Siel expander manual

Even then, editing isn't exactly a barrel of fun. Or at least, that was the state of play before the arrival of Siel's Expander Editor program. Briefly, what the program does is to display the Expander's controllable parameters graphically on the micro's monitor screen, with a key beneath that tells you how to access each parameter using specific keys on the Spectrum's QWERTY keyboard.

In fact, each display represents a section of the DK's front panel and the layout is identical, so if you're already acquainted with the DK, finding your way around the Expander Editor should be the technological equivalent of a piece of cake. Dialling up Patch 95 followed by Record and Enter on the Expander enables hardware to communicate with software, though no confirmation that dialogue is taking place becomes apparent until the message 'OK, Data received' comes up on-screen.

First time round, that's a very reassuring line to read. So much for the numbers. Amongst many other things, you can gain access to either the old setting O or the new one N for a particular parameter, play either a chord C or a monophonic sequence M that's pre-programmed to illustrate a selection of pitches in the patch you're editing, load from the Expander L , dump in a new program D , or turn to the software's Help Page H which guides you clearly through what each function is, what it does, and how you can go about altering it.

In addition, the Spectrum's arrow keys are used to move a bright rectangle around the display to affect individual editing units, keys R and T are used to increment pot values in steps of 1 or steps of 10 if you hold the Caps key down , while S switches those parameters that are simply either on or off. How does it work out in practice? Well, the comprehensiveness of the display and the easy-to-remember commands make the whole process hugely entertaining as well as useful.

As you press R to increase a parameter value, a little indicator moves round the 'knob' in an approximation of where the real thing would be, while the value displayed inside the control increases simultaneously. Switches have light and dark patches to indicate whether they are on or off, and react instantly to any press of the S key. This is probably the best sound editing program I've ever seen. It's extremely effective, user-friendly, and makes using a home micro a pleasure rather than a chore.

So well done Siel for not letting commercial considerations get in the way of a terrific piece of software. Like the Expander Editor, Siel's Live Sequencer program for the Spectrum is cassette-based, and allows the recording of a single polyphonic sequence and its subsequent speeding up and slowing down on playback. The sequence can also be looped to play continuously, should you be very enthusiastic about your composition or anyone else's, for that matter.

The program loads quickly and easily. As Spectrum owners will know, the procedure is You're kept well informed while the program is loading, and the screen display there is only one appears once the process has been completed.

The display comprises a menu that lists six available options as follows. Play, somewhat confusingly, actually enables you to record your sequence, and is operated by pressing 1 and Enter. Once you've finished playing, pressing Break returns you to the original menu, where the Memory Used message should contain a percentage of storage capacity taken up by the sequence: if this still shows , your sequence hasn't been recorded - start again.

The sequence is replayed using the second menu option, Playback. Whichever MIDI keyboard you're using remains usable for additional performance, though as no overdubbing is possible with this software, only the original sequence will remain stored in memory. Tempo control is also effected in this mode, key 5 slowing the track down and key 8 quickening it up. The remaining four options are Load from Tape and Save to Tape, which are pretty self-explanatory, Correct Time, which resets a post-performance tempo adjustment so that the sequence is replayed at its original speed, and Refrain, which is Siel's equivalent of a loop.

This software package is exactly what it purports to be - a real-time entry sequencer that faithfully records, stores and replays any sequence you care to put into it, so long as it's not of gargantuan length. It's easy to use and well-presented but, for obvious reasons, rather limited. I kept on wanting to overdub further sequences as the inspiration took me, despite the fact that such feats are impossible on the live Sequencer.

Which, as chance would have it, is exactly how the Live Sequencer is being marketed Top Issue contents. You can send us a note about this article, or let us know of a problem - select the type from the menu above. Please include your email address if you want to be contacted regarding your note. Wiki Citation Code for this article:. Short: Show Copy to clipboard. In fact the oscillators and VCA's are all on one chip an M polyphonic sound generator , and the envelopes are under microproccesor control a Texas TMS in case you were wondering.

The chorus is an analogue bucket brigade delay line TDA The M chip conatins a top octave generator with octave dividers, 5 footage outputs under VCA control, this is organ frequency divider technology rather thna synth voltage control technology, though it still remains analogue voice generation. If playing single notes monophonic playing no issue, if playing block chord stabs - no issue, but trying to play two hands at once will mean either notes not sounding again, or all notes retriggering with each new note played.

The Expander 80 has a trigger mode for the user to decide which mode is best. There are some sounds when this retriggering effect can become a useful part of the sound, so it is not always a limitation! The Expander 80 has 40 preset sounds memories 00 - 39 and only?! If memories are selected, memory location selected minus 50 is called up. Extra memory is available on the optional and very rare!

RAM cartridge, where a further 50 memory locations are available memories 50 with the Cartridge mode enabled. Siel did or maybe were going to - has anybody ever seen a Siel ROM cartridge? Like any synth there are oddities of the system, and the Expander 80 is no different here. One apparent feature of the oscillators, is that there appears to be four of them per note!

Yes, so it will seem. There are eigth oscillators 8 note poly single mode , and by stacking two under each key 4 note poly double mode , but each oscillator can be "detuned" to fatten it up. If put into whole mode - that is, using 8 note polyphony and one oscillator, the detune fine parameter still introduces a two oscillator detune effect.

Then, putting the Expander 80 into Double mode using 4 note polypony and two oscillators, the detune fine works on this as well.

DCO2 can be transposed chromatically anywhere up to nearly 5 octaves higher than DCO1 - both DCO's have detune - it's definately like having 4 oscillators. But - what is really happening is simply the chorus effect. There is no oscillator detune fine in the Expander 80 at all, as the detune fine simply brings in 15 levels of chorus, in fact the oscilators cannot be fine detuned, only in chromatic intervals.

As the detune fine is actually the chorus effect, this means that the DCO detune and the Chorus effect are exclusive. When the Chorus is switched on, the detune becomes unavailable.

When the chorus is acting as "detune", the chorus is mono output, though when it is used as a conventional chorus, it's output is stereo. Stereo output? Well, the Expander 80 does have two outputs - not that there is much stereo about it though. Unlike it's keyboard brother - the DK80 - which being bitimbric could put a different sound to each output allowing various auto panning effects , the one sound at a time Expander 80 can only put the same sound to both outputs.

The Chorus effect is however stereo, though only by inverted phase on one side. Who printed the panel wrong then? Parameter 21 Detune Interval goes up to a value of 61 - and not just 11 shown on the panel this is a limitation of the DK The Expander 80 has a slightly odd complete with bugs System Exclusive implementation, there seems to be no official data on the implementation, but it does support bulk dumps and dump request, though it does not seem to support parameter changes via sys ex, it does however allow parameter changes by MIDI controllers.

The only editor known is for Soundquest's Midiquest. Though there was a Siel's own Commodore 64 editor back in the 's. This is what the Midiquest editor looks like Maybe this was corrected in a software revision. The Expander 80 allows every parameter to be controlled by MIDI controllers, though Siel never told you what they were, so here they are If the Expander 80 ever displays 4c at switch on, this means the internal backup battery has gone.

Controller 65 is usually the second pedal function although perhaps the standard controller CC1 would have made more sense - never mind The three envelopes share the same timings, the Attack and Decay times are variable from 30mS to 6 seconds. This minimum 30mS attack time explains why the Expander 80 does not have an aggressive punchy sound. The Slope and Release times go from 60mS to 21 seconds, which should be adequate for everything.