Optimus MD-1200 manual

Cat. No. 42 -4041 OWNER’S MANUAL Please re ad before using thi s equipm ent. Electronic Keyboard MD-1200 42-4041.fm P age 1 Tuesday, Augus t 3, 1999 6:56 A M[...]

2 We rec ommend y ou wri te your MD - 1200’s s erial number here. The nu mber is on the bottom of th e MD-1200 . Serial Num ber _____ __________ __ THE FCC W ANTS YOU TO KNO W This keyboar d compli es with the lim its for a Cl ass B d igital de vice as s pecifie d in Part 15 of FCC Rules . These limits provide r easonabl e protect ion agains t ra[...]

3 FEA TURES Your O ptimus MD -1200 Elec tronic K ey- board is a state-of-th e-art mus ical inst ru- ment that offers you a vas t array of sound s. You can choose from 200 diff er- ent mu sical instruments or so und eff ects and 100 rhy thms, as we ll as autom atic accompa niment s and perc ussion sound s. The MD-1200 als o include s a MIDI fea- tur[...]

4 Synthesizer Function — lets yo u cre- ate up to 32 of your own original tones. Tune Functi on — lets you adjust the pitch of your keyboar d so you can pla y in tune wi th other i nstruments . Transpose Fun ction — let s you i n- stantly c hange the ke y of music, even when you ar e playin g. Tempo Control — lets you sp eed u p or slow dow[...]

5 CONTENTS Preparation ....... ............. ................... ................... ............. .................... ................... 7 Connectin g Power ................ ............. .................... ................... ............. ............. 7 Using Ba tteries .............. ............. .................... ................... .[...]

6 Special Features .............. ...... ...... ....... ...... ....... ...... ....... ...... ....... ...... ....... ............ .. 29 Changing K eys ............ ............ .................... ................... .................... ............ .. 29 T uning the K eyboard ............... .................... ................... ............. [...]

7 PREPARATION Note: To conn ect a M IDI device , see “Mak ing the MIDI Co nnections” on Page 41. To con nect a sus tain peda l, see “Usi ng a Sustai n Pedal” on Page 3 1. CONNECTING POWER You ca n power your MD -1200 from ei - ther: • internal batterie s (see “Usi ng Batter - ies” ) • standar d AC power using an option al AC adapter[...]

8 Using AC Power You can power yo ur MD-1200 from standa rd AC power us ing a 9-vol t AC adapter ( not suppl ied) and a Size M Adaptapl ug. Cautions: You must us e a Class 2 power s ource that su pplie s 9 volts DC and deliver s at least 800 mA . Its center tip mus t be set to ne gative and its plug m ust fit the MD -120 0's DC 9V jack . Using[...]

9 • Once you s et the volume , do not increa se it . Over ti me, your ears adapt t o the vol ume leve l, so a v ol- ume level that doe s not caus e dis- comf ort migh t sti ll da mage your hearing . CONNECTING AN EXTERNAL AMPLIFIER To ampl ify you r MD-1200’ s sound , you can conn ect it to an e xternal amplifie r (not supp lied) usin g an audi[...]

10 OPERATION BASIC O PERA TION 1. Sli de VOLUME to MI N (min imum). Important: T o pr event h eari ng d am- age, alwa ys set the MD- 1200’s vol- ume to MI N before y ou turn it on . 2. T o turn on the MD-1200, press POWER . The POWER ind icator lights a nd the d isplay tur ns on. Note: T o s ave power , the keyboar d automa tically turn s off aft[...]

11 The tone number and na me appear at the top of the dis play. The mi ddle row shows the chor d sym bol , the tempo in beats per minute, the number of the meas ure playin g and the beat coun t in each measu re. The treble and b ass clefs to the right of th e display show the notes as they play. The b ar grap h shows the sound le vel on each of the[...]

12 Notes: • Y ou can select th e next hig hest or lowest n umbered tone by sim ply pressi ng + or – on the key pad. • The nam es of to ne number s 000– 127 are marked to the right of the MD-120 0’ s display . The names for tone nu mbers 128–1 67 appear in the tab le below . Mem- ory locat ions 168–199 are reser ved for c ustom to nes [...]

13 USING THE DRUM PADS The MD-1200 has six drum pads that you ca n use to play per cussion sounds indepe ndent of the keybo ard keys. S im- ply tap on a drum pad to play the per - cussio n sou nd current ly assi gned to it . To change th e drum pad s ounds, use the mix er function to cha nge the to ne assigne d to Channel 10. Se e “Using the Mixe[...]

14 For exa mple, if yo u set the spl it point to be F b elow middl e C, F3 appears . Note: Y ou can c hange the sp lit point at any tim e. 6. Pl ay both the low a nd high-e nd keys to hear th e selected s plit tone s. To select a different l ow-end tone, e nter the three -digit numb er for the new low - end tone while the SP LIT indica tor is on th[...]

15 1. If the SPLIT or LA YER ind icator i s on, pr ess SPLIT or LA YER to turn it off. 2. En ter the number fo r the h igh-end base tone on the key pad. 3. Press SPLIT so the SPLIT indicato r appears . 4. En ter the num ber for the lo w-end base tone . 5. Press SPLIT so the SPLIT indicato r disappea rs. 6. Press LA YER so the LAYER indi ca- tor app[...]

16 2. T o selec t a different rhythm , choose an auto-rhyt hm from the 100 RHYTHMS list and enter it s two- digit num ber on t he keypa d. For exa mple, to se lec t 8 BE A T BALLA D 2 (No. 05) , press 0 then 5 . Note: Y ou can s elect th e next high - est or lo west nu mbe red auto- r hyt hm by simpl y press ing + or – on t he ke y- pad. 3. Set M[...]

17 Using INTRO The MD-1200’ s INTRO feature le ts you start the selected auto -rhythm wi th a light, 3- to 8-measur e introdu ction that blends e asily into the selecte d rhythm . To sta rt a rhy thm with an introducti on, sele ct and enter the rhythm, then pr ess INTRO . The in troduction plays, th en the sele cted auto- rhythm a utomati cally s[...]

18 Free Session — lets yo u pl ay the me lo - dy usi ng th e ent ire keyboa rd whil e the MD-1200 p lays acco mpanim ent based on your a uto-rhythm selection ( see “Us- ing FRE E SESS ION” on P age 21). Notes: • After yo u press th e auto acco mpani- ment key s when usin g concert chord or s tandard fi ngering, the MD - 1200 pla ys the same[...]

19 Concert Chord The conc ert chord meth od lets beg in- ning k eyboard players easily select and play a chor d. The numb er of accomp animent key s you pres s determin es the type of chord that play s. This table s hows the type of chord th at plays wh en you pres s one, two, three, or fou r accompan iment key s at the sam e time. The lowest note [...]

20 Standard Fingering The sta ndard fingeri ng method use s standard formations of three or four not es, and lets the ex perienc ed musici an play a wider variety o f accompa nimen t chords. Yo u can play these 15 cho rd types on you r MD-1200, in an y key, using th e standard fin- gering m ethod. Notes: • T o pr oduce a simp le variation of a 7,[...]

21 Follow th ese steps to start stand ard fin- gering a uto acco mpaniment. 1. Set MODE to FINGERED . 2. Se lect and e nter an aut o-rhyth m. (See “Se lecting/ Playing an Auto - Rhythm” on Page 15 .) 3. T o sta rt the au to- rhyt hm bef ore your auto a ccompanim ent, pres s ST ART/ STOP or INT RO . T o sy nchr oni ze t he s tar t o f th e sel e[...]

22 Follow t hese step s to use th e key- board ’s free se ssion fe ature. 1. Press RHYTHM . 2. Sele ct and enter an aut o-rhyt hm. 3. Press TON E . 4. Se lect and enter th e desir ed tone fo r the melody . Y ou can use any of the preset an d custo m tone featu res, as well as th e preset auto -rhythm fea - tures. 5. Press FREE SESSION . The FREE [...]

23 This char t show s the par ts assi gned to each cha nnel. Notes: • Normall y , ke yboard pl ay is assigned to Channel 1 and th e drum pads ar e assigne d to Channe l 10. Wh en you use auto accompa niment, ea ch part is assign ed to Chann els 7–10. • When you use the MD-1200 as the sound s ource for anot her MIDI devic e, all 16 c hannels a[...]

24 5. T o edit ot her chan nels, pr ess or to return to the channel se lection screen and repe at Steps 2 –4. To exit th e edit m ode, pres s MIXER . The display shows the perfor mance stat us of the ch annels as e dited. Editing the Parameter You ca n change the setting s of six pa - rameter s such as tone, v olume, a nd pan (relativ e position [...]

25 Notes: • Y ou can not use tone s 160–1 67 (drum set tones) a s base to nes. • The pres et tone y ou use as the basis f or a user tone is not chang ed. • The tone locati ons 168–199 are not empty (b efore yo u store use r tones there). They initi ally c ontain dup li- cate ve rsions of tone numbers 128– 159. The user tone you store i [...]

26 Notes: • A new or re vise d user tone repla ce s the exis ting user t one. • Layer , split, au to accom paniment, demo tune pla y , an d MIDI function s are all d isabled w hile the ke yboard is in the C ustom T one Synthes izer mode. 1. Se lect the preset tone (exc ept 160– 167) you wa nt to use as a basi s for your us er tone. 2. Press S[...]

27 Touch Sensitivity ( TchSense ) (–64 to +6 3) — Con trols chang es in the volu me of th e tone depe nding on ho w hard you strike the keys . Y ou ca n speci fy more v olume fo r stro nger str iking an d less volume fo r lighter striking , or yo u can specif y 00 to set the sa me volume regardles s of how h ard you str ike the keys. Pan ( Pan [...]

28 Hints on Creating a User T one • Use a pr eset tone that is sim ilar to the one you are trying to create. When yo u already have a gene ral idea of the tone you are trying to create, it is a good idea to st art with a similar pr eset tone. If you want to use a la yered to ne, sta rt out with a 2DCO tone. • Determin e the most i mportant para[...]

29 SPECIAL FEATURES CHANGING KEYS The MD-1 200 automati cally selec ts the key of m iddle C each ti me you turn it on. For ad ded flexi bility as you play , the MD-1200 le ts you change (transpo se) the m u sica l ke y. Follow thes e ste ps to cha nge ke ys . 1. Repe ated ly pr ess TRANSPO SE/ TUNE/MIDI unti l 00 Trans appear s on the display . Not[...]

30 3. With in 5 se conds , pr ess + or – to raise or lowe r the keyboar d's pitch. Each ti me you press th e key , the number o n the d isplay increases or decreases by 1 (cen t). Notes: • The MD-1 200 automat ically resets the tu ning pit ch to th e defa ult val ue of 00 (cents) each tim e you turn off the ke yboard. • Memory playback u[...]

31 Setting the Pitch Bend Range You can adj ust the bend range of pitc h control s from 1 to 12 semiton es. Note: The keyboa rd autom atica lly se - lects a bend rang e of 2 semi tones the first t ime you tu rn it o n after connecting power. Each time you turn it on after that, it r ecalls the last selecte d bend range. Follow these st eps to adjus[...]

32 USING THE MEMORY The MD-1200 lets you record up to two separat e songs in memo ry for l ater play - back. You can use eit her of two meth - ods to recor d a song — real-t ime reco rdin g (you re cord as you pl ay) or step re cord ing (you enter notes and chords one-by-o ne). You ca n record on eac h of the M D- 1200’s si x tracks separatel y[...]

33 • Pressi ng FREE SESSION while recor ding with a free ses sion accompa niment turns off the accom - panim ent; however , the keyb oard continue s playing the last c hord played bef ore FREE SESS ION was turned o f f. Y ou can c hange the chord by specifyi ng a different o ne using the a ppropriate method (F in- gered, Co ncert Chord , etc.) as[...]

34 Note: Press af ter you select Track 1 in Step 3 to use the drum pads. That way, you can als o sta rt recor ding by playing a drum pa d. Thi s d at a is stor ed on Trac k 1 al on g w ith the the note s you pl ayed: • tone numbe r • rhythm n umber • rhythm co ntroller ( INTRO , NORM AL/ FILL-IN , etc.) operations • pitch ben der oper ation[...]

35 • Y ou can set the volume a nd pan posit io n o f th e pl ayback tra cks us ing the mixer . This setting da ta is out put through MIDI OU T . • The entir e keyboar d function s as a melody ke yboard dur ing pla yback, regardles s of the MODE setting. STEP RECORDING With ste p rec ording, you c an re cord a chord p rogressi on one c hord at a[...]

36 9. Wh en you finish rec ording, press MEMORY , STEP , or ST ART/ STOP . To pl ay ba ck the so ng, pr ess ST ART/ STOP . Notes: • T o correct entr y mis tak es, see “Ed it- ing Memor y Content s” on Pa ge 39. • When you rec ord on a track that already contains da ta, the keyboar d automatic ally l ocates the e nd of the previo us recor di[...]

37 Correcting Mist akes Before fi nishing your step recordi ng en- try, you ca n move the entry poi nt back to correct the data you entere d. However, this oper ation delete s all data after the point wher e you ma ke correc tions. 1. Befo re you pres s MEMORY , STEP , or ST ART/ST OP to end re cord ing, pres s . This mov es the e ntry point b ack [...]

38 7. Press ST ART/STOP to end reco rd- ing. This data is stored on the sel ected track in ad ditio n to the notes you played: • tone numbe r • option al ped al operat ions • pitch ben der oper ations • drum pad operatio ns Step Reco rding 1. Rep eatedly pr ess MEMOR Y until Rec. No. appears . 2. Wi thin 5 second s, use + or – to sele ct [...]

39 Changing the Navigation T rack After yo u record, the display shows th e contents of the last r ecorded or edited track. To di splay a dif ferent track , re- peatedly press TRANSPOSE/TUNE/MIDI until Bend appear s, then press unti l Navi. Tr. appears. The n p re ss + or – until the track you want appear s on the display . EDITING MEMORY CONTENT[...]

40 Editing T echniques and Display Content s Key Pressu re (Velo city) — Use the keyb oard, numb er butt ons, or + and – to adjust the key pre ssure. To cha nge the key p ressure u sing the key board, be sure to turn on tou ch respons e. Pitch — Enter a ne w note on the key- board or us e + or – to cha nge to the ne xt higher or lowe r note[...]

41 USING MIDI Your MD- 1200 incl udes a feat ure called MIDI (Musical Instrumen t Digital Inter- face) — the univer sal stan dar d for send - ing a nd rece iving p erforma nce d ata between all type s of ele ctronic mu sical instrum ents, regardles s of ma nufactur - er. Using MIDI, you can pl ay music on you r MD-1200 an d another in strument at[...]

42 Cautions: • Always tur n off power to your MD - 1200 and the other MIDI device before y ou con nect or di sconne ct MIDI ca bles. • As you ma ke th e cabl e co nne cti on s, be sure to align the MIDI cable pin s with th e matchin g h oles on the M IDI OUT and IN ter minals. If y ou have trouble p lugging in the cable , do not force it ! Y ou[...]

43 Here is the data that can be se nt and re- ceived wi th this keyb oard and the co rre- sponding control number. Use the Ban k Select settin g to select the MD-1200’ s tone gr oups to be chang ed by the Pr ogram Numbe r message . • Bank 0 — 0 to 127 (General MIDI tones) • Bank 1 — 128 to 15 9 (synth esized tones) • Bank 2 — 160 to 1[...]

44 System Exc lusive con trols f ine to ne adjustme nts uniq ue to a particula r sys - tem. Basica lly, t he syst em excl usiv es are uniqu e to a particula r system; how - ever, th ere are “uni versal” s ystem exc lu- sives that are commo n among de vices produce d by indiv idual man ufacture rs. These are the s ystem exclusi ve mes- sages s u[...]

45 GM Mode on/off (Defaul t: O ff): set to on when you want to ha ve the key- board re ceive GM d ata from another MIDI de vice. Turning GM mode on automa tically tur ns CHORD off, since GM mode and MIDI In Chord Judge cannot be us ed at the sa me time. Set to oFF to turn GM mode off. The tone , volume an d other param- eter set tings of e ach c ha[...]

46 Importing Data Follow these ste ps to import dump ed data from another d evice. 1. Repe ated ly pr ess TRANSPO SE/ TUNE/MIDI so the di splay sh ows BulkSnd? . 2. Wi thin 5 sec onds repea tedly pr ess or so the di splay s hows BulkRcv? . 3. Wit hin 5 se conds , pre ss to pre- pare the keyboard to receiv e data. 4. Start the send operati on on the[...]

47 Control Change — Th is featur e send s data on various contr ollers, e ach havi ng its own number . For the details of eac h paramete r, see “MIDI Data” on P age 42. Program Change — This feature changes the preset s ounds. E ach sound number c orrespond s to a progr am num- ber betwee n 0 and 127 . System Exc lusive — This fe ature se[...]

48 T ROUBLESHOOTING If the MD-120 0 is not perfor ming as it should, t hese sugg estions m ight help. If you still canno t solve the problem, tak e the keybo ard to you r local Radi oShack s tore for ass is- tance. T roub le Po ssib le Cause Remed y No so und, e ven if k e ys are press ed. The k eyb oard has turned off automati cally . Tu r n POWER[...]

49 CARE AND MAINTENAN CE Your Op tim us MD- 1200 El ectro nic Ke yboar d is an exa mple of supe rior des ign an d craftsm anship. The foll owing sug gestions wi ll help you car e for your MD-1200 so you can enjoy it for years . Keep th e MD-1200 dry. If it gets wet, wipe i t dry imm ediately . Liquids might c ontain mi nerals that can c orrode the [...]

50 SPECIFICATIONS Number of Keys .......... ............. ................... .................... ............. ................... ........ 61 Drum Pads .................. ............. ................... .................... ................... ............. .......... 6 Polypho nic Sound ....... ................... ............. ..............[...]

51 Mixer Function Channels .................. ................... ................... ............. .................... ................. 16 Paramet ers ........ ............. ............. Progr am chang e number , volume , expression , pan, coars e tuning, f ine tuning , on/off/solo MIDI ............ .................... ................... . 16[...]

52 APPENDIX NOTE T ABLE 42-4041.fm Page 52 Tuesday, August 3, 1999 6:56 AM[...]

53 Lege nd: 1. T one number 2. Maximum polyphony 3. Digital Controlled Oscillator 4. Range type 5. Recommended soun d range for General MIDI * Tones without scale * The following shows maximum polyphone for synthesized tones 128 through 159: 141 BASS SLI DE: 24 notes Other tones: 12 notes 42-4041.fm Page 53 Tuesday, August 3, 1999 6:56 AM[...]

54 FREE SESSION CHORD PROGR ESSION CHART 42-4041.fm Page 54 Tuesday, August 3, 1999 6:56 AM[...]

55 42-4041.fm Page 55 Tuesday, August 3, 1999 6:56 AM[...]

56 DRUM ASSIGNMENT LIST 42-4041.fm Page 56 Tuesday, August 3, 1999 6:56 AM[...]

57 FINGERED CHORD CHART 42-4041.fm Page 57 Tuesday, August 3, 1999 6:56 AM[...]

58 MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CHAR T Remarks *3 Modulation and af ter touc h for each ch ann el are the same ef fect. *4 Pitch bend sense , fine tune, c oarse tune sen d/receive, and RPN Null receive *5 In accordance wit h assigna ble jack sett ing *6 GM on/off GM ON :[F0][ 7E][ 7F][09 ][01][F 7] GM OFF : [F 0 ][7 E ][7 F] [09] [0 2] [F 7 ] Reverb ch ange[...]

59 NOTES 42-4041.fm Page 59 Tuesday, August 3, 1999 6:56 AM[...]

RadioShack A Division of T andy Corporation Fort Worth, T ex as 76102 08A9 9 Prin ted in the U S A Limited O ne-Y ear W arranty This pro duct is warrante d by RadioShack aga inst manufac turing defects in mate rial and workma n- ship unde r normal use for one (1) year from the date of purcha se from Rad ioShack comp any-owned stores and autho rize [...]