Kurzweil K2500 - PERFORMANCE GUIDE REV F PART NUMBER 910251 CHAP 12 Getting Started Manual

   Song Mode

              Getting Started with the Sequencer

12-1

Chapter 12

Song Mode

Getting Started with the Sequencer

The K2500’s sequencer is a powerful and versatile tool for songwriters, composers, and anyone 

else who needs to record and play back songs.  As with any tool, however, it’s best to start with 

the basics. This section begins with a tutorial where you will record a song, then shows some of 

the mixing capabilities of the sequencer.  If you are familiar with other sequencers, you will 

have no problem using Song mode in the K2500.  Read through this section, however, to learn 

about the features that make the K2500’s sequencer unique.

What is a Sequencer?

A sequencer is similar in some ways to a multi-track tape recorder: you can record and play 

back all sorts of music and sounds, layer sounds on top of other sounds, and change or 

manipulate things that you’ve previously recorded. Unlike a tape recorder, however,  you do 

not actually record sounds with a sequencer. Rather, you are recording commands that cause 

sounds to be played. Nonetheless, we will sometimes explain sequencer features by drawing 

analogies to familiar tape recording techniques such as splicing and overdubbing.

There are several advantages to recording a song by sequencing. For one thing, sequencer 

commands take up much less disk space than digitally recorded music would, so you can get a 

lot of information (i.e., music) on a single floppy disk.  Furthermore, you can easily make 

changes to your sequences.  For example, you can change individual notes, transpose parts, or 

change instrumentation. Lastly, you can share the sequences you create with other musicians.

A Word about the Local Keyboard Channel

Before you  being sequencing, we’d like to remind you about the Local Keyboard Channel 

parameter on the MIDI Receive page (described on page 10-6).  Local Keyboard Channel is 

especially important for sequencing with the rack mountable K2500R, since it enables you to 

record on different tracks without constantly switching transmit channels on your controller. 

Therefore, you should do the following before you begin sequencing with the K2500R (or any 

K2500 model, when using an external controller):

•

Set the Local Keyboard Channel on the MIDI Receive page to a specific channel (1-16). 

•

Set your controller (e.g., keyboard) to transmit on the same channel.

Performing the above two steps means that you’ll be able to hear the individual channels (each 

of which is assigned by default to a separate record track) as you scroll through the different 

record tracks in the K2500’s Song mode. Local Keyboard Channel performs a "re-channelizing" 

function that makes this happen.

Patch Through

There’s one more use for Local Keyboard Channel. With any model of the K2500, the Local 

Keyboard Channel parameter lets you "patch through" (also known as "soft through") to 

external sound modules. When Local Keyboard Channel is enabled, the K2500 takes the 

rechannelized information and sends it out the MIDI port.  This lets you hear an external 

module while you are recording a track assigned to that module.

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