Page 1: Background,History,
& Specifications.
Page 2: Design
& Operations.
Page 3: Layout
Page 4:
Options, Electronics
Enclosure, & Rear Panel.
Layout:
We'll examine the layout left to right across the panel
Create
your own basic waveforms.
The PRISM's most fundamental creative level is the development of waveforms. These basic building blocks are the foundation for any future instrument sounds you may want to create.
The PRISM provides you with three common tools for producing waveforms:
Additive. With this technique
you can produce complex tones by combining harmonics. The PRISM
adds or subtracts them in specified amounts from the first harmonic to
the 64th.
Plot. This method allows you to graph
each of 256 points in a wave. With the PRISM, you can actually plot
a picture of a clarinet waveform, for example, or make up your own fresh
new ones.
Frequency Modulation (FM). This is your
most sophisticated way of creating a waveform. The PRISM enables
you to invent the most complex tone colors by combining various modulator
and carrier waves with the FM INDEX.
Transform
basic waveforms into instrument sounds.
Now you are ready to develop your own unique instrument sounds, utilizing the entire library of waveforms. At this level the PRISM gives you every creative tool you'll need to produce the most astounding array of sounds ever assembled within one musical instrument.
A variety of synthesis modes defines how your sound is produced.
Waveshape. Taking an initial wave from the waveform area, this mode drives it through a shaping function using nonlinear distortion techniques.
Wave Blend. This mode selects a variety of waveforms and blends them from one wave to the next.
FM Index. In this mode, a sound is produced by combining various modulator and carrier waves with a fluctuating FM index.
Alter the timbre envelope of any of the above modes by either the volume envelope or any other device, and a total of six separate synthesis modes are available for your use.
The PRISM also offers four different eight-point envelopes:
Volume Level. This feature defines volume envelope shape for the duration of a note.
Timbre Value. This feature dictates the nature of tonal qualities in a sound. Depending on your chosen synthesis mode, the timbre envelope represents driving wave amplitude, waveform number, or FM index.
Pitch Depth. Based on the pitch envelope's position, this control allows the frequency of a playing note to vary as much as eight octaves.
Channel Mixing. This control indicates which of four speakers will be active during each portion of the channel envelope. In this way, sounds can move from one group of speaker channels to another.
In addition, two special looping functions tell the envelope what to do when it has completed its sustain and release segments.
Two other features subtly shade your sounds. The Loudness Factor modifies a sound's volume, especially at extreme ends of the frequency spectrum, in order to compensate for the human ear. The Duration Factor varies envelope time to achieve realism in acoustic type sounds. For example, this feature helps distinguish between an acoustic instrument's ringing decay in the bass section and the treble's more percussive response.
Talk
to your PRISM without learning a new language.
A calculator-styled keypad - your universal input to the entire control panel - insures digital accuracy. You can change the value of a given parameter by simply entering the new numbers on the keypad and hitting the appropriate parameter button.
Fine tune at a touch. A Track Keypad mode automatically allows
parameters to follow whatever is entered. The Edit Enable feature
activates or isolates the keypad, thus differentiating between creative
and performance processes.
Organize
your instruments and device configurations into playable groups.
Once you've perfected your basic waveforms and instrument sounds, the next logical step is to arrange them into compatible groups. At this creative level, you can organize ensembles consisting of eight related instrument sounds and one device configuration to color them. An instrument can span anywhere from one to eight octaves. Lights over individual keys immediately tell you where each instrument's active area is positioned on the PRISM's keyboard.
With the PRISM, you can create, save, and recall a whole universe of such ensembles - all with push-button ease. Develop your ensembles controlling such parameters as:
Balance. Volume Offset specifies how loud each instrument plays within an ensemble, while Channel Offset spatially locates it in relation to the others, thus creating precise ensemble balance.
Transposition. By giving each instrument both an Octave and a Note transpose value, different instruments within an ensemble can play in different keys at the same time.
Micro-tone. This feature adjusts an instrument's frequency by as little as one-tenth of a note for pitch modification.
Delta-hertz. Should detuning be desired, this feature modifies an instruments frequency by as little as one tenth of a hertz.
Portamento. The PRISM allows you to slide one note or whole chords in any direction. Glide Time specifies the portamento rate of an instrument when it is Latch mode or Solo mode.
The PRISM's live performance control center can be found in the Recall Ensemble area, giving you immediate access to your entire library of preprogrammed and created ensembles.
Your choice of eight different ensembles is instantly playable simply by pressing the Ensemble Recall buttons. Each time a new ensemble is recalled, it brings you eight new instruments with their own waveforms and one device configuration as well. You can also turn one or more of the instruments within an ensemble on or off at any time.
The PRISM has two additional playing modes to enhance your performance. When one or more keys are played and released in Latch Mode, the sound continues until at least another key is played. In Solo Mode, however, when an additional key is played, it replaces the previous key without retriggering any envelopes.
(Ed note:
In my opinion, this is one of the coolest areas. We have all hated the
way keyboards have been laid out: Wheels, joysticks, sliders, we all have
our personal favorites. The PRISM allows us to pick any, or ALL,
and arrange them and program them the way we want on the left side
of the keyboard.
That's playability!)
Customize
the PRISM to your own style of playing.
At this creative level, the PRISM becomes an extension of your own artistic talent. You can choose from a wide variety of manual or automatic devices and then build configurations which describe how each is to be used.
These completely programmable devices can be connected to any real time parameters, enabling you to adjust them during performance to suit the mood of the music. Thus, you might bend the pitch of one instrument, soften the volume of another, and even change the rate or amount of a Low Frequency Oscillator.
Pedals, footswitches, sliders, joysticks, an thumbwheels comprise the PRISM's basic manual devices. Each of these devices can be physically located to complement your style of playing.
The PRISM also incorporates automatic devices to enhance your performance.
Using the four Random Number Generators and the four Low Frequency Oscillators,
you can achieve warm and realistic tone qualities. These automatic devices
also produce unusual, surrealistic effects to create an entire spectrum
of tonal textures.
Permanently
store all your finished sounds and effects.
The PRISM has a fantastic memory. And it's easy to use. With the push of a button, you can store anything from a single waveform to entire ensembles. It is quite possible, for instance, to save up to a hundred waveforms and a hundred devices and as many as several hundred instruments and ensembles.
The PRISM's memory capacity is organized in the same logical
priority sequence as the instrument itself - moving from waveforms to instruments,
device configurations, and finally whole ensembles. Each of these can be
developed, changed, and stored individually. The PRISM does all
the work.
(Ed.
Note: The sequencer was not part of the brochure, but an insert on plain
paper. I apologize for the quality of the scan, but remember, my copy of
the brochure is at LEAST 16 years old.)
Record,
play back, mix, and edit your musical passages.
The PRISM is equipped with its own flexible 8-track, 8,000-note sequencer. As easy to use as a traditional tape recorder, this versatile tool is a valuable asset to both your composing and your performing. Each track will record as many, or few of the available 8,000 notes you play.
With the PRISM's sequencer, you can play a passage, record it, and then play it back at one of a thousand different speeds - from five times slower to five times faster than you recorded it. You can record up to eight different passages on different tracks and then, if desired, play back any or all of them at different speeds. Recorded tracks can also be transposed without tempo change.
Experiment with the PRISM's sequencer. You'll find your only limitation is your own imagination. You can record one track while up to seven other tracks are playing, or, if you like, play along with up to eight recorded tracks. The same passage you record as a violin can be played back as a trumpet, a piano, or any other instrument. Other features include:
Tempo Cue. Program an eight-pulse downbeat with time intervals from 10 milliseconds to 99 seconds. Not only will this cue you when performing, but it also provides a reliable starting point.
Track Master. Simplify repetitive themes and ostinato effects by designating any one or more tracks to automatically repeat completed passages. You can also independently alter the time between repeats to synchronize sequence loops with the tempo or to provide delays between repetitions.
Play Speed. Change your playback speed from -500 to +500 percent without pitch or timbre change. Thus, you can record a difficult passage of music very slowly or speed up a performance to meet the time constraints of a short commercial spot.
Single Event. Edit your work, note by note, anywhere on a track with the PRISM's quick and easy single-step editing control. In fact, you can re-record entire musical sections on separate tracks and then mix them together to produce one perfect performance.
Enable/Record. Mix one or more tracks down to a single track with no loss of recorded sound quality. You can even mix in another keyboard performance at the same time.
PRISM
Options, Electronics Enclosure, and Rear Panel (Page 4.)
Page 1: Background,History,
& Specifications.
Page 2: Design
& Operations.
Page 3: Layout
Page 4:
Options, Electronics
Enclosure, & Rear Panel.