Roland D Station, User Manual

Page 1: ... User Manual d station drum synthesizer D S T A T I O N in music anything is possible ...

Page 2: ...ice Architecture ASM 15 TR808 TR909 Notes 16 Bass Drum Section 18 Snare Drum Section 20 Tom Toms Section 22 Rimshot Handclap Cowbell Section 24 Hi Hat Section 25 Cymbals Section 26 Congas Maracas Claves Section 28 Utility Mode 30 Operation 30 Drum Select 31 Front Cut 32 Controller Velocity 33 Note Off Recognition 35 General MIDI Setup 36 Output Set 37 Assign Bank 39 Distortion 40 Factory Demo 40 D...

Page 3: ...the life and warmth that only original analogue sounds have To get you started 25 Factory kits have been provided and there are 15 User Programs which you can use to store your own kits once you become familiar with the editing parameters The D Station features stereo left right and 6 individual assignable audio outputs so you can process your drum sounds individual ly through your mixer EQ and ex...

Page 4: ...cay controls 4 Snare Drum Section This section contains the Snare Drum Level Tune Tone and Snappy controls 5 Tom Toms Section This section contains the Tom Toms Drum Level Tune Decay and Select controls 6 Rim Shot HandClap Section This section contains the Rim Shot and HandClap Level Tune and Select controls 7 Hi Hat Section This section contains the Hi Hat Level Tune Decay and Select controls 8 C...

Page 5: ...e equalised or processed individually 3 Master Output The two connectors deliver a stereo line level output signal for connection to a mixing desk or amplifier 4 MIDI IN This connector is used to receive MIDI Data from an external device OUT This connector is used to Transmit MIDI Data to an external device THRU This connector re transmits MIDI Data received by the MIDI IN socket to an external de...

Page 6: ...r outlet Switch on the power to the D Station and the display should now illuminate showing the last selected program number Now switch on your amplifier and adjust the volume accordingly You can now use your master keyboard or sequencer to play the drum sounds of the currently selected program the D Station Rack is initially set at the factory to receive on MIDI channel 10 To listen to all 25 fac...

Page 7: ...ion through the Headphones Monitors Similarly Tracks in the Computer Software Sequencer that are assigned to the MIDI channel s of the Workstation should make it produce sound If not please refer to the Keyboard Computer Software Sequencer manufacturers Owners Manuals for details on how to do this Note This setup does not allow the recording of knob movements on the Computer Software Sequencer Thi...

Page 8: ...w when selecting a Track in the Computer Software Sequencer that is assigned to the MIDI RX channel of the Drumstation Refer Page 11 playing the keyboard should play the Drumstation through the Headphones Monitors Similarly Tracks in the Computer Software Sequencer that are assigned to the MIDI channel s of the Workstation should make it produce sound If not please refer to the Keyboard Computer S...

Page 9: ... Buttons Here you select which drum kit TR808 or TR909 will be edited when using the front panel controls or any of the Utility functions Each Progam has TR808 TR909 sounds see Function 5 General MIDI Setup on page 36 Write Switch This switch protects your programs from accidental erasure During normal operation it should be left in it s Protect position however when you have edited or created a n...

Page 10: ...ulator style Data Entry keypad are used to call up and set the various operating parameters of each Mode You can use two methods to enter a number 1 DIGIT INPUT using the buttons 0 to 9 NOTE this must always be a two digit entry for example Selecting program sound 8 press the 0 and 8 buttons display reads 08 Selecting program sound 17 press the 1 and 7 buttons display reads 17 2 INCREMENT DECREMEN...

Page 11: ...cal position of the Select switch always determines which drum sound is triggered Auto Trigger The Auto Trigger plays a basic 4 beats bar sequence accenting beat one To start the Auto Trigger running press and hold the Audition button and press the Trigger Start Stop 0 button on the data entry keypad The currently edited sound will auto trigger at the set tempo When the control of a different drum...

Page 12: ... menu back to the Program mode MODE 1 Program Change This is where you select one of the D Station s 40 programs The program number displayed will be the one selected prior to power being turned off To select a different program first check that the Program LED is on Using the Data Entry key pad as described above you can quickly call up any of the D Station s 40 programs The recognised numbers in...

Page 13: ...ode 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 Tx and Rx channel settings are memorized when the power is turned off MODE 4 Utility This is where you access the various Utility functions of the D Station Rack See page 30 for full details on the operation and features of the Utility mode MODE 5 Save System Exclus...

Page 14: ...programs dump The Global settings MIDI Tx and Rx channels will also be saved NOTE The display will briefly go blank as the data is transmitted Loading System Exclusive Data Dumps Single Programs 1 If you want to overwrite an existing program select the Program mode and call up the program number you want to use Now move the Write switch to the Enable position and transmit the sysex dump from your ...

Page 15: ...sex dump is transmitted from your computer the display will flash to indicate that the data cannot be loaded Editing a Program To change or Edit a program simply adjust the parameters you wish to alter The Edit LED on the display will flash to show that you are no longer listening to the stored program If you do not store this new edit before calling up another pro gram it will be lost NOTE Certai...

Page 16: ...ard computer or the Audition button on the front panel Pressing the COMPARE button again will bring back the edited program If you do want to save the program in this location press the WRITE button and the Write LED on display panel flashes momentarily If you don t want to save the program in this location you can choose another by sim ply entering any program number from 25 to 39 using the Data ...

Page 17: ...ular sound Other parameters feature on most or all sounds eg Decay Tune Level Decay governs how quickly the sound dies away Tune the pitch of the sound and Level the maximum volume it is played in the respective mix Analogue Sound Modelling The D Station faithfully re creates the original analogue sounds of the TR808 TR909 using a new digital system specially developed by Novation Analogue Sound M...

Page 18: ...d ID TR808 TR909 ASM SAMPLE Bass Drum BD l l 4 Snare Drum SN l l 4 Rim Shot RS l l 4 Handclap HC l l 4 Closed Hi Hat CH l l 4 4 Open Hi Hat OH l l 4 4 Ride Cymbal RC l 4 Crash Cymbal CY l l 4 4 Low Tom LT l l 4 Mid Tom MT l l 4 High Tom HT l l 4 Cowbell CB l 4 Low Conga LC l 4 Mid Conga MC l 4 Hi Conga HC l 4 Maracas MA l 4 Recreated using ASM on 808 only Claves CL l 4 Sample with ASM envelopes et...

Page 19: ... 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 LT MT HT CB LC MC HC MA CL LEVEL l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l TUNE m m m m m m l l l m l l l m m TONE l l l ATTACK DECAY l m l l m m m SNAPPY l 909 KIT l D Station l m 909 KIT BD SN RS HC CH OH CY LT MT HT RC LEVEL l l l l l l l l l l l TUNE l l m m m m l l l l l TONE l ATTACK l DECAY l l l m...

Page 20: ...l outputs When assigned to the stereo outputs this knob allows you to set the relative level of the bass drum in the mix Tune Rotary This knob controls the pitch of the Bass drum Turn anti clockwise and the pitch will be lowered resulting in a looser sound clockwise and the pitch is raised as if the skin on a real drum had been tightened NOTE This control was not featured on the TR808 To re produc...

Page 21: ... content of the sound At 0 all of the higher frequencies in the sound are removed making the sound more rounded and plummy As the knob is moved in a clockwise direction the higher frequencies are introduced giving a brighter cleaner affect to the sound Decay Rotary This knob controls the time it takes for the sound to die away once it has reached full volume At 0 the sound falls off immediately pr...

Page 22: ...ntrols the volume of the Snare drum on both the stereo and individual outputs When assigned to the stereo outputs this knob allows you to set the relative level of the Snare drum in the mix Tune Rotary This knob controls the pitch of the Snare drum Turn anti clockwise and the pitch will be lowered resulting in a looser sound clockwise and the pitch is raised as if the skin on a real drum had been ...

Page 23: ... the overall tone At 0 the sound is at it s fullest As the knob is moved in a clockwise direction the pitched element loses it s lower frequencies and if an amount of Snappy is applied to the sound the noise element will become more sharp TR909 On this sound it changes the duration of the noise element introduced by the Snappy control At 0 the noise ele ment is at it s shortest producing a tight e...

Page 24: ...portant as they are often use to create rising or falling patterns Having selected the Tom Tom whose pitch you wish to alter with the select switch turn anti clockwise and the pitch will be lowered resulting in a looser sound clockwise and the pitch is raised as if the skin on a real drum had been tightened Decay Rotary This knob controls the time it takes for a tom sound to die away once it has r...

Page 25: ... 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 When playing back via MIDI the position of this switch is irrele vant i e all controls for the 3 toms on each Kit can be manipulated simultaneously via MIDI see the Controller Map sec tion on page 42 Tom Toms Section 23 ...

Page 26: ...you to change the pitch of each of the sounds in this section Turn anti clockwise and the pitch will be low ered clockwise and the pitch is raised NOTE This control was not featured on the TR808 909 To re produce the original pitch setting of the TR808 909 sounds always set this knob to the 12 o clock position Select Switch This switch selects which of the three sounds will be edited by the Level ...

Page 27: ...he TR808 909 sounds always set this knob to the 12 o clock position Decay Rotary This knob controls the time it takes for the Hi Hat sound to die away At 0 the sound falls off immediately producing a very tight sound As the knob is moved in a clockwise direction the longer it takes for the level to drop to zero producing a longer tail off to the sound Select Switch This switch selects whether the ...

Page 28: ...s this knob allows you to set the relative level of the Crash and Ride Cymbals in the mix Tune Tone Rotary The TR909 and TR808 different controls for this sound so this knob has two functions depending on which Drum Kit is currently selected Tune When the TR909 kit is selected this knob will change the pitch of the Crash and Ride cymbals Turn anti clockwise and the pitch will be lowered resulting ...

Page 29: ...mbals sparingly in your songs NOTE This control was not featured on the TR909 To re produce the original decay setting of the TR909 Cymbals always set this knob to the fully clockwise position Select Switch This switch selects which TR909 Cymbal will be edited by the Level Tune and Decay knobs NOTE The TR808 has one Cymbal sound This switch has no effect on the TR808 Cymbal It is used to switch be...

Page 30: ...s knob allows you to change the pitch of each of the sounds in this section Turn anti clockwise and the pitch will be low ered clockwise and the pitch is raised NOTE This Tune control was not featured in the TR808 s Maracas and Claves sections To re produce the original pitch setting of these sounds always set this knob to the 12 o clock position Conga Select Switch This switch selects which of th...

Page 31: ...al 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 is irrelevant i e all the controls for these sounds can be manipulated simultaneously via MIDI see the Controller Map section on page 42 Congas Maracas Claves Section 29 ...

Page 32: ...eir values whilst the display may flash alternatately between a value and a letter reference code The nine sub directories are as follows Button Function Display Ident 1 Drum Select Selected Drum 2 Front Cut FC 3 Controller Velocity tu to At dE Sn VL 4 Note Off Recognition nO 5 General MIDI Gn 6 Output Set 01 to r4 7 Assign Banks AA Ab AC Ad 8 Distortion dS 9 Demo dE Each drum has a display code w...

Page 33: ...bal cC TR909 Closed HiHat CH TR808 Low Conga C1 TR909 Open HiHat OH TR808 Mid Conga C2 TR909 Crash Cymbal cC TR808 High Conga C3 TR909 Ride Cymbal rC Use the Mode button to select the UTILITY mode LED on Function 1 Drum Select This is where you select the drum sound that will be edited Each time you go into Utility mode the selected drum sound will automatically be the one last edited on the front...

Page 34: ...n a drum sound listen to the demo whilst making reference to the Factory Demo Guide on page 45 Range 00 off to 99 max Each increment 1mS First use the Drum Select utility function to select the drum sound to be edited Press the FRONT CUT button once the display alternates between Display ident Value Utility Mode Front Cut 32 808 909 MIDI RX CH MIDI TX CH PROGRAM EDIT WRITE UTILITY SAVE MIDI RX CH ...

Page 35: ...trol responds to MIDI Controller data or MIDI Velocity data This setting does not affect the transmitted data i e the front panel controls will always transmit MIDI Controller data Example 1 Snare Drum If a control say the snare drum s Snappy is set to receive MIDI Velocity the harder a note is played the more snap will be applied Any number of controls in a section can be set up in this way In th...

Page 36: ...xception of Velocity VL which can be applied to every drum Here are some typical examples Drum Rotary Controls Display Idents TR808 Bass Drum Tune Tone Decay tu to dE VL TR909 Bass Drum Tune Attack Decay tu At dE VL TR808 Tom 2 Mid Tune Decay tu dE VL TR909 Crash Cymbal Tune Tone tu to VL TR808 Crash Cymbal Decay Tone dE to VL TR909 Snare Drum Tune Tone Snappy tu to Sn VL First use the Drum Select...

Page 37: ...again to change these settings on another drum sound This setting can be saved with the program NOTE the VL display ident appears as a UL on screen due to limitations of the 7 segment display Function 4 Note Off Recognition This function is used to setup a drum sounds response to MIDI Note Off messages Normally when a MIDI Note On mes sage is received a drum sound will play in full long decay on a...

Page 38: ...change settings on another drum sound This setting can be saved with the program Function 5 General MIDI Setup This function is used to select which drum kit TR808 or TR909 is placed in the General MIDI drum map area Range 80 TR808 90 TR909 Press the GEN MIDI SET button once the display alternates between Display Ident Value Utility Mode GM MIDI Setup 36 MIDI RX CH MIDI TX CH PROGRAM EDIT WRITE UT...

Page 39: ...tion consists of a Stereo left right pair and six Individual outputs which enable a drum sound s to be processed separately This function is used to select either a drum sound s position in the stereo field or one of the six individual mono outputs OUTPUT DISPLAY IDENT OUTPUT DISPLAY IDENT Individual O P 1 01 Stereo O P Left 3 L3 Individual O P 2 02 Stereo O P Left 2 L2 Individual O P 3 03 Stereo ...

Page 40: ...output enabling a stack of sounds to be processed in a similar manner Example TR808 Snare TR909 Snare TR909 Handclap all routed to output 1 all treated with the same effect i e Reverb Compression Eq etc NOTE 1 When a drum sound is routed to an Individual output it will be removed from the Stereo left right mix and Headphone outputs NOTE 2 The stereo output Pan setting can also be accessed via MIDI...

Page 41: ... 1 23 B 1 Bank B Ab 84 C5 95 B5 Bank C AC 96 C6 107 B6 Bank D Ad 108 C7 120 C8 Press the ASSIGN BANK and the display alternates between Display Ident Value Bass Drum Use the and buttons to change the value drum code This setting can be saved with a program See Writing a pro gram into memory on page 13 Press the ASSIGN BANK button again to select banks B C and D The display will loop back to AA aft...

Page 42: ...his setting can be saved with a program See Writing a program into memory on page 13 NOTE The Distortion setting can also be accessed via MIDI This feature allows real time dynamic changes to be made during a performance See the Controller Map section on page 42 Function 9 Demo This function demonstrates the full potential of the D Station Rack If a Novation BassStation is connected to the MIDI Ou...

Page 43: ...o Guide on page 45 DIN Sync DIN Sync was a standard developed by Roland for synchronising drum machines and basslines before the advent of MIDI This feature on the D Station converts the incoming MIDI clock from your sequencer or sync box into the DIN Sync format allowing you to control the tempo of a unit like the original TB303 etc with your MIDI equipment It sends a 5v pulse at a rate of 24ppqn...

Page 44: ... 43 Distortion 44 Tune 45 Decay 46 Rim Shot Pan 47 Tune 48 Hand Clap Pan 49 Tune 50 Cowbell Pan 51 Distortion 52 Tune 53 Closed HiHat Pan 54 Tune 55 Decay 56 Open HiHat Pan 57 Tune 58 Decay 59 Crash Cymbal Pan 60 Tone 61 Decay 62 Low Conga 1 Pan 63 Distortion 64 Tune 65 Mid Conga 2 Pan 66 Distortion 67 Tune 68 High Conga 3 Pan 69 Distortion 70 Tune 71 Maracas Pan 72 Tune 73 Claves Pan 74 Tune 75 T...

Page 45: ...3 Crash Cymbal Pan 114 Tune 115 Decay 116 Ride Cymbal Pan 117 Tune 118 Decay 119 Equivalent Controllers found on the BassStation Keyboard BassStation Rack Module Note Controllers marked with are only available on the BassStation Rack Module BassStation Controller DrumStation Filter Frequency 105 TR909 Bass drum Front Cut Filter Resonance 106 TR909 Bass drum Pan Filter Mod Depth 107 TR909 Bass drum...

Page 46: ...amic TR909 Key velocity Mod Decay Attack etc Bass Snare Toms Hats Cymbals 11 Cut TR808 Front Cut effect Bass Snare drums 12 Grunge TR909 Distortion Bass Snare Toms 13 Dynamic TR808 Key velocity Mod Decay Attack etc Bass Snare Toms Hats Cymbals 14 Grunge TR808 Distortion Bass Snare Toms 15 Classic TR909 V3 Another setup of this timeless classic 16 Power TR909 Distortion Bass Snare HiHats 17 Power T...

Page 47: ...to 18 Classic TR909 kit demo with dynamic tuning of Ride Cymbal and dynamic mod on Bass drum Front Cut Tuning TR808 Snare Panning 4 04 18 to 26 Hardcore style demo with dynamic mod of Crash Cymbal Tune Pan Bass Distortion Pan Open HiHat Tuning Pan opposite channels Handclap Pan 5 05 26 to 31 Rave Jungle style demo using the classic TR808 6 06 31 to Out Classic Ballad style demo using the classic T...

Page 48: ...ender x x Control 1 x x Modulation Wheel Change 7 o o Volume 20 to 119 o o Parameter Control inclusive Program change o 0 39 o 0 39 True System exclusive o o Voice parameters System Clock x o Start Stop Real Time Continue Aux messages Local ON OFF x x All Notes OFF x x Active Sense x x Reset x x Mode 1 OMNI ON POLY Mode 3 OMNI ON MONO Mode 2 OMNI OFF POLY Mode 4 OMNI OFF MONO Version 1 0 Date 10th...

Page 49: ... C1 TR808 Bass Drum TR909 Bass Drum 37 C 1 TR808 Rim Shot TR909 Rim Shot 38 D1 TR808 Snare Drum TR909 Snare Drum 39 D 1 TR808 Hand Clap TR909 Hand Clap 40 E1 TR808 Snare Drum TR909 Snare Drum 41 F1 TR808 Low Tom TR909 Low Tom 42 F 1 TR808 Closed HiHat TR909 Closed HiHat 43 G1 TR808 Low Tom TR909 Low Tom 44 G 1 TR808 Closed HiHat TR909 Closed HiHat 45 A1 TR808 Mid Tom TR909 Mid Tom 46 A 1 TR808 Ope...

Page 50: ...ovements cannot be recorded on my sequencer Some sequencers feature the ability to Remap the MIDI Channel Check that the playback channel of the track on your sequencer corresponds to the RX channel of the D station Some sequencers feature the ability to Filter out Controller data Check this feature is not active on your sequencer Some sequencers feature the ability to Remap Controllers Check this...

Page 51: ... 808 or 909 are live for front panel editing Operating System Firmware The latest version of the Operating system may be displayed by holding down the AUDITION BUTTON while applying power to D Station The final production version of the operating system firmware is 1 3 and the display should show this Please note this system in NOT flash memory upgradeable If a previous version is displayed and it...

Page 52: ...most sounds Refer Controller Map on page 42 Note Off Recognition Selective Note Off recognition for each drum sound General MIDI Selective Drum Kit TR808 TR909 for placement within the GM map Connections MIDI IN OUT THRU Outputs Stereo Left Right 6 Individual Outputs Headphone DIN Sync Output 24 ppqn Power 9VDC 500mA input Use Novation PSU 4 Dimensions Weight Case Style 1U 19 Rackmount Width 483mm...

Page 53: ...outlets that are on different branch Circuit breaker or fuse circuits or install AC line filter s In the case of radio or TV interference relocate re orient the antenna If the antenna lead in is 300 ohm ribbon lead change the lead in to co axial type cable If these corrective measures do not produce satisfactory results please contact the local retailer authorised to distribute this type of produc...

Page 54: ...Berkshire England SL6 7BZ Phone 44 1 628 678520 Fax 44 1 628 671122 E mail sales novationmusic com Novation USA Limited Int Toll free Tel 011 800 NOVATION 6682 8466 E mail salesusa novationmusic com Specification subject to change without prior notice www novationmusic com Part No MAN DST UK Vers 1 1 n O ...