E-Mu xboard 25 Manual Suplementario
62
keyboard
09-2005
AUDITION
XBOARD CONTROL
As communicative as the Xboards’ blinking screen is, the
computer-based interface is very helpful in its own
right — parameters are clearly labeled and you can see the
results of your tweaking in real time. There are also several
programming functions you can do only through the
Control software: Assigning individual knobs to separate
MIDI channels, naming controllers and patches, and
reassigning the pitch bend wheel, among others. I found
it especially cool how the program’s virtual knobs
became brighter shades of blue the higher their values
are, making it easy to get an instant idea of where all of
your parameters are.
As communicative as the Xboards’ blinking screen is, the
computer-based interface is very helpful in its own
right — parameters are clearly labeled and you can see the
results of your tweaking in real time. There are also several
programming functions you can do only through the
Control software: Assigning individual knobs to separate
MIDI channels, naming controllers and patches, and
reassigning the pitch bend wheel, among others. I found
it especially cool how the program’s virtual knobs
became brighter shades of blue the higher their values
are, making it easy to get an instant idea of where all of
your parameters are.
owner’s manual, programming the Xboard is more like exploring with a well-drawn
map than wandering in the desert. And speaking of editing. . . .
map than wandering in the desert. And speaking of editing. . . .
SOFTWARE AND DRIVERS
The Xboards come with an intuitive computer-based editor application that works
bidirectionally with the controllers and lets you program patch setups, filters,
velocity curves, etc. (see “Xboard Control,” at left). I installed the drivers for the
Xboards in both my Toshiba Satellite laptop (running on a Pentium 4 2.8GHz
processor with 480MB of RAM) and a Keyboard studio Mac G4 (1.42GHz and 1GB of
RAM) and found the process quick and painless. Also nice is that both the 25 and 49
work with the same drivers, so you can swap one for the other without any trouble.
The Xboards come with an intuitive computer-based editor application that works
bidirectionally with the controllers and lets you program patch setups, filters,
velocity curves, etc. (see “Xboard Control,” at left). I installed the drivers for the
Xboards in both my Toshiba Satellite laptop (running on a Pentium 4 2.8GHz
processor with 480MB of RAM) and a Keyboard studio Mac G4 (1.42GHz and 1GB of
RAM) and found the process quick and painless. Also nice is that both the 25 and 49
work with the same drivers, so you can swap one for the other without any trouble.
Bundled with the Xboards are limited versions of two excellent pieces of software:
E-mu’s own Proteus X and Abelton Live 4. Beginners will definitely benefit from
getting a controller, a virtual instrument, and recording program all in one box, but
more experienced music techies may well want to upgrade to the full versions,
assuming they don’t have them already. Note that, while the Xboard editor program
works on both PC and Mac, the bundled versions of Live and Proteus X are PC only.
getting a controller, a virtual instrument, and recording program all in one box, but
more experienced music techies may well want to upgrade to the full versions,
assuming they don’t have them already. Note that, while the Xboard editor program
works on both PC and Mac, the bundled versions of Live and Proteus X are PC only.
IN USE
I used the Xboards in a number of contexts: linked via MIDI cable to a Dave Smith
Evolver, as a second keyboard manual for the Yamaha P250, and as a controller
for sequencing and playing soft synths in Steinberg Cubase SX and Ableton Live. As
previously mentioned, I was impressed off the bat by the Xboard’s quality touch. When
I had it hooked up to the P250, for example, I felt good playing both distorted organ
sustains and dynamically-diverse jazz riffs, something I’m generally not comfortable
doing on synth-action keys. Furthermore, the facility with which I could adjust the
keyboard’s velocity curve (four button presses to complete the change from start to
finish — not bad at all for that level of editing) made it easy to customize my instru-
ment to the style and patch I was using.
I used the Xboards in a number of contexts: linked via MIDI cable to a Dave Smith
Evolver, as a second keyboard manual for the Yamaha P250, and as a controller
for sequencing and playing soft synths in Steinberg Cubase SX and Ableton Live. As
previously mentioned, I was impressed off the bat by the Xboard’s quality touch. When
I had it hooked up to the P250, for example, I felt good playing both distorted organ
sustains and dynamically-diverse jazz riffs, something I’m generally not comfortable
doing on synth-action keys. Furthermore, the facility with which I could adjust the
keyboard’s velocity curve (four button presses to complete the change from start to
finish — not bad at all for that level of editing) made it easy to customize my instru-
ment to the style and patch I was using.
I found the other parameters of the controllers easy to edit as well, and had
particular fun with the Latch mode capabilities, at one point laying down an oboe
drone, then using one hand to tweak the drone’s filter in real time on the Xboard and
the other to improvise a melody over it on the P250. Matt’s experiences were on par
with my own — he found the keyboard’s editing and programming capabilities instantly
accessible and intuitive, simply from the data entry labels attached to the controller.
drone, then using one hand to tweak the drone’s filter in real time on the Xboard and
the other to improvise a melody over it on the P250. Matt’s experiences were on par
with my own — he found the keyboard’s editing and programming capabilities instantly
accessible and intuitive, simply from the data entry labels attached to the controller.