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Chapter 2: Playing the DG8
DG8 REFERENCE MANUAL 31
CHAPTER 2
PLAYING THE DG8
OVERVIEW
The DG8 contains a total of 88 sound programs in its internal memory. 60 of these are
called Keyboard Programs and represent a selection of pianos and other keyboard
instruments such as harpsichord, electric piano, clavinet, pipe and electric organs. In
addition, popular electronic keyboard sounds such as traditional synthesizer and
“pad” sounds, strings (orchestral or ensemble type), choir and vibes are included.
For Splits – where the DG8 plays a sound on the lower range and another sound on
the upper range of the keyboard – a selection of 28 popular Bass Programs are
included for left hand accompaniment on the lower keyboard range.
Each of the DG8’s sound programs is a digital sample – an electronic recording of an
audible sound – that is stored in the instrument’s memory. The DG8’s memory is a
type of memory used in a wide variety of electronic instruments and computers
called ROM (“Read-Only Memory”) which cannot be erased or altered.
Sound programs in the DG8 may be constructed of only one instrument or, as in the
case of
PAD, SYNTH or MULTI sounds (to name a few), a composite sound.
A composite sound is a sound that was constructed from one or more synthesizers and/or
samplers. When playing one of these DG8 sounds, you may hear what appears to be several
sounds mixed together. In this case, that’s exactly what we did. The resulting program in the
DG8 is a rich and full sound, but only takes up a single location in memory.
HOW THE SOUNDS ARE ORGANIZED
The DG8 divides its sound memory into two categories, internal and external
sounds. Internal sounds are accessed from the Keyboard Banks and the Bass Banks.
External sounds are called Card Bank programs and are accessed from a sound card
inserted in the back panel’s
EXPANSION CARD slot.
Keyboard Banks
The DG8 has 60 Keyboard Programs in its internal memory. These 60 sounds are
arranged into 15 Banks that correspond to the 15 rectangular buttons on the right
side of the control panel.
Each Bank contains four variations of the sound that is printed on the button label.
For example,
FM PIANO contains four well-known FM-type electronic piano sounds;
PIPE ORGAN contains four variations of pipe organ ensembles usually associated with
church or cathedral organs.