Cz Sens

THE SENSITIVE CZ ?! Unable to sell my CZ-1000 I decided to work at it in the hope that I could make it work for me. Normally in my studio an instrument must have velocity sensitivity and respond to MIDI volume control (continuous controller #7), and the CZ is simply dead in those respects. Or is it ? The volume of any patch is controlled by the level(s) of the DCA, the digitally controlled amplifier, while the patch's timbre (brightness) is controlled by the level(s) of the DCW, the digitally controlled waveshaper. Obviously then these (DCA & DCW) are the parameters to adjust in order to achieve the differences in volume and timbre which are normally associated with velocity sensitivity. But since the CZ's keyboard is *not* designed to respond to velocity, these volume/timbre changes are unfortunately not dynamic. Or aren't they ? The CZ 101/1000 has three memory areas : the presets, the cartridge, and the internal. By storing only a very few patches into the cartridge and the internal memories, and scaling those patches' DCA and DCW levels, I now have "sensitive" sounds available via program change (!). A typical set-up looks like this (in my machine) : patch=any patch DCA DCW memory location: 1 99 96 2 96 94 3 93 92 4 90 90 5 87 88 6 84 86 7 81 84 8 78 82 This scaling will yield rather subtle volume/timbre changes, though obviously the scaling can be enlarged or reduced to fit particular needs. If a RAM cart is used, up to 32 variations of a patch's output can be stored. This method should be of interest to anyone using the CZ primarily as a multi-timbral instrument via MIDI sequencing, though some observations are in order. When I played a 4-part, 4-instrument sequence with a patch change per bar per instrument, the CZ stumbled and glitched pretty noticeably. Reducing the number of changes and "staggering" their entries solved that problem : the CZ seems able to handle no more than two coincident program changes at a time. My studio is already fit with a number of multi-timbral synths & samplers : why go to this trouble ? Because the CZ makes truly unique sounds, because it's here, and because I want to make it earn its keep. This method has revived my CZ : I hope it proves to be of some value to others. A note on the banks included with this text : DCA_1,2,3, & 4 are Patchmaster Plus banks for the CZ-101/1000, and are not compatible with any other editor/librarian. Sorry 'bout that. If you're using a PC or clone for MIDI and you need a superb librarian, I strongly recommend Voyetra's Patchmaster Plus. Only Club MIDI's Prolib rivals it, and Prolib lacks many of PM+'s most valuable features. The patches in the banks were created with the help of Mark Insero's excellent CZ-Edit, which is available as shareware on many MIDI bbs's. The only drawback to Mark's program is that it doesn't upload (it was originally designed for quick entry of text patches). However, it will download to both the internal *and* the cartidge memories. The adjustment/scaling of the DCA/DCW values might appear to be rather tedious, but with the help of keystroke macros I reduced the whole process of programming/scaling/storing to mere minutes. CZ-Edit had no problems with Borland's SuperKey. BTW, there are other e/l's for the PC\clones and the CZ, the most well-known being available from Dr.T's.

One other note : I arranged a C major scale in 16th-notes at a tempo of about 140 bpm (in Sequencer Plus) and inserted a program change per note. The CZ flew right through them without glitching or missing a beat (this was a monophonic performance, i.e., only one instrument). It must be pointed out though that program change *will* cut short any notes sustained into the program change, so that MIDI volume swells and fades are still unavailable. If you have any comments re: this brief text, or if you have any other CZ tricks to share, drop me a line on MIDI-Net (IEMUG), MIDIum, or Illusions : I'm somewhat active on all of those fine MIDI bbs's. Dave Phillips 4/21/89 ####################################################################