Roland EM-55 - Manual (Page 35)

EM-55 OR Owner’s Manual
35
ENGLISH
ENGLISH
ENGLISH
ENGLISH
Keyboard Velocity
The EM-55 OR is velocity sensitive, which means that the volume and brightness of the Upper 1/2
and Lower notes depend on the force/speed with which you strike the keys.
All acoustic instruments (piano, violin, flute,
drums, etc.) are velocity sensitive. The harder
you play, the louder and brighter the resulting
notes will be, which creates a perfectly natural
effect. (That explains why the KEYBOARD
VELOCITY function is on every time you power
on the EM-55 OR.)
If the EM-55 OR is your first musical instrument
ever, you may feel distracted by the volume and
timbre variations of the notes you play in the
Upper section.
(1) Press and hold the [FUNCTION] button,
while pressing the BANK/NUMBER [1]
button.
This selects the “KbdVelo” function:
(2) Use the [TEMPO/DATA] dial to select one
of the available options:
Off: The EM-55 OR does not respond to
changes in playing dynamics. All notes you
play will have the same volume and timbre
(tone colour).
Low: Choose this setting if only significant
differences in playing dynamics should pro-
duce noticeable changes.
Med: This setting corresponds to standard
velocity sensitivity, i.e. the most natural
response.
Hig: Choose this setting for maximum
expression. Though you will have to hit the
keys harder than usual to play loud and
bright notes, this setting allows for precise
control of the volume/timbre (even though
it may require some training).
(3) Press [SONG], [STYLE], [TONES], [USER
PROGRAM], or [MUSIC ASSISTANT] to
leave this page.
Note: Quite a few Tones use “velocity switching”.
This means that your striking force sometimes
selects a different sound. So only switch off this
parameter if doing so makes you feel more com-
fortable.
Note: Keyboard Velocity applies to all parts you can
play yourself (the “Keyboard parts”): Upper 1/2,
Lower, M.Bass (page 45), and M.Drums (page 20).
Pitch Bend and Modulation
The BENDER/MODULATION lever to the left of the EM-55 OR’s keyboard can be used to add two kinds of
effects to the Keyboard part notes. You can even use these effects simultaneously if you like.
(1) Press the lever towards the rear of the
EM-55 OR to add a vibrato effect (“wob-
ble”) to the notes you are playing.
The Modulation axis can also be used for
switching between the slow and fast Rotary
speeds (if the “Rotary” effect is assigned to
the M-FX).
(2) Turn the lever to the left to temporarily
lower the pitch of the notes you are play-
ing. Turn it to the right to raise the pitch
of your notes.
(3) In either case, you can release the lever if
you no longer need the effect.
Note: If desired, you can change the Pitch Bend
interval. See “PB Range (Pitch Bend Range)” (p. 45).
12. Performance functions
FUNCTION
1
Kbd Velo VALUE
BENDER
MODULATION
Lowers the
pitch Raises the
pitch
EM-55OR_UK Page 35 Wednesday, July 10, 2002 3:32 PM