Here’s a great tip from our friends at E-mu to help you make tons of new sounds easily with your E-mu sound module, keyboard, or Command Station.
Just because you’ve auditioned every Preset on your synth doesn’t mean you’ve heard every sound it can make. The good news is that synthesizers, by definition, give you the tools to tweak existing sounds or create new Presets from scratch. The bad news is that you need to have extensive knowledge of your synthesizer’s architecture to really make a difference, and make great Presets that are original and impact your music. . .
…or so you thought!
RANDOMIZE PRESET is a feature found on all of the current E-Mu Systems Sound Modules, Command Stations, and the new series of Keyboards. In 2 or 3 button presses, it creates a new, totally original Preset that would take a top-notch programmer at least an hour to dream up, but with a twist. Because the process is random, there are no biases on how to use the tools. It disregards conventional wisdom regarding synth programming techniques; blending sounds, filters, envelopes, LFO shapes etc. The resulting Presets are unpredictable, and dramatic in the range of sonic boundaries. You will love some, you will hate some, but you will never hear the same sound twice. And of course, if you hit the sonic jackpot, you can save it as a preset! Once you have saved it, you can use the onboard realtime control knobs to tweak the sound even more, as you can with all of our sounds.
HOW TO RANDOMIZE A PRESET
Preparation: Simply start from any Preset.
Press the Save/Copy Button.
Turn Dial clockwise (right) to last screen to display “RANDOMIZE PRESET”.
If “RANDOMIZE PRESET” is NOT displayed on top line, turn Dial counter-clockwise (left) 1 – 4 clicks to display. (Different software revs. result in variations)
Press Home/Enter Button. (Screen momentarily reads; “RANDOMIZING…”)
A new preset is born! Play it! Notice the sound category – rnd: and name. They are temporary and have not overwritten anything.
If the result is not satisfactory, repeat steps 4 & 5 until a Preset worthy of saving has been created.
Dial counter-clockwise to display “SAVE PRESET to” screen.
Press Cursor button (< or >) to position under Preset Number/Bank and Dial to desired location for newly created randomized preset.
Press Home/Enter Button to save.