DMANX@... said:
>
> Hi,
> Can someone please explain what the ribbon controller is used for, and how to
> use it,assign it,programe it etc. I found nothing in the hand book for the
> plg150an or in an1x edit.
>
> Regards
> Dmanx
Well, I'm not an expert, but I'll give it a bash.
A ribbon controller is a form of expression device that originated on the
early Moog modular synthesizers, although variations of the design go all the
way back to historical instruments like the Ondes Martenot. The idea is very
simple: a length of inductive or resistive material is touched by the
fingertip, elbow, nose, or other bodily protuberance, and changes the current
through a circuit by a certain amount based on where it's touched. This is
then used as a control voltage to alter the sound of a synthesizer.
The original ribbon controller was a springy length of fabric ribbon suspended
slightly above a block of wood with a cable that ran to a Moog synth. It was
about a foot long, and is best known for its use as a rocket launcher (see any
film footage of Keith Emerson in concert). Later, Moog figured out a way to
make a ribbon controller as a short length of sealed material that could be
easily mounted in a keyboard case and wired to a synth as a control source.
Moog's Micromoog used a ribbon as a pitch bender: up for sharp, down for flat.
It was also used on the Liberation portable keyboard and some other designs.
While this was going on, Yamaha made a large horizontal ribbon controller that
they mounted above the keys on their CS-60 and CS-80 analog synths. The
controller, unlike Moog's model, could remember where it was last touched, and
thus became not only a hands-on controller but also a set and forget tweaking
device. It was very comfortable to use and had a lot of proponents.
Fast forward 20 years, during which time only two instruments anywhere had a
ribbon controller: the KX1 and KX5 MIDI strap-ons from Yamaha used them for
pitch control. The technology was advancing like crazy but no one was putting
it into keyboards.
Things changed in a flash in the mid-1990s. I'm not sure who did it first, but
suddenly there were keyboards with Moog-style vertical short ribbons for use
as pitch or modulation controls (a current example is the Kurzweil SP series
of MIDI controller/pianos), keyboards with Yamaha-style horizontal ribbons
above the keyboard for assignable use (the Kurzweil K2500 series and the
Alesis Andromeda), and a new variant: short horizontal ribbon controllers
added as "extra" modulation devices to go with the conventional pitch and mod
controllers. Examples of this type include the Korg Prophecy ("I
want...LOG!!!") and practically every Trinity and Triton that came after it,
but not the Karma, boo hoo, the Kurzweil K2500s (yes they had one of these
too), the Roland JP-8000, and of course the AN1x.
These mini-ribbons were nice because they were not only position sensitive
(meaning they knew where they were being touched) but could also sometimes be
pressure sensitive (meaning they knew how hard they were being pushed). This
provided a separate source of control, so one appendage on a ribbon could do
more than one thing.
The original idea was that you could touch the ribbon and slide your finger
along it lightly to get one type of control, then dig in harder to add a
second type. The Korg Prophecy ("I want...LOG!!!") was the first machine to
offer this, and called the two types of controls Ribbon X and Ribbon Z. The
problem with the Prophecy was that the ribbon was too sensitive to touch; if
you touched it enough to get a usable X signal, you also got a Z signal that
wobbled around all over the place. As a result, users of the Prophecy ("I
want...LOG!!!") tended to set the Z sensitivity via its outside trimpot to all
the way UP, so that any touch of the ribbon sent Z to maximum, basically
making it a switch. Touch the ribbon at its center, get Z alone; touch the
ribbon and move around, get Z followed by X.
Yamaha, whose parent corporation has a part financial interest in Korg,
learned from this mistake, and used a much better design for the ribbon on the
AN1x...making it, in fact, the best ribbon of its type ever to be put on a
keyboard. On the AN1x, it's possible to touch the ribbon and get an X signal,
even move your finger around and change it... and THEN dig in hard, wherever
you are, to get a smoothly varying Z signal as well. Exceptional, and amazing
on a keyboard this cheap.
Ribbon X and Ribbon Z are available as two separate modulation control sources
in the AN1x's control matrix; you can assign them to a variety of parameters
in the same menu pages where you set up the front-panel knobs and pitch and
mod wheels and foot controllers. When you assign a parameter to be controlled
by Ribbon X, you should experiment with positive and negative values; some
parameters can be set up in such a way that moving your finger left of center
does nothing but right of center does something, or vice versa. I would
imagine that with some clever programming you could get the ribbon to do one
thing when you move left and another when you move right.
I recommend setting up a simple tutorial patch, nothing to use on a song but
just to learn how the ribbon works. Program the ribbon to control really
obvious things like oscillator pitch or overall volume, and discover how much
or little modulation leads to how much or little change. It won't take you
long to get a feel for how to use the ribbon.
In my work, I use the ribbon for unusual effects that are "momentary" and can
be shaded in with a touch of a hand, like resonant bleeps or tweaks to the
onboard effects processor. One thing that totally ticks me off, though, is
that effects control is very limited--I'm trying to remember the limitation I
ran into. I think it was that you can control return level but not send level,
so you can't feed a tone into the reverb and let it decay after you let go of
the ribbon.
Anyway, sorry I couldn't have been more help. Hope this gets you started.
mike
--
"Your trials and tribulations always remind me of one of those little
plastic sliding block puzzles - the picture never quite emerges,
all that happens is that the hole moves around... " (cassiel)
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