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y A3000 Professional Sampler: Power User
Introduction
The A3000 signals Yamaha’s re-entry into the professional sampler market. It is a very
powerful, very easy to use sampler. The first part of this power user will address many of
the important features available with the Version 1.2 software. The second part will
address features introduced with Version 2 software.
This article will address each particular screen via its mode, function and page as follows:
[MODE]: [FUNCTION]: [Page]. This means you can navigate to the very page or screen by
pressing the MODE button first, followed by the FUNCTION Key, then via turning Knob #1
you can navigate to the particular screen in question. Knob 1 is the navigation knob, and
turning it will take you through the various pages of a particular Function. Each page is
identified in the lower left corner of the screen.
When the up/down arrows appear in the lower left of the screen just above the first knob
it means that Knob 1 can be turned to select additional pages. A single down arrow
indicates that you are at the top of the list and you can turn the knob clockwise to see
the other pages; a single up arrow indicates the bottom of the list and a
counterclockwise turn is available to take you back up the list; both an up and down
arrow indicate pages in both directions. Alternatively, successive presses of the selected
Function key (red LED is lit) can navigate forward through the pages, while pressing the
green Mode LED in question, will take you backward through the pages. Unlike Knob 1,
both the Function key and the Mode LED will wrap around as they scroll through the
page screens.
The Knobs will increment if you turn them one click and will travel a further distance with
speed. You will find that the longer you are in contact with the Knob during a turn, the
farther it goes. If you use a technique of short and very fast turns, you will no doubt
frustrate yourself (spinning your wheels, so to speak). Maintain contact through your turn
and you will be more efficient.
Basic A3000 Terminology
The basic A3000 recording is called a Sample. On most conventional samplers, a
“sample’ is waveform data only. An A3000 ‘sample’ contains information like its key
mapping, MIDI channel, filter, envelope, LFO and MIDI channel. In addition, each
sample has its own sweepable parametric EQ (32Hz-16kHz). Samples can be (if it is
convenient) grouped into objects called sample banks. Samples in the same bank can
be treated as a single sample. This is great for multisampled instruments like pianos, drum
kits or a map of beats where you want to treat a group of samples all together instead of
repeating the same operation to each sample. If you need to edit samples within a
sample bank the A3000 provides for a method to do this, easily. (See “Editing Samples
Within a Sample Bank” section below).
Next up the food chain is a Program. A Program is an organization of samples and
related settings into a playable sound or set of sounds. In fact, you do not play samples
directly—you play samples that have been placed into a Program. In a Program you can
make any number of the samples (or sample banks) active by simply turning on the
“ToPgm” (To Program) switch for that sample (or sample bank). When you select [PLAY]: