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Chapter 2: Playing the A6
ANDROMEDA A6 REFERENCE MANUAL 35
Throughout this manual, we’ll be using the following terms to describe the memory
capabilities of the A6:
•A Program bank refers to an entire bank of Programs.
•A Mix bank refers to an entire bank of Mixes.
•A User bank (there’s one for Programs and one for Mixes) refers to a data
bank that uses RAM for storage and can be edited. You can think of this of
bank as your “work space”: individual Programs and Mixes can be edited and
stored, replaced, copied and so forth.
•A Preset bank refers to a data bank – either Program or Mix – in Flash ROM.
The A6’s Preset banks (there are three of them) are commonly called “factory
presets” on many other instruments. These banks – two Preset Program banks
and one Preset Mix bank – contain Programs and Mixes developed for the A6
by the Alesis Sound Design team.
Unlike Preset banks in many other synths, the A6's Preset banks can be
customized by the user, but only as an Entire Bank copy operation. This
means that, unlike the User banks, you cannot selectively copy just one
Program or Mix to this bank. The entire bank must be over-written at once.
•A Card bank refers to a data bank of memory provided by a PCMCIA card in
the A6's back-panel card slot. An SRAM card allows the same options for
storage as found for the User bank. The card may allow for a Program Bank
only, several Mix banks, or a combination, depending on its size.
The A6’s memory capacity is arranged as follows:
Program mode:
• 2 Preset Program banks of 128 Programs (256 total)
• 1 User Program bank of 128 Programs
Mix mode:
• 1 Preset Mix banks of 128 Mixes each
• 1 User Mix bank of 128 Mixes
Memory Functions
Each of the two play modes – Program and Mix – contain two memory functions that
are used when editing existing Programs or Mixes, or creating new ones. When
pressed, a memory button’s associated LED will light:
• the
STORE button allows you to save a Program or Mix that you’ve edited or
created into the current program number, or copy it to another memory
location. The procedure for saving edited Programs and Mixes is detailed on
page 43.
• pressing
COMPARE recalls the stored version of the Program or Mix you’re
editing so that you can compare the edited version with the original. This
button is inactive if the current program hasn’t been edited (there’s nothing
different to compare).
Program mode contains a third memory-related function called
MANUAL that’s used
when creating new Programs and is only active in Program mode. Pressing this
button causes the A6 to exit the current Program and create a new Program based on
the current settings of all front panel controls. While this new program may not
sound like anything useful – the knobs could be positioned in strange settings – it
provides a good starting point for a new program.