here are some other ideas [...]

38 • The A TR-1a can be used to simulate other singing styles. Many ethnic styles feature exceptional (almost unbelievable) intonation during fast, melismatic passages. Setting the SPEED parameter faster than normal (less than 5), and setting the SCALE to an appropriately exotic mode (for example, G A A# C# D D# F#) can produce exactly this resul[...]

39 • Use the MIDI Note function to create amazing ornamental flourishes and trills. Connect a MIDI keyboard and turn on the MIDI Note func- tion. Set a fast Speed and sing a sustained note while playing the keyboard. Go crazy! • While the A TR-1a is not really intended to be a harmonizer , you can cr eate some very high quality close two-part h[...]

40 Appendix Factory Pr ograms The A TR-1a comes from the factory pre-programmed with the basic chromatic, major , and natural minor scales in Programs 1 – 13 as listed below . Y ou are, of course, free to overwrite these as you desire. PROGRAM MAJOR SCALE NA TURAL MINOR SCALE 1 (Chromatic) 2 C Major A Minor 3D  /C  Major B  /A  Minor [...]

41 Scale and Chor d Guides Here are some of the most commonly used scales, modes and chords, and their associated A TR-1a settings. All spellings use sharps because the A TR-1a software uses sharps to describe all accidentals (the black notes on the keyboard). Scales/Modes refer ence chart While the major scale needs no introduction, the others mig[...]

42 Scales/Modes r eference chart KEY MAJOR NA TURAL MINOR C C D E F G A B C D D# F G G# A# C  / D  C  D  F F  G  A  CC  D  E F  G  A B D D E F  G A B C  D E F G A A  C D  / E  D  F G G  A  C D D  F F  G  A  B C  E E F  G  A B C  D  E F  G A B C D F F G A A  C [...]

43 MINOR MINOR SEVENTH DIMINISHED DIMINISHED AUGMENTED (M7) (DIM) SEVENTH (DIM7) (+) C D  GC D  G A  C D  F  AC D  F  A  C E G  C  E G  C  E G  BC  E G A  C  E G B C  F A D F A D F A C D F G  BD F G  CD F  A  D  F  A  D  F  A  BD  F  A C D  F  A C  D [...]

44 MIDI System Exclusive Message Formats In the explanations, below , braces < > are used to represent enclosed MIDI data bytes. Concatenated data is shown by < > < >. Names are also enclosed in braces as symbolic representations defined further into the explanation. V alues are decimal unless an H is used to denote Hexadecimal va[...]

45 <vibrato delay> 0 to 25 (see DELA Y T ABLE, below) <pgm name 1> … <pgm name 13> all values between 32 (ASCII blank) and 7FH <song data> = <song number> 1 to 20 <speed> 0 to 25 <vibrato type> 0 = off, 1 = SINE, 2 = SQUARE, 3 = SA W <vibrato depth> 0 to 100 cents <vibrato rate> 1 to 97 (.1 to[...]

46 Vibrato Delay T able The following table identifies the MIDI controller values required to set each of the possible V ibrato Delay values: MIDI V ALUE VIBRA TO DELA Y (milliseconds) 00 11 0 22 0 34 5 47 0 5 100 6 140 7 190 8 230 9 270 10 315 11 370 12 435 13 510 14 600 15 710 16 830 17 970 18 1140 19 1340 20 1575 21 1850 22 2170 23 2550 24 3000 [...]

47 MIDI System Exclusive Message Examples The following examples are Scripts from Opcode ’ s Galaxy . They show System Exclusive Messages which communicate with the A TR-1a. This message will cause the A TR-1a to select Program Mode. Put $F0 into Sys_Ex; Put 0 1 $26 into Antares; Put 0 into Device_Num; Put 0 into Mode; Put $F7 into End_Sys_Ex; Se[...]

48 Put 0 into Step_Controller; Put 7 into Sensitivity; Put 0 into Detune; Put 0 into Detune_Direction; Send Sys_Ex Antares Device_Num Mode Msg_Length ¬ MIDI_Channel MIDI_Sustain Pgm_Change ¬ MIDI_Note Pitch_Bend Mod_Wheel ¬ Foot_Switch Speed_Controller Vib_Rate_Controller ¬ Vib_Delay_Controller Step_Controller Sensitivity ¬ Detune Detune_Direc[...]

49 Put 0 into Vib_Type; Put 28 into Vib_Depth; Put 53 into Vib_Rate; Put 11 into Vib_Delay; Put “My test name.” into Name; Put 10 11 12 0 $7c $7d $7e $7f 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 into Programs; Send Sys_Ex Antares Device_Num Mode Msg_Length ¬ Song_Number Speed Vib_Type Vib_Depth Vib_Rate ¬ Vib_Delay Name Programs ¬ End_Sys_Ex;[...]

50 MIDI Implementation Chart Model: A TR-1a, version 1.13 FUNCTION TRANSMITTED RECOGNIZED REMARKS Basic Channel Default M 1 – 16 Memorized Changed M 1 – 16 Mode Default MM Modes not used Messages MM Altered MM Note Number M 0 – 127 T rue voice M 33 – 96 Pitches retuned V elocity Note On MM Note Off MM After T ouch Keys MM Channel MM Pitch B[...]

51 A TR-1a Specifications Data format 20-bit linear 56-bit internal processing Sample rate 46.875 kHz Frequency r esponse 10Hz – 20kHz, +0.06dB/-0.23dB Distortion + Noise Less than 0.005% (@1kHz) ADC 20 bit 103 dB Dynamic Range (A weighted) 97 dB S/(N+D) DAC 24 bit 105 dB Dynamic Range (A weighted) 94 dB S/(N+D) Inputs XLR: Balanced, 17.9 dBu, 40[...]

52 Index A AC power input 19 A TR-1, defined 9 Auto-T une Plug-In 9 B Back Panel 19 Bass Mode Page 31 Bend 34 BYP ASS Button 18 C cents, defined 11 Cents to Hertz relative chart 32 Channel parameter 33 Chord reference chart 42 Creative applications for the A TR-1 37 Cursor buttons 17 D Data entry knob 17 Detune 32, 37 Detune parameter 32 Display Sc[...]

53 M Make Scale From MIDI Page 23 MIDI Implementation Chart 50 MIDI IN 19 MIDI Page 1 33 Channel parameter 33 Individual MIDI channels 1 – 16 33 Note field 33 OMNI 33 Sustain parameter 34 MIDI Page 2 34 Bend 34 Mod_Whl (Mod Wheel) 34 Pgm_Chg (Program Change) 34 MIDI Page 3 35 Speed parameter 35 Step parameter 35 MIDI Page 4 35 Delay 35 Vibrato Ra[...]

54 Song Step Items 22, 28 ## (A Program Number) 28 -> (Link) 29 <- (Loop) 29 0 (No Program) 29 B (Bypass) 28 E (End) 29 Song Vibrato Page 29 Specifications 51 Speed 12 Speed Page 23 Speed parameter 35 Sustain parameter 34 SYSTEM button 18, 30 System Edit Pages 30 T T echnical Support 6 V Vibrato 12 Vibrato Delay table 46 Vibrato Page 26 Dly ([...]