Glossary

Bank A set of numbered items that are packed into one bulk dump. Individual bank items cannot be received or transmitted by the TX81Z, the whole bank must be sent. There are six banks: the user-editable voice bank (I01..I32), the user-editable performance bank (PF01..PF24), and the four preset voice banks (A through D, 01 through 32).

Bank Item An item that exists in one of the bank slots in the snapshot. The type code will consist of the patch number (I01..I32, PF01..PF24, A01..A32, B01..B32, C01..C32, or D01..D32).

Carrier A sound-producing operator in a voice, as opposed to a modulator.

Edit Buffer The two areas of memory in the TX81Z where voices and performances are loaded and played or edited from the unit's front panel. These exist in the snapshot as the VCED and the PCED.

Effects Some simple MIDI effects that can be applied to the voices in a performance. See The Effects Editor for more.

Focus This refers to the active control in a dialog box that is ready to receive keyboard input. Usually this is represented by a blinking cursor or a dotted rectangle or some type of flashing or color change or something.

GUI An acronym that stands for "graphical user interface". This term is usually used in contrast to a CLI, or "command line interface", like DOS.

Input Focus See Focus.

Item An editable unit of TX81Z data, like a voice or performance.

Keyboard Focus See Focus.

Library A file used to store any number of items.

Library Item An item that is stored in a Library.

MIDI A specification created by musical equipment manufacturers that specifies a standard way for electronic instruments to be controlled by one another. It consists of a hardware standard (which is basically the way that the cables are connected between instruments), and a software protocol (which consists of MIDI messages that are transmitted across 16 different channels -- the messages consist of commands like "turn on note C3!", "set the volume to 60!", "turn on the sustain pedal!", and things like that).

Modulation In synthesis, this refers to a cyclical change imposed on a sound through an oscillator. Examples include vibrato (pitch modulation), tremolo (amplitude modulation), and wah (filter/spectrum modulation).

Modulator An operator in a voice that modifies other operators via frequency modulation.

Operator The sound producing unit of a voice, analogous to an oscillator. Each voice in the TX81Z has 4 operators.

Packed In the TX81Z, there are two different formats that voices and performances can be stored in. The edit buffer format, which keeps each parameter in a separate byte, or the packed format that the TX81Z uses for its memory banks, which combines certain parameters so that several are stored in one byte. For example, if you look in the manual in the sysex section on page 74, (the VMEM format) and look at address 6, the AMS, EBS and KVS settings for an operator are stored in one byte. But looking at the VCED section on page 71, they are stored in bytes 8, 7, and 9 respectively. Bank items and the VMEM and PMEM library items are stored in the packed format.

PCED The performance edit buffer.

Performance A configuration of up to eight voices that can all be played at the same time. Effects, microtunings and other modifications like detune can be used on the voices in a performance. See the section on the performance editor for more.

PMEM A packed performance that is stored in a library.

Presets Non-editable items that are stored in the TX81Z's read only memory.

Slot In a snapshot there are a fixed number of item numbers and they cannot be moved around. The items themselves can, but not the item numbers. For lack of a better term, I call these "slots". When you copy a library item into the snapshot, it goes into a particular slot, like SYS or I05.

Snapshot A copy of the TX81Z data that is stored in memory by the TX81Z Programmer. See The Snapshot for more.

VCED The voice edit buffer.

VMEM A packed voice that is stored in a library.

Voice The basic unit of sound on the TX81Z. See The Voice Editor for more.