Reference Manual

434 Live Instrument Reference
Key Zones
The Key Zone Editor.
Key zones define the range of MIDI notes over which each sample will play. Samples are only
triggered when incoming MIDI notes lie within their key zone. Every sample has its own key
zone, which can span anywhere from a single key up to the full 127.
A typical multisampled instrument contains many individual samples, distributed into many key
zones. Samples are captured at a particular key of an instrument’s voice range (known as their
root key), but may continue to sound accurate when transposed a few semitones up or down.
This range usually corresponds to the sample’s key zone; ranges beyond this zone are repre-
sented by additional samples, as needed.
By default, the key zones of newly imported samples cover the full MIDI note range. Zones can
be moved and resized like clips in the Arrangement View, by dragging their right or left edges to
resize them, then dragging them into position.
Zones can also be faded over a number of semitones at either end by dragging their top right or
left corners. This makes it easy to smoothly crossfade between adjacent samples as the length of
the keyboard is traversed. The Lin and Pow boxes above the sample layer list indicate whether
the zones will fade in a linear or exponential manner.