Glossary of Terms used by, about, and within the MM6
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Z
Amp Simulation: One of the MM6's digital effects that mimics the sound of a particular guitar amplifier.
Arpeggio: An automatic playing feature that generates sequences of notes when you hold down a note or chord. The MM6 offers many different types of arpeggios which in turn produce many different patterns, some of which will make a held note sound like it's being played by a guitar or bass, or on a drum. There's no good or bad. Use the ones you like. The speed can be changed using the panel ‘Tempo +/-' buttons.
Attack: The first control of an envelope generator. An envelope generator gives ‘shape' to a sound or tonal characteristic by changing how fast a sounds starts, how long it sustains for, how quickly it fades away, etc. On the MM6 the attack of any sound can be varied. Since almost all the sounds do start right away, this control is mainly going to be used to ‘soften' a sound, i.e. fade in slowly.
If you like an edit you have made to a sound you can store it in a Performance.
AutoWah: One of MM6's digital effects that simulates a wah-wah pedal. The effect is as it sounds! Think Jimmy Hendrix.
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 Celeste: One of MM6's digital effects that makes a sound thicker, but in a fairly gentle way.
Compressor: One of MM6's digital effects used to reduce the highs and lows in the volume of a sound or beat. Used correctly, it can add punch to your music.
Cutoff: A parameter found on filters. A filter, as it sounds, filters out various frequencies in a sound and so changes its tone. A filter is basically a tone control. The cutoff parameter selects the point at which filtering takes place so altering the cutoff control on the MM6 progressively makes a sound brighter or duller. This parameter is used in conjunction with its neighbor Resonance (see separate entry).
Chorus: One of the MM6's digital effects. Chorus thickens a sound. Several types of chorus effect are offered and you can create effects ranging from subtle and gentle (good to add a bit of production to a guitar sound, or electric piano) to dramatic (on dance basses, synths etc).
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DAW: Digital Audio Workstation. The name given to computer-based recording tools. Cubase LE is a DAW that can run on either a Mac or PC. See www.steinbergusers.com for more information.
Delay: One of MM6's digital effects that simulates hearing a sound in a particular space by creating echoes.
Distortion: One of MM6's digital effects normally used for and by electric guitar. Basically it adds weight, and makes everything sound ‘rock ‘n' roll.'
DSP: Digital Signal Processing – the method used by the MM6 to create its range of effects.
Dual: Times two! A dual sound is two sounds layered on top of each other. You can vary their relative volumes in [UTILITY].
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EQ: Equalization. Originally a term used to describe efforts to ‘balance' the tone in a sound to make it more lifelike; EQ has come to be used to describe a device's range of tone controls.
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Flanger: One of MM6's digital effects that, similar to chorus, thickens a sound, but in a rather more dramatic, snarly style.
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Hall: Name given to a type or size of reverb. A Hall reverb mimics the effect of playing a sound in varying sizes of ‘hall.' Since halls are generally quite large spaces, hall reverbs will make a sound feel like it's being played in a large concert hall. Reverbs are flattering. The reason is because the reverb hides a lot of faults in a sound or a performance because they prevent the listener from hearing too much detail. Conversely, too much reverb can make your overall sound muddy. So, use reverbs sparingly unless you really know what you're doing.
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Initialize : To return a device to its factory or ‘initial' state. If you initialize your MM6 you will lose any custom Performances, so make sure you have saved them to an external USB storage device beforehand. Unless you want to lose them of course.
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Karaoke : on the MM6, a type of delay effect used for karaoke.
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Metronome: A clock device that helps you keep in time. On the MM6 the speed can be varied using the [TEMPO +/-] buttons.
Measure: A bar. Not the one your order beer at, but a set length of music. When music is written down it is divided up into bars rather like sentences in writing. Similarly, the system helps you keep track of different parts of your song as in ‘the chorus begins at Bar / Measure 17.”
MIDI : Musical Instrument Digital Interface. The technology that makes the world of electronic keyboards and computer music go around. See MIDI.org for more details.
Multi-Timbral Capacity: A MIDI term used to describe how many different sounds can be generated by an instrument simultaneously. The MM6 can trigger 16 sounds multi-timbrally. This is not something you can do all by yourself but rather when you use the MM6 in conjunction with a DAW like the bundled Cubase LE.
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Noise Gate : An effect originally used in recording studios to get rid of unwanted noise (hiss, crackles, etc.) in a recording. This has now also come to be used to generate an effect by chopping up a sound.
Note Resolution : The smallest possible participle of sound a recorder is capable of dealing with. More resolution = more feel, although you have to be good enough to generate that feel. Sometimes less resolution is good because it'll make you sound like you can play more in time!
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Octave : A span of 8 notes in a Western scale at which point a note is either halved or doubled. On the MM6 this control will transpose the overall sound up or down in octaves, i.e. as if you tacked on an extra couple of ‘octaves' onto the top or bottom of the keyboard.
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Phaser: One of MM6's digital effects that helps thicken a sound, similar to chorus but rather more ‘electronic' sounding.
Plate: A type of reverb created (in the old days) by sending an audio signal into a room that housed a large metal plate. This makes the sound bounce around and sound like it was being played in a medium-sized building. Plate reverb is quite short and quite soft. The MM6 offers a digital recreation of plate reverb as one of its DSP effects.
Pitch Bend Range : The resolution at which notes can be smoothly raised or lowered using the pitch wheel. A higher number will make the amount of pitch change very dramatic when you raise or lower the wheel. Standard is +/- 2 which will raise or lower the pitch by one whole note at its maximum amount. Best left at that unless you want a very specific type of effect.
Polyphony: The number of simultaneous notes an instrument is capable of playing. A flute offers one note of polyphony (so actually, monophony). The MM6 offers 32 notes.
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Release : Normally the final parameter in an envelope generator. This governs how quickly a sound will fade away once you have taken your fingers off the keys. On the MM6 you can use this to increase the length of sounds, although since the parameter acts globally, as opposed to individually on volume, tone, or pitch as on a fully editable synthesizer, you may not always get totally satisfactory results. As with all the real-time knobs - if you like the result of your editing, store the sound and set-up in a Performance and you can recall it anytime you like.
Resonance: This parameter operates in conjunction with Cutoff. Resonance boosts frequencies at or near the set cutoff point (see Cutoff entry) and by so doing makes a sound whistly and ‘resonant.' Experiment with the Cutoff and Resonance knobs until you hear a sound you like. Doing this in real time can be very effective. If you like a particular setting and want to keep it, store your current set up in a Performance memory and it can be recalled whenever you like.
Reverb: Reverberation. This is when sound bounces around hard surfaces in a room or space. Literally, it reverberates. Reverb on the MM6 is a digital recreation of this effect, and there are many types of sizes of reverb to choose from. Reverb is generally pleasing to add to an electronic sound that has no chamber like an acoustic piano or guitar body that helps sound to come alive.
Room : A type of reverb (see above), mimicking the sound of an instrument or sound being played in a (smallish) room.
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Split : Where you have two different sounds across the keyboard. Pressing the [SPLIT] button on the MM6 lets you choose a new sound for the split. In [UTILITY] you can move the split ‘point' where the two sounds cross from one to the other.
Symphonic: One of MM6's digital effects, similar to chorus, that helps thicken a sound.
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Tap Tempo: A feature that lets you set the tempo manually, while you are playing, by tapping the button at the speed you want to play at. This is a very useful device if you are playing with other musicians and you want to synchronize the MM6's beats or backings to the speed at which your fellow musicians are playing.
Tone Generator: The part of an instrument where sound is generated. The MM6 uses the same type of tone generator as the Motif series synthesizers.
Touch Sensitivity: The ability of a keyboard's sounds to respond to how hard you hit the keys. You can adjust the ‘response' of the keyboard to suit your own particular playing style.
Time Sig. Numerator / Denominator: A bar or measure of music is divided up into smaller increments – beats – that allow people to read, or simply to understand, what a composer or producer has in mind when instructing you as to what to play. The time signature is a guide to how beats fit into a bar of music. Time signatures are presented as two numbers on top of one another. The top number (numerator) indicates the number of beats in any given bar and the bottom figure indicates the timing or feel that the music is to be played. So, a time signature of 7/8 indicates that there are to be seven beats in the bar, played in 8-beat (semi-quaver, if you're musically schooled) feel.
Tuning 440Hz: 440Hz is a defined measurement of pitch. In most Western music the note ‘A' above Middle C on a keyboard is accepted as being 440 cycles per second (Hz). This is also known as Concert Pitch, and for the most part everyone agrees on that. You can, however, easy detune electronic instruments and the MM6 offers this facility, which can be helpful if you're playing with another instrumentalist who cannot alter their tuning quite so easily. If not, leave it set to where it is.
Transpose: To transpose a note is to alter its pitch. While the MM6's tuning control offer fine tuning control to make minute adjustments, the transpose control lets you detune the instrument in half steps or semi-tones. If you are only able to play in the key of C (white notes only) and you want to play with someone who's playing in the key of E, you could simply transpose the MM6 up four half steps, and still play the chord (or notes) of C but actually be hearing ‘E.' If you do this, do it surreptitiously as more experienced musicians will give you a very hard time should they discover your secret!
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USB To Device : Where you connect a USB storage ‘device' such as a memory stick.
USB To Host: From where you connect the MM6 to a ‘host' computer.
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Velocity: The measurement of speed at which a key is pressed, so (in electronic terms at any rate) relating to how loud it plays. More velocity equals more volume.
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