eKeys 37 includes Picture Board, a fantastic early learning tool to introduce children to music, the alphabet and more; Music Teacher, a tool for learning to use the keyboard; and Sound Studio, a private multi-track studio that allows you to produce your own music. This QuickStart Guide is designed to give you a basic overview of these software programs in order to get you up and running quickly. Even if you’re an experienced computer user, we suggest you take the time to read the accompanying Users’ Manual. It will familiarize you with all of the unit’s features and help you to get the most out of your eKeys 37. Sound Studio Sound Studio II is a powerful audio/MIDI sequencer with integrated digital audio recording and playback facilities. You can record and arrange music for a MIDI synthesizer and record digital audio patterns such as vocal riffs, drum loops, ambient background sounds and more. The sequencer now supports VST 2.1, which means you can use Sound Studio II along with VST plug-ins to create a whole virtual studio on your PC. Sound Studio II also has a Chord Track feature so you can add instant accompaniments in a variety of styles to your music. Used in conjunction with the Virtual Keyboard (VK-61), this can save hours of arranging time. Sound Studio II supports up to 256 MIDI tracks. Using Sound Studio II is like having your own band or orchestra - except you have much more control over your music with Sound Studio II than you have over a band. To set up Sound Studio II with your keyboard, make sure your eKeys 37 keyboard is connected to your computer’s USB port, and then launch Sound Studio II. Click on the Options menu and select “MIDI Devices.” The left side of this window will show you all devices that can send MIDI messages to your computer. In this window, the eKeys 37 is called “USB Audio Device.” Make sure that on the left side of the window, this entry is the only one highlighted in blue. The right side of this window will show you the MIDI synthesizers that are available on your computer. What you see here depends on the soundcard that you have installed on your computer and whether it has an onboard synthesizer chip or not. Avoid entries that have “Out” in their name, as this would send the (silent) MIDI signal outside of your computer without giving you a chance to hear it. Anything that has “Synth,” “FM” or “Wavetable” in its name is a probably a good choice. You might have one or more such entries, but for now, only highlight one of them. Click OK to apply the changes 2 3 section. Click “Close” to return to the Arrangement window of Sound Studio II. Please refer to the full manual if you experience difficulties hearing audio playback from the program during the following examples since all options and eventualities are explained in detail there. Picture Board Welcome to Picture Board, a fun program that lets you play songs and learn about music and the keyboard. Setting Up Your Keyboard With Picture Board This section assumes you have already connected your keyboard, following the instructions in the eKeys 37 User’s Manual. To use your keyboard with Picture Board, the keyboard must be connected and turned on before running the software. In Picture Board, select “Preferences” from the “Options” menu. You should see the eKeys 37 listed in the preferences as the MIDI Input. If you are using the default drivers of Windows XP, the keyboard will be listed as “USB Audio Device.” If it is not selected, 4 5 6 If the notes appear in red but you cannot hear any sounds coming from your speakers, please take a look at the trouble-shooting information in the Help menu of the program before continuing with this tutorial. (The Help menu is located in the upper right corner of the screen.) At the end of the song, the play position will return to the start of the song automatically. Press “Play” again to listen to the song once more. Now that you are familiar with what the song sounds like, we can listen to the melody with an accompaniment. Press the “Recital” button. Then, when you press “Play,” you will hear the same melody again but with a backing band. Again, you will see the notes on the top stave appear red as they are played. The keys on the onscreen keyboard will also turn red when they are played. Press the “Listen” button and repeat the process of playing and rewinding the song until you are happy with how the melody sounds. Then rewind the song to the start and press the “Teach” button. You can now decide which of the three teaching modes to work with. You can choose to learn the rhythm, the notes or both. This lets you find the best method for you to learn. You have now seen some of the basic music teaching tools of Music Teacher 3. You can go on to load another song to learn, or try learning both tracks of the INITIAL.MID song. Please refer to the relevant sections of the Help text for more information on these features. Twenty excellent Alfred MIDI files of well-known songs are insta...