Roland D Station manual

C M Y K in music, anything is possible. Novation EMS Limited Platinum House 32 Clivemont Road Maidenhead Berkshire England SL6 7BZ Phone +44 1 628 678520 Fax +44 1 628 671122 E-mail sales@novationmusic.com Novation USA Limited Int. T oll-free T el: 011 - 800 - NOV A TION (6682-8466) E-mail salesusa@novationmusic.com Specification subject to change [...]

Introduction Section 1 Front Panel Controls 2 Rear Panel Connections 3 Connections & Setting up 4 Applications - Basic 5 Applications - Advanced 6 Master V olume Section 7 Data Entry / Program Section 8 Keypad 8 Audition - Auto T rigger Button 9 Mode Button - Program Change 10 Midi TX & RX Channels 1 1 Selecting Utility Mode 1 1 Saving Syst[...]

Thank you for buying the Novation D Station Rack drum synthesizer . The module you have purchased is ideal for producing the kind of classic synthesized drum sounds which have returned to popularity in recent years in various styles of dance music. The two most popular drum machines which originally produced these sounds - Roland’s TR808 & TR[...]

Front Panel Controls 2 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 Master V olume Section This section contains the Master V olume control, Drum Kit select buttons, Headphone output socket and the Program write switch. 2 Data Entry/Program Section This section contains the 12 Data Entry buttons, Display and Menu LED’s, Audition/AutoT rigger and Mode select buttons. 3 Bas[...]

Rear Panel Connections 3 1 DIN Sync. Out This connector is used to control the T empo/Start-Stop of classic analogue drum machines or synthesisers from the MIDI Clock. 2 Individual Outputs The six connectors in this section are used to separate a drum sound(s) from the main stereo left/Right outputs. The sounds(s) can then be equalised or processed[...]

Novation PSU-6 Power Supply Connect the ‘Master output’ sockets of the D Station Rack to a suitable amplifier or mixing desk’s stereo inputs and set the ‘V olume’ control on the front panel to a reasonably high output level (9-10). This will maintain a good signal to noise ratio. Make sure that the input volume setting on your amplifier o[...]

On page 4 is a diagram of the basic way to set up the DrumStation Rack. Normally the setup should be as follows: If the Master Keyboard is a “Workstation” i.e. it has a Synthesiser built in, turn “Local Off” or the equivalent in its MIDI setup. ( Refer to the manu- facturers Owners Manual for details on how to do this. ) T urn the Computer [...]

This is the advanced way to setup the DrumStation and utilises all of the rear panel features. This setup allows realtime recording of knob movements onto the Computer Software/Sequencer as both the MIDI output of the keyboard and the MIDI output of the DrumStation are merged with an external (not supplied) MIDI Merge box. If the Master Keyboard is[...]

V olume - Rotary This knob adjusts the overall output volume of the D Station on both the Main L/R and Headphone outputs. The volume of a drum sound can be set individually using the ‘Level’ controls in each section. NOTE: This control can be overidden by MIDI V olume data. If a MIDI V olume of ‘0’ has been received by the D Station, no out[...]

This is where you select the programs on the D Station Rack, set the MIDI transmit and receive channels, set the various utility functions and store newly edited pro- grams. NOTE: When editing a program, the current position of a knob or switch will probably be totally different to that of the program selected, so when you turn a rotary control mor[...]

Audition / Auto T rigger - Button This button is used to trigger a drum sound from the currently selected program. It provides a convenient way of monitoring a sound whilst working at the control panel. The Auto- T rigger function will play the currently edited sound automatically at a pre-determined tempo. Audition Press the Audition button to tri[...]

buttons on the data entry keypad to speed up or slow down the auto-trigger sequence. Auto- T rigger tempo is a global setting and is not saved with each program. The Audition and Auto-T rigger features can also be used when editing sounds in the various Utility functions - see Utility Mode on page 30. MODE - Button This button is used to select whi[...]

MODE 2 - MIDI Receive Channel This is where you set the MIDI receive channel for the D Station Rack. Use the ‘Mode’ but- ton to select the ‘MIDI RX Ch.’ mode - LED on, and then the ‘Data Entry’ keypad to enter your selection. The recognised numbers in this mode are from ‘01’ to ‘16’. NOTE: the ‘MIDI RX CH.’ LED will flash wh[...]

Ensure that your data storage device is ready to accept the data. Use the ‘Mode’ button to select ‘SA VE’ mode - LED on, the display shows: NOTE: The program ‘Saved’ will be the program currently selected in the ‘Program’ mode. If you were editing a program, the modified version will be saved. Press the ‘SA VE’ ( ‘+’ ) butto[...]

2 If you want to listen to a program before committing it to memory , select the ‘Program’ mode ( don’t worry about which program number comes up ). Ensure that the ‘Write’ switch is in the ‘Protect’ position and then transmit the sysex dump from your computer . The ‘Edit’ LED on the display will come on to show that the program a[...]

If you want to start creating a drum kit of your own from scratch, use one of the ‘Blank’ kits initially stored in the user program locations. T o store a new or edited program, move the ‘Write’ switch to the ‘Enable’ position - LED flashes. Now , using the ‘Data Entry’ buttons ( ‘0’ to ‘9’ only ) select the program number w[...]

V oice Architecture In the original TR808 and TR909 , many analogue circuits were used to produce the imita- tions of the various drum sounds. The essential sounds produced by skins (Bass Drum and T omT oms) rely mainly on a pitched element, those produced by struck metal (HiHat & Cymbals) are based on multiple noise sources. Sounds like Snare [...]

Drum Sounds The TR808 and TR909’s range of drum sounds were not identical. For your reference, the full set of sounds from the original units and the method used to re-create them in the D Station are listed below . Drum Sound ID TR808 TR909 ASM SAMPLE Bass Drum BD ll4 Snare Drum SN ll4 Rim Shot RS ll 4 Handclap HC ll 4 Closed Hi Hat CH l ** l + [...]

Drum Sound Controls The TR808 and TR909 also had differences in their sound editing controls. T o give the D Station enhanced sonic capabilities, the controls in each section will affect both drum kits. For your reference, the controls of the original units and the D Station’s are as follows: 808 KIT l D Station l + m 808 KIT BD SN RS HC CH OH CY[...]

This section controls the timbre of the Bass (or kick) drum, the lowest pitched instrument in both the conventional or electronic drum kit. This is one of the most crucial sounds for dance and many other styles of music. The classic analogue Bass drum’s are the TR909 and TR808 Bass drums. All the character of the original TR909 & TR808 Bass d[...]

Attack - When the TR909 kit is selected this knob will affect the percussive character of the Bass drum by changing the level of a shaped pulse or ‘thump’ at the beginning of the sound. At ‘0’ it is completely removed. As the knob is moved in a clockwise direction the ‘thump’ element will become increasingly louder . T one - When the TR[...]

The classic Analogue snare drums have to be the TR909 and TR808 snares. They are a combination sound and comprise of two basic elements. Firstly there is the pitched element which simulates the vibration of skins on a snare shell and a noise element simulates the ‘snare’ chains. Although not totally convincing as the ‘real’ thing, the origi[...]

level of that noise element. At ‘0’ it is completely removed. At ‘1’ the noise element is intro- duced and, as the knob is moved in a clockwise direction it will become increasingly louder relative to the pitched element. T one - Rotary This knob alters the ‘character ’ of the TR808 and TR909 Snare drums in different ways. TR808 - On th[...]

Both the TR909 & TR808 feature three Analogue T om - T oms, Low T om, Mid T om & High T om. Using ASM the Drumstation recreates these sounds faithfully and adds more control. A ‘Decay’ parameter not originally found on the TR808 is added giving you even more flexi- bility . Each of the T oms has three parameters to adjust its timbre. Le[...]

always set this knob to the 12 o’clock position. Select - Switch This switch selects which of the three T om T oms will be edited by the Level, T une and Decay knobs. NOTE: Each T om T om sound has it’ s own individual MIDI Controller information so when recording via MIDI always check that this switch is pointing to the tom you want to change.[...]

The three specific percussion sounds in this section are easily recognisable from their names. As the original TR808 and TR909 only had a Level control for these sounds no dynamic sound changes could be made. As the DrumStation uses samples for these sounds a T une control has been added into this section to give the sounds greater dynamic scope. L[...]

In the D station ASM is used to faithfully recreate the TR808’s Open and Closed High Hat sounds and Samples are used to recreate the TR909’s Open and Closed High Hat sounds. Level - Rotary This knob controls the volume of the Hi-Hat on both the stereo and individual outputs. When assigned to the stereo outputs this knob allows you to set the re[...]

In the D station ASM is used to faithfully recreate the TR808’s Crash Cymbal sound and a Sample is used to recreate the TR909’s Crash and Ride Cymbal sounds. The TR909 has Level and T une parameters only . With the D station a ‘Decay’ parameter has been added to the Crash and Ride Cymbals for even greater control. Level - Rotary This knob c[...]

quency content of the sound. Fully clockwise, all the frequencies in the sound are present, giving you the brightest sound possible. The further anti-clockwise you move the knob, the more high frequencies are removed, making the sound less harsh and intrusive. Decay - Rotary This knob controls the time it takes for the cymbal to die away . At ‘0?[...]

The sounds in this section were only featured on the TR808. They are however the classic selection for ballads and the like. The three Congas are recreated using ASM T echnology and the Maracas and Claves are samples. As the original TR808 only had a Level control for the Maracas and Clave sounds no dynamic sound changes could be made. As the D Sta[...]

Select - Switch This switch selects which of the three sounds will be edited by the Level and T une knobs. NOTE: Each of the three sounds has it’s own individual MIDI Controller information so when recording via MIDI always check that this switch is pointing to the sound you want to change. When playing back via MIDI, the position of this switch [...]

Operational Procedure IMPORT ANT NOTE: The operating system of the ‘Data Entry’ keypad is dif ferent in this mode ( all of the functions in the Utility mode are visually indicated in small text under the data entry buttons- see panel diagram on page 8 ). The ‘0’ to ‘9’ buttons are now used to call up ‘sub-directories’ of the Utility[...]

Utility Mode Drum Select 31 TR808 Bass Drum bd TR808 Maracas Ar TR808 Snare Drum Sd TR808 Claves CL TR808 Low T om t1 TR808 Mid T om t2 TR909 Bass Drum bd TR808 High T om t3 TR909 Snare Drum Sd TR808 Rim Shot rS TR909 Low T om t1 TR808 Hand Clap CP TR909 Mid T om t2 TR808 Cowbell Cb TR909 High T om t3 TR808 Closed HiHat CH TR909 Rim Shot rS TR808 O[...]

T ypical Display ident. ( TR808 Snare Drum ) Use the ‘+’ and ‘-’ buttons to “page” through the different drum sounds. Function 2 - Front Cut This function allows you to remove up to 99 milleseconds of the start or ‘front end’ of a drum sound to create a similar effect to sample editing. T o hear the effect this has on a drum sound, [...]

Use the ‘-’ and ‘+’ buttons to change the value. Use the ‘Drum Select’ function again to change these settings on another drum sound. This setting can be saved with the program. See ‘Writing a program into memory , on page 13. NOTE: The Front Cut setting can also be accessed via MIDI. This feature allows real-time, dynamic changes to [...]

by the velocity data. T o hear the effect this can have on a drum sound(s), listen to the demo whilst making reference to page 45. Control Display Ident . T une ‘tu’ T one ‘to’ Attack ‘At’ Decay ‘dE’ Snappy ‘Sn’ V elocity ‘VL ’ Only the controls relevant to a particular drum sound are available for selection with the excepti[...]

Response for tu - to - At - dE - Sn parameters: ‘OF’ - will respond to MIDI Controller data ‘On’ - will respond to MIDI V elocity data Response for VL parameter: ‘OF’ - has a fixed MIDI V elocity level ( 100 ) ‘On’ - will respond to MIDI V elocity data Press the ‘CONT ./VELOCITY’ button once and the display alternates between: T[...]

down. When set to ignored (‘IG’) the drum sound will play in full regardless of the note dura- tion. First, use the ‘Drum Select’ utility function to select the drum sound to be edited. Range = ‘rE’ ( recognised ) & ‘IG’ ( ignored ).Press the ‘NOTE-OFF REC.’ button once - the display alternates between: Display Ident. V alue[...]

Use the ‘-’ and ‘+’ buttons to change the value. As a secondary visual indication, the rele- vant ‘Drum Kit’ LED will flash. This setting can be saved with the program. See ‘Writing a program into memory , on page 13. NOTE: Because the TR909 has fewer drum sounds than the TR808 ( Conga’s - Maracas - Cowbell etc.) only the drum sound[...]

First, use the ‘Drum Select’ function to select the drum sound to be edited. Press the ‘OUT- PUT SET’ button once - the display alternates between: Display Ident.( Selected drum ) V alue ( Individual output 1 ) Use the ‘-’ and ‘+’ buttons to change the value. Use the ‘Drum Select’ function again to change settings on another dru[...]

Function 7 - Assign Bank This function is used to setup the Pitch Play Assign Banks. There are four Assign banks, A, B, C, & D. Range = ‘AA ’ to ‘Ad’. This feature places a drum sound in the centre of a one octave range of undefined MIDI note numbers allowing the drums pitch to follow a musical scale. Assign Bank Display Ident. MIDI Not[...]

Function 8 - Distortion This function is used to add ‘Soft-knee’ distortion in varying amounts to a drum sound. T o hear the effect this has on a drum sound listen to the demo whilst making reference to Page 45. Range = 0F ( Of f ) to 15 ( Maximum ). First, use the ‘Drum Select’ utility to select the drum sound. Press the ‘DISTOR TION’ [...]

T o start the demo running, press the ‘DEMO’ button once - the display alternates between: Display Ident V alue ( Program Number ) As the demo plays, the value changes to show the currently used program. The demo will ‘loop’ continuously with a few seconds break between the end and beginning. T o stop the demonstration at any time simply pr[...]

TR808 Kit Bass Drum Front cut 20 Pan 21 Distortion 22 T une 23 T one 24 Decay 25 Snare Drum Front cut 26 Pan 27 Distortion 28 T une 29 T one 30 Snappy 31 Low T om (1) Front cut 32 Pan 33 Distortion 34 T une 35 Decay 36 Mid T om (2) Front cut 37 Pan 38 Distortion 39 T une 40 Decay 41 High T om (3) Front cut 42 Pan 43 Distortion 44 T une 45 Decay 46 [...]

Controller Map 43 Snare Drum Front cut 108 Pan 109 Distortion 1 10 T une 79 T one 80 Snappy 81 Low T om (1) Front cut 82 Pan 83 Distortion 84 T une 85 Decay 86 Mid T om (2) Front cut 87 Pan 88 Distortion 89 T une 90 Decay 91 High T om (3) Front cut 92 Pan 93 Distortion 94 T une 95 Decay 96 Rim Shot Pan 97 T une 98 Hand Clap Pan 99 T une 100 Closed [...]

NOTE : Factory programs 00 to 22 have their outputs set to the Left/Right Main Stereo Output. Programs 23 and 24 are setup to demonstrate the Individual Outputs. Prog No Kit Name Description 1 Classic TR909 V1 A typical setup of this instantly recognisable classic. 2 ‘FX’ TR909/TR808 Key velocity Mod - 909 Snare. Note off recognised - 808 Bass/[...]

Part No Prog Bars Features 1 01 1 to 4 V elocity Mod of TR909 Snare - T uning and Snappy controls. Note-off recognised on TR808 Bass drum/ TR909 Crash Cymbal. 2 02 4 to 12 ‘Garage’ style demo of the classic TR808 & TR909 sounds. 3 03 12 to 18 Classic TR909 kit demo with dynamic tuning of Ride Cymbal and dynamic mod on Bass drum Front Cut/T [...]

Function T ransmitted Recognised Remarks Basic Default 1 - 16 1 - 16 Memorised Channel Changed Mode Default 4 Messages x x Altered ************ Note T rue ************ 12 - 120 Number Voice ************ 12 - 120 V elocity Note ON x o v=1-127 Note OFF x o After Keys x x T ouch Ch’s x x Pitch Bender x x Control 1 x x Modulation Wheel Change 7ooV ol[...]

MIDI Key Number MIDI Note ( Normal ) Gn = 808 Drum Sound Gn = 909 Drum Sound 24 C0 TR909 Bass Drum TR808 Bass Drum 25 C#0 TR909 Rim Shot TR808 Rim Shot 26 D0 TR909 Snare Drum TR808 Snare Drum 27 D#0 TR909 Hand Clap TR808 Hand Clap 28 E0 TR909 Low T om TR808 Low T om Note: When using a KORG or Y amaha 29 F0 TR909 Mid T om TR808 Mid T om instrument t[...]

If the D Station Rack does not operate as expected, make reference to the troubleshooting guide below . Remember in most cases, problems that appear to be caused by equipment malfunction can often be traced to human error . No power Check that the Power supply not connected correctly or you are using an A/C adaptor of the incorrect polarity . Check[...]

Assigning kits/individual drums to individual outputs Please refer to pages 37 and 38 for information on how to do this. Simultaneous playing of both 808 and 909 Drum kits When triggered from MIDI both 808 and 909 sounds may be played simultaneously . The front panel buttons only select which type of sounds - 808 or 909 are live for front panel edi[...]

Sounds Featured Sounds : TR808, TR909 Modelled : Bass, Snare, T om T oms, Hi Hat, Cymbals (TR808), Congas Samples : Rimshot, HandClap, Cowbell, Cymbals (TR909), Maracas, Claves Polyphony : 8 note MIDI Programs : 40 T otal - 25 Factory/15 User Controllers : All front panel rotary controls except Individual drum “Level” rotary controls. Via MIDI [...]

FCC Information ( U.S.A.) 1. IMPORT ANT NOTICE: DO NOT MODIFY THIS UNIT! This product, when installed as indicated in the instructions contained in this Manual, meets FCC requirements. Modifications not expressly approved by Novation may void your authority , granted by the FCC, to use the product. 2. IMPORT ANT : When connecting this product to ac[...]

C M Y K in music, anything is possible. Novation EMS Limited Platinum House 32 Clivemont Road Maidenhead Berkshire England SL6 7BZ Phone +44 1 628 678520 Fax +44 1 628 671122 E-mail sales@novationmusic.com Novation USA Limited Int. T oll-free T el: 011 - 800 - NOV A TION (6682-8466) E-mail salesusa@novationmusic.com Specification subject to change [...]