M-Audio KeyStudio [5/20] Getting started with music creation software

KeyStudio User Guide

Getting Started with Music Creation Software

IfyouarenewtoMIDI(MusicalInstrumentDigitalInterface),youmaynditchallengingtounderstandwhysoundshavenotsimply

been included in the keyboard. You will ﬁnd that using a software-based sound source and recording system allows for access

to an extremely large array of high quality sounds, a large graphic user interface, and freedom to work with many music creation

applications.AbasicunderstandingofMIDIwillenableyoutotakeadvantageofitswealthofcreativepossibilities.

PressingoneofKeyStudio’skeyscausesthekeyboardtosendoutMIDI(MusicalInstrumentDigitalInterface)data.MIDIdatajust

gives instructions on how a sound should play. These instructions dictate parameters such as what note to play, when to play it, how

loud to play it, and which sound to use.

When using a virtual (software) instrument within your recording software, data from the KeyStudio keyboard is sent to the

sequencersoftware,routedtoavirtualinstrument,andsenttoanaudiooutput.ThisprocessturnsMIDIdataintoaudiblesounds.

Forthis,youmustcongureyourmusicsoftwaretoreadMIDIdatabeingsentfromKeyStudio,andplaythesoundbackaccordingly.

Inmanymusicapplications,muchofthisprocessisautomated.GarageBand,forexample,onlyrequiresyoutohighlightaSoftware

InstrumenttrackinordertobeabletohearwhatyouareplayingonyourKeyStudiokeyboard.Providedyourcomputerhasbuilt-in

speakers, or you have external speakers connected (and these speakers are not muted or turned down), you should hear sounds

correspondingtonotesyouplayonKeyStudio.SeethedocumentationassociatedwithanyMIDI-compatiblemusicsoftwareyouare

using for more information.

Key Names

The letters printed above the white keys stand for the names of the musical notes the keys represent. The number next to each

letter marks the octave each key belongs to. (More information on octaves can be found in the following section.) Black keys are

“semitones”totheiradjacentwhitekeysanddon’thaveadedicatedletter.Asemitonerepresentsthedistanceinpitchfromonenote

to its immediate neighbor.

Blackkeysusuallyhavethesamenameasthenexthigherorlowerwhitekey,buthaveanadditionalsharpsymbol(#–semitone

higherthantheletterindicates),oratsymbol(b–semitonelowerthantheletterindicates)attachedtothem.Forexample,thename

oftheblackkeytotherightofC3isC#3(C-sharp3),butitcanalsobecalledDb3(D-at3),sinceitisalsoadjacenttotheDkey

onitsright.Inotherwords,blackkeyshavetwovalidnames,dependingonthecontextofthemusicalnotationtheyarepartof.

Octave Buttons

An octave contains 12 notes, and each octave is marked out clearly on your KeyStudio keyboard by black and white sections starting

on C. Each octave is given a number.

KeyStudio is able to shift the pitch of its keys up or down by one or more octaves. When the keyboard’s octaves are not shifted

(octave shift set to zero), the lights above both the Octave “<” and Octave “>” buttons will be lit. The default octave shift designation

is zero and will be the octave setting each time you power up the keyboard.

IfyoupresstheOctave“>”buttononce,thelightabovetheOctave“<”buttonwillgoout,indicatingthekeyboardisnowplaying

anoctavehigher.IfyoupresstheOctave“>”buttonagain,thekeyboardwillbeshifteduptwooctaves.Itispossibletoshiftthe

keyboard up a total of four octaves using the Octave “>” button. To shift the octave down, press the Octave “<” button in the same

manner:pressingonceforoneoctave,twicefortwooctaves,andthreetimesforthreeoctaves.Itispossibletoshiftthekeyboard

down a total of three octaves.

Toreturnthekeyboard’soctaveshifttozero,pressboththeOctave“<”and“>”buttonsatthesametime.BothLEDswilllight,

indicatingthattheoctaveshifthasreturnedtozero.Insummary,whentheOctavebuttonsaresettocontroloctaveshift(default),if

thelightisonlylitabovetheOctave“>”button,theoctaveisshiftedup.IfthelightisonlylitabovetheOctave“<”button,theoctave

is shifted down.