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Hello everyone and welcome to issue number 16 of Ketron News
and Tips (KNAT).
This issue is targeted for February 15, 2003. Today is the
day after Valentine's Day and I hope that the day was filled
with love for all of you.
Note* There are two attachments with this email that are
styles that were converted from other brands to Ketron styles
using Style Works. (One is for X1/4. The other is for SD1.
XD keyboards and modules will play SD or X styles.)
A personal experience: A few years ago when I moved back
to Denver from Las Vegas I went to work for a music company
that, among other things, provided sound for various events.
My studio experience made it possible for me to run sound
at various times for performers.
One of the first events I did was a Button Box Accordion Festival
which is now no longer done in Denver. There were many groups
and much confusion and many demands from a lot of the performers
who mostly wanted to be louder than the others. Amid all this
chaos, there was one group, a family, who was undemanding,
pleasant and totally professional. That group was so good
that I worked overtime on one of these all-day days just so
I could have the pleasure of running sound for them.
This family, The Emter Family has come even further in the
intervening years. They have grown, both as a family and musically.
They have their own website www.emterfamily.com and they run
their own dinner theater in North Dakota. In addition the
oldest daughter is a Ketron dealer so anyone in that part
of the country that would like to know more about them should
visit their web site and get in touch. They are wonderful
people. Recently I got an email from Angelina Emter who opted
in to the newsletter and was delighted that we were able to
establish contact after years of wondering what became of
them. Welcome Emters!
One small observation: I went to see a Theatrical Production
of "Just a Closer Walk With Patsy Cline." I guess
I keep wanting the Patsy Cline story to turn out differently.
Do you ever feel that way? Like maybe the Titanic won't sink
this time. Humans seem to never give up hope. I am truly thankful
that we belong to a species that even when we know better,
we never give up hope.
The Mics are here, the Mics are here!
A while back I told you of a microphone that I managed to
get for the X and XD series units that will plug in without
the use of a transformer and I had ordered a large quantity
so that I could offer them at two for one prices. Only half
of the order arrived, but I am going to keep the price the
same. $49.95 plus shipping is list price and you will receive
two mics at that price on the introductory offer. They come
with a cable already wired to work in the Ketron units. At
this price they are virtually disposable and the sound is
far better than many mics that cost two or three times as
much.
I checked the web site just before I sent out this issue
of KNAT and still have not see the new OS 4.0 for the SD1.
I am very excited to see what this will do. I believe that
this will be a huge new improvement to what is already the
finest keyboard in the world.
Ketron in Italy has come out with an announcement which I
am reprinting here for those SD1 owners that have not been
to that site recently. This is the type of thing that no one
in the industry except Ketron would do. Check it out. For
those of you who are leery of downloading it into your SD1,
I will be checking it out as soon as I get my hands on a copy.
"New sounds, new styles and new features! These are
the components that make up a new keyboard, right? With this
latest software soon to be released (OS 4.0a), your current
SD1 will be transformed into an entirely new keyboard all
together.
Rather than updating functions and improving upon existing
operations (as we've usually done), we decided to take most
of the suggestions from our customers and, by efficiently
utilizing the internal FLASH memory, we've been able to fine-tune
existing sounds and ROM styles, to include a package of new
exciting sounds and drum sets, new audio loops, and graceful
FLASH styles to accompany the sounds.
We went a step further to also incorporate features from
other KETRON products and ensure compatibility between the
SD1 and all other models including the XD-series.
Once installed, this software package will totally renovate
existing SD1 keyboards. One can say we did come close to building
an entirely new keyboard all together - or maybe we just did!
This software will soon be available on our web-site for
downloading.
It will be for our Ketron customers who wish to obtain a
'new' keyboard ... for free!!"
How about that sports fans!!! That Ketron is one awesome
company.
Converting Styles
Sometimes you hear styles that are not Ketron and still sound
good. Companies like Roland, Yamaha and Korg just to name
a few are all selling auto arranger keyboards and they hire
some really good musicians to help create styles for them.
It has long been my conviction that Ketron is the best, but
that certainly does not mean that others are not good. Many
styles from different companies are on the internet for downloading.
Some are original from the companies and some are converted
from other brands and some are created by some pretty talented
musicians. I found some that sounded pretty good and converted
from Roland to Ketron. I used the same style and converted
to both the SD1 and X series. I used a big band style and
then put it in my respective keyboards and tweaked the balances.
It is a little easier in the SD1 than in the X due to the
fact you can get to the Drum2 section a whole lot easier.
I have explained how to rebalance your styles in previous
issues.
I used Style Works 2000 to go from Roland to Ketron. I had
over a hundred styles and this kept me busy for a little while,
but it went pretty fast.
I put the original styles in a new folder on my computer hard
drive and created another folder for the converted styles.
When you first open the Style Works 2000 you have to set the
configuration for whether you are working with MS, SD or X
models. Then click on the
Style Converter box and that window will pop open. You then
choose the model of instrument you are converting from. In
this case it was the Roland VA7.
Once you do that you can then load a style of your choice
from the unconverted folder. You have some choices that will
speed things up like "Convert instantly after loading"
or you can do it manually as I did.
Press the "Convert" button and wait about 2-3 seconds
and then save the file into the converted folder.
Your work has just begun.
Once you have converted the styles you are interested in you
can then go into the style editor and change instruments,
octaves and velocity. That is fun also. Pretty soon you have
a style that is tailored to your tastes. This tweaking of
styles is a great thing and necessary since the sounds on
each brand are different.
Since I have been selling so many of the packages of Style
Works, I thought it may be fun to see what the response is
to the two patterns I included in the attachments. If you
like, you can retweak them and send them back to me. I'd like
to see what you come up with. Sorry that I didn't convert
the styles to MS but I sell a CD of conversions with 5000
styles on it and almost all will work on the MS series. That
ought to be enough for most people. I say it "ought to"
but I know it isn't. I can't get enough of styles and I feel
sure that most of you feel the same.
Have fun and let me know some of the ideas you come up with
on your own. If they are good I'll just put them in the newsletter
and give you credit. See Below:
Equalize your sound
You will find it in different places on different models but
all recent Ketron models have ways to equalize your sound
to some extent. The most complete is on the SD1 as you would
expect. On the SD and X series the equalizer is under the
Effects button - F2. This is easy to get to on the X but you
may need to press "Exit" on the SD1 to get to the
"Normal" screen. After F2, look for the word Equalize
on the screen and press the F button that brings up that screen.
On the SD you have High, Mid, Low and Bass Boost. You have
the same on the X except for Bass Boost. On the newer XD and
Vega you only have Bass Boost but you have a choice of frequencies
you can affect. To reach this point on those keyboards you
press Play Control button and find the boost on page 2.
These equalizers are not designed to do everything, but if
your sound system is lacking in some regard, this altered
output is very helpful. It is also extremely useful for recording.
I urge you to be careful and try to not overdo the equalization
in any direction. This is usually a case of less being better.
(Less is never more!) A good way to gauge your efforts is
put it to where it sounds perfect to you and then back off
half way. Get used to that before you go further. You can
do it a little at a time and a little can sometimes go a long
way toward getting you that sound you are looking for.