Group parameters

The group parameters are located at the top left on the remote editor panel. These are parameters that in various ways are directly related to playing style.

Group parameters apply to a group, that is they are settings that are shared by all zones in a group.

To make adjustments to one group, select one or more zones that belong to the group, and adjust the parameter on the front panel.

To set several groups to the same value, select at least one zone in each group you want to adjust, and adjust the parameter on the front panel.

Key Poly

This setting determines the number of keys that you can play simultaneously (the polyphony). The maximum number is 99 and the minimum is 1, in which case the group will be monophonic.

Users of other samplers may want to note that the polyphony often means setting the number of voices that should be able to play. The NN-XT is different in this aspect, since the polyphony setting instead determines the number of keys, regardless of how many voices each key plays.

The Group Mono button

The Group Mono button beside the Key Poly section can be used to quickly set a group to play monophonically regardless of the polyphony setting. E.g. if you have a group with open and closed hi hats, you can switch this on so that an open hi hat is automatically muted when you play a closed hi hat.

Group Mono overrides the Key Poly setting - except when playing the same note.

So you can play your open hi-hat repeatedly without the sound cutting itself off. When you play the closed hi-hat, this cuts off the open hi-hat.

Note that activating this button is not the same as setting polyphony to 1. E.g., it can not be used for Legato or mono Retrig (see “Legato and Retrig”).

Legato and Retrig

Legato

Legato works best with monophonic sounds. Set Key Poly (see above) to 1 and try the following:

Hold down a key and then press another key without releasing the previous.

Notice that the pitch changes, but the envelopes do not start over. That is, there will be no new “attack”.

If Key Poly is set to more voices than 1, Legato will only be applied when all the assigned keys are “used up”.

For example, if you had a polyphony setting of “4” and you held down a 4 note chord, the next note you played would be Legato. Note, however, that this Legato key will “steal” one of the keys in the 4 note chord, as all the assigned keys were already used up!

Retrig

Retrig is the “normal” setting for playing polyphonic patches. That is, when you press a key without releasing the previous, the envelopes are triggered, like when you release all keys and then press a new one. In monophonic mode, Retrig has an additional function; if you press a key, hold it, press a new key and then release that, the first note is also retriggered.

LFO 1 Rate

This is used for controlling the rate of LFO 1 if it is used in “Group Rate” mode. In that case, this knob will take precedence over the rate parameter in the LFO 1 section. See “The LFOs” for detailed information about this.

Portamento

This is used for controlling portamento - a parameter that makes the pitch glide between the notes you play, rather than changing the pitch instantly as soon as you hit a key on your keyboard. By turning this knob you set how long it should take for the pitch to glide from one note to the next as you play them.

In legato mode, there will only be any portamento when actually playing legato (tied) notes.

With the knob turned all the way to the left, portamento is disabled.