Hello you wonderful Ketron Users!

Welcome to the first issue of the NEW KNAT. In years past, I largely put out this newsletter with no help, but now I have some great contributors to the new version. I will be including regular contributions from such people as Barry Crane of BCK in Great Britain, Bob Hughes of the Solton/Ketron Club, Ted Kraus of CMC Distributors, Prince Ajua Alemanji, better know to many of us as A.J. as well as contributions from various expert Ketron users.
The goal will be the same -- to bring you useful tips as well as recent Ketron news.

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In this Issue:
1) An introduction from CMC
2) A first installment on MIDI
3) An introduction from Bob Hughes
4) Another look at Registrations.
5) A quick look as the SD2

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Barry Crane is one of the leading experts in MIDI technology and has very politely agreed to do a series of articles on MIDI. He will de-mystify it for all of us and help us learn to get the most out of our wonderful Ketron products.

MIDI Magic

“New fangled gizmo I can’t be bothered with it!” You may well have thought or said this when you first encountered MIDI, but these words were mine. Yes I was dragged kicking and screaming into the world of MIDI, I really didn’t want to know about it, after all I had enough problems trying to play one instrument, why would I want to hook up more?

Well, here we are in the 21st centaury; MIDI can’t be called “new fangled “ anymore because believe it or not, MIDI is over 24 years old. It doesn’t seem possible it was all that time ago a customer asked me to show him how the MIDI worked on a Korg synthesizer. Nervously I hooked it up and guess what? Nothing happened – a common experience that has put many musicians off MIDI for life.  I was not put off, embarrassed at not being able to do my job, yes; Annoyed I hadn’t learned about this pesky MIDI before I had to demonstrate it, yes; But put off no, this stupid thing wasn’t going to get the best of me. Before close of business I had two keyboards playing from one, I was crowned the “king of MIDI”, being the only person in the shop (and it was a big shop) who’d manage to crack the “Black art”.

The downside of this (hence the dragging, kicking and screaming) is that every single MIDI enquiry and problem was directed to me to sort out. On reflection, probably not a bad thing as even after said twenty years still very few people know much about MIDI. BCK, the company I jointly own, is built on a niche of supplying MIDI based products, perhaps not the most glamorous of trades, but it keeps us off the streets and puts a “shilling in our pockets”. Having said that I make no claim to being a MIDI guru, there are very few in the entire world that can, I have always just tried to stay one answer in front of the next question. You too only need to learn what you need to know.

Enough about me; what will this series of MIDI basics do for you? The intention is to explain in jargon free terms what MIDI can do, how you can use it to your advantage, and well, after twenty years isn’t it about time to learn something about it anyhow? No apologies will be given for the simplistic terms used, if you know all about MIDI, there are plenty more interesting pages in this fine tome to keep you occupied while the rest of us get up to speed. A little history (not much) about MIDI will be included along with some facts and figures (even less) for those of a more technical inclination. Later on some free downloadable computer programs will be offered to let you get your “hands dirty” with an interactive learning experience (as our American cousins would say) that is, err -once you’ve how learned to connect your keyboard to a PC. Plenty to keep you interested I hope.

So, here we go with an overview of MIDI and a taste of things to come.

What is MIDI? Every article I have read about MIDI explains that MIDI is an acronym for… well I refuse to repeat it, you’ve all seen it and it really doesn’t matter what it stands for. What is much more important is that it is an acronym, so please always write it in upper case otherwise it could mean a small HiFi or a Bedford delivery van.

MIDI is digital data (or information) that lets electronic instruments communicate with other electronic musical instruments and computers. Just as it is not important to know what MIDI stands for it is equally not important to know how the data works - that’s far outside the scope of these articles, and besides, I don’t know or want to. In a nutshell that’s what MIDI is.

What does MIDI do? Well we’ll have to take that one step at a time but probably the most common uses is to play a note on one instrument and have MIDI play the same note on another instrument. Nothing new about that, couplers on pipe and reed organs did much the same by mechanical means. I first saw this happen on an old reed organ in the Lady Chapel of my local Church, I thought it was nothing less than magic, such a big sound albeit you needed the muscles of a body builder to play a chord. No such sweat with MIDI.

What does MIDI not do? Unfortunately it can’t do what people most want it to do i.e. read their minds. No matter how hard you wish, how many candles you blow out, it will refuse to do what you want until you tell it how to by pressing a few buttons and twiddling some knobs.

MIDI Myths #1: “My MIDI is not compatible with….. “ This is nonsense (apart from a few hic-cups in the early days) MIDI is 100% compatible. It’s unfortunate that this term is used as a scapegoat. In reality it probably means, “our product can’t do what you want”, but of course, who’s going to admit that? A MIDI set-up is only as good as the weakest link in the chain, so if a maker fails to put on a control to enable a specific function of MIDI to work who’s faults that? You really can’t blame MIDI. Hopefully, having followed this series you will have the knowledge to check your next purchase can offer the MIDI facilities you need by deciphering that boring “MIDI Implementation Chart” supplied with all MIDI instruments.

MIDI The Golden Rule: Most beginners go wrong with MIDI because they get their In’s and Out’s mixed up (This is where I went wrong with my first attempts). Even if the plugs are connected correctly the thinking still goes wrong because of the way we assume MIDI works. It’s not so surprising we get it wrong because we are more familiar with the opposite flow of all things electrical. Plug a TV or radio into a mains socket and we understand that the electric comes out the wall and into the TV to make it work. Then you plug a video into your TV and that works, we tend to think of hooking up electric devices into the main product. MIDI does not work this way round it goes out of what you’re playing and into whatever you have connected. The times I’ve heard people say “I have a MIDI whatever MIDI -ed into my organ” OK so what they have may well be connected correctly, it may well work as expected, but by saying it is MIDI - ed into the organ they are obviously thinking wrongly and so will not understand what is happening. In fact it must be assumed the product was set-up by somebody else who did understand the Golden Rule. Should anything go wrong with the set-up it is unlikely the owner would ever be able to set it up again without help.

The Golden Rule is to understand the flow of MIDI data, i.e. where it comes from and where it goes. By way of a simple example let’s take an electronic organ that you want to connect to a MIDI expander (maybe one of those wonderful Ketron XD3 modules). You connect a MIDI cable to the MIDI out of the organ and connect t’other end to the MIDI in of the expander (the Ketron XD3 is greedy and has 2 MIDI in’s, use the one marked “Keyboard”). That’s it, you probably know this but the importance of the Golden Rule is that you think of what’s happening. MIDI data is flowing out of the organ to tell the expander what to do. Think of these as being a Master and Slave (in the Biblical sense, to be politically correct). Masters tell slaves what to do, never the other way ‘round. Your organ is the master. The expander is the slave, your organ is giving (transmitting) the slaves instructions through the MIDI cable, and the slave is receiving instructions. Never forget; Masters transmit, slaves receive.

The Golden Rule will be repeated many times in this series because it is essential to understand where the MIDI data comes from and where it goes, to. Audio (the sound the MIDI expander is making) is usually the reverse to MIDI, which tends to create confusion. I will try to explain why: Going back to our organ/expander scene, once correctly set-up by MIDI you will hear nothing because the expander does not have an amplifier or loudspeakers. A beginner might quiet logically assume that by connecting a MIDI cable to the MIDI out of the expander and plugging it into the MIDI in of the organ the audio sound will be sent back to the organ and so glorious sounds will heard for all to wonder at – not so. MIDI does not carry any audio signals. Instead you must connect ordinary audio cables that suit the audio output of the expander (jack or phono plugs) with the other end connected to the audio in terminals of the organ. So now you can visualise that the MIDI data flows out of the organ into the expander but the audio (sound) flows out of the expander into the organ.

Before I start preparing the next article a little word of caution over MIDI cables. Not all cables that are sold as MIDI cables are true MIDI cables. DIN audio cables are wired the same as MIDI and will work BUT a true MIDI cable must have what is know as a “twisted pair” (not to be confused with an odd couple in a pantomime). It means that 2 of the cables that carry MIDI data (inside the cable) are twisted together to reject radio interference, if they are not, a nearby switch (maybe a fridge thermostat) clicking on can cause MIDI to read this interference as part of the data and throw a virtual “spanner in the works”. Most unexplained MIDI ”lock up’s” can be attributed to an audio DIN cable being used for MIDI. Needless to say, all BCK MIDI cables are true MIDI cables.

Next time we’ll take a look at why the MIDI boffins made the whole thing much more complicated, but useful, by adding MIDI channels.

Bob Hughes has run the Ketron/Solton club for nearly 10 years and is one of the best club moderators around. The club has thrived due almost entirely to the philosophy of musicians helping musicians. It is a great club to belong to.

The Ketron/Solton club was founded in 1998. It was born out of my ignorance. You see I am a guitarist/vocalist.
In 1997 I decided to do a solo act. I bought a Solton (by Ketron Industries) MS50 Arranger keyboard. Now I had to learn not only how to play a keyboard, but how to use a synthesizer. I knew absolutely nothing. Well, while Solton had the best sounding keyboard available and was set up for use with a guitar, via foot pedals, it's manual was not very clear to a novice.
So, I decided to go onto the internet and try and find other musicians, who played a Solton synthesizer, in hope that they could help me to learn. I found several people like Thomas from Holland, Siggi from Germany and Chet from Florida, who were more than willing to share their knowledge. As a way to communicate conveniently, I started a group mail list, so that all of my helpers would see all e-mails sent back and forth between our small group. This was the genesis of the Solton club. It is truly a club born out of my ignorance. As new people joined our group, it was a real joy for me to be able to help them, from the knowledge I gained.
This then became the whole purpose of the club. Musicians helping Musicians. It is a real "pass it on" idea. Newbies learn, and then turn around and help other newbies. I created a web site http://www.angelfire.com/ms/synthmuzic/index.html and we still have the mail list, today. What started out as a half a dozen Solton musicians discussing problems and set ups, etc, has turned into over 1000 members from over 40 countries, helping one another with all things musical.
Most are professionals who perform with Ketron equipment, but many are amateurs and some don't own any Ketron equipment at all. It is a great group of people who willingly share their time, knowledge and resources to help out their fellow musicians. For me, and many others, it has been life changing. We have learned and made great friends. We invite anyone to join us. It is free and there are no commercial interests. We have a few, dealers, like Jay Salam, John Gaunt, Barry Crane, Pete Mallet, and others, who are members of our club, but they are not blatant promoters. They are there to help, and help they do. They are a great asset to the group. Also, A.J., the Ketron tech representative, is a member, and has been since the late 90's before he worked for Ketron.. So we hope you consider joining our group, not only to learn but to share your knowledge with your fellow musicians. To join, send an e-mail to solton-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Bob Hughes
BobHughes12@mchsi.com
www.BobHughesMusic.net

Mitch Wooster (AKA Rooster) is a former music store owner and Ketron dealer from Michigan. He has contributed to KNAT in the past. I first made his acquaintance when he wrote the club a great letter regarding Registrations. I asked permission to reprint it in KNAT and he was kind enough to say yes. As we got better acquainted a fine friendship was formed. Enjoy his intimate knowledges of Ketron products. He currently performs on an SD1+.

Rooster and the Registrations  (hmmm..maybe a good band name?)
A working musician and former Ketron dealer's thoughts…

If you like short quick how-to advice then: “Ugh, read manual. Learn.”
If you want to sit back, relax and read a long, but maybe useful view of using registrations by a working musician then onward….

Do you sit in front of your arranger keyboard/module for hours searching for that perfect style, tempo, instrumentation, volume, dynamics etc.etc.? Hours can slip by as you experiment with style after style.

Did you know that when you find the perfect set-up, that you can instantly go back to that setting time and time again. Did you know that you can “tweak” that same set-up while playing live and re-register as same file name so during your next performance your song set-up is even better then your original registration?

As we all know, we are all different and use the Ketron units in many ways. From the home user that makes beautiful music in their living room, to the producer creating jingles and themes, from the single guy that sounds like a rock band and to the duo that recreates the forties band era.

One of the biggest problems that musicians have that use electronic back-ups, is lack of spontaneity. I’ve seen people turning on a MIDI file and sing/play to it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve seen folks use the styles exactly as they came from factory and snoooooze.
Bob Hughes, the owner/moderator of the Solton/Ketron  group letter uses MIDI files and makes them sound really,  really good.  I on the other hand am a dinosaur and refuse to use MIDI files or MP3’s, CD’s, or any other prerecorded method to perform on stage with. I also play guitar but only use styles, self written patterns and tweaked styles and patterns. I like to think that I’m really good also..:)
It doesn’t matter…
Both styles of playing require the ability to make the keyboard/arranger feel live. One way to accomplish that task is to use REGISTRATIONS.

Problem: Long delays between songs on stage while your audience melts away.
Solution: Registrations…NO delay between block registrations and just short seconds with single registrations.

Problem: Can’t remember that little ditty you were playing around with the other night?
Solution: Registrations…just save your settings when messing around with something new so its there if you want it.

Problem: You’ve changed the settings on your instruments or maybe volumes to get that perfect style and can’t remember what you did.
Solution: Registrations

Problem: Guest singer comes up and you need to set-up special song for them.
Solution: Registrations

Problem: Perform a song on stage a couple different ways? Maybe swing it one night and rock it the next?
Solution: Registrations

There are other problems that I’m sure we all have and quite a few could be solved by using registrations.

EXAMPLE OF SETTING UP REGISTRATIONS ON THE SD1 or SD1+:

You have a choice on the SD1 to use “block registrations” (no delay when changing songs)or “single registrations” (very short delay changing songs). The block registrations hold 198 separate settings and the single registrations hold 999.

You access the block registrations by pressing the button on left side of board that says “Block Registrations”.
You access the single registrations by pressing the single registrations button on the right hand side near the Disc button. You need to have either one or the other on. The Block registrations save by name and are called up by pressing block registration button and then pushing style/number buttons to call up either the factory or self board set-up.
Press the block registrations button and choose 001. The factory already has registrations set-up but probably unusable for your needs. If you’ve saved your “power on” settings already, these may change when calling up the factory registrations. You may have to have ON one of the registrations buttons, then set your ketron utilities as you will use them on stage. There are many ways of setting up the basic board,  but only you know what and how you need items set-up. Bass to pedal, MIDI settings, Auto chord settings, etc. etc. Do a “Power On” settings, then save and these basic board set-ups should be stored for every time you turn on the unit. I think that most of these utility settings will be unaffected by the registrations as there is a reg/midi “lock” setting.

After this little chore..

Lets start with the block registrations.
First make sure your block registration button is on. There will be registrations that the factory put in for you but most are not set for YOUR needs. For now let us just press 001 to use one of the factory registrations. Don’t worry about how the factory setting is/was.
Think of a song you want to work on. While registrations button is on, change styles to find closest to your needs.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a factory style or one you’ve tweaked/created or have on your hard disk from net. Tweak as needed to fit your song. Drums sets/volumes, instrument changes, volumes and so on.
For instance, I want to do a Rhythm and Blues tune like “Mustang Sally”. I choose the style that comes closest to my needs. I then play at regular volume just as I would on stage (anything else, such as working with headphones, stereo system or whatever may lead to completely different sound than with your normal performing system). Set-up your volumes, tempos, instrument changes, turn off or on rim shot sound, change which style part is set at starting of song (A,B,C or D), use the “arranger view” button to change the piano to organ or bring volumes up or down. You can drop out certain instruments if style is too busy, you may shut “lowers” off or any other need you may have until you get your style/sound perfect.
When you stop and want to save this board setting, push “save”. When screen says save as registration, say yes. Choose name. I use the actual name or at least as many letters I can fit. These registrations are called back by number but will show the name in the panel read-out. Now take off the registrations button. Play around a little and make lots of changes. Turn  block registrations button back on and press in your number (001 or whichever you saved before). The board will be back to the complete settings you made while working on/performing Mustang Sally (or whatever).
If on stage you find you need to tweak something, go ahead right at the time and do it (easy to forget or procrastinate). There should be only minor quick items to change such as volume or instrument change. Hit your save button and the reg will overwrite you old values. Then it should be good from there on out.

Next Issue: More on Single Registrations and some review from previous issues. Just a note--even though the buttons may be in different locations, the techniques described work for nearly all Ketron Products.

The Amazing little SD2
One of the most useful things Ketron has done in a long, long time is bring out the SD2. Over the years I have had a constant stream of people who wanted the reality of the Ketron sound, but becaused they used a controller keyboard, computer sequencer or something of that nature, all they needed were the sounds. Perhaps they were playing live in a band and didn't need all the other wonderful things that come on all the other keyboards and modules. Those people were doomed to frustration until now.
Now for those people and for me too there is the SD2. I have one hooked to my computer and MIDI files have never sounded so good. (or so bad if they are just crappy files.) The point is, I can really hear the detail.
Now if you get one for yourself, you should become aware that there are resources for the little guy.
http://www.ketronus.com/downloads.php
On my website you can go to the Downloads page and at the bottom I have several utilities for the SD2. Most are directly from the Ketron Labs Italian web site (by permission), but some are from individuals.

First there is a patch map created by Rikki King one of Solton Club members who also moderates a Yahoo Style group called Making Styles.

Next is a patch map I created for Power Tracks Pro. That is my computer sequencer of choice. Included in this patch map is the drum map and the Live Drum map. The SD5 is also included.

Then there is the Loop Library from Ketron. This is very exciting. If you are looking for a way to jazz up your MIDI files, this might just be what you are looking for. To drop in a loop just do this. Open a MIDI file that you want to jazz up.
Then open some loops and audition them and find one that will fit your MIDI file. Don't worry about tempo since they will sync-up just fine. The loops are generally 4 measures and simply copy the loop that you want and drop it into the MIDI file on an empty track. Make sure you call the exact drums that you need. For instance if you play the Rock Loop be sure you call up the Rock drums. You can get some very interesting and non-musical effects by calling the wrong drums. Also you will want to be sure to call up the Live Drum bank on the SD2. The Live Drum bank is Bank 4. Call it by adding a Control Change 0 with a value of 4 to the head of your Live Drum Track. That command looks like this: CC0 4.
Now this file will call your Live Drums on the SD2
Most of the loops have at least two variations plus fills, etc.
If you can't get this to work let me know and I will try to write in more detail, but do NOT ask me about Cakewalk since I don't have it. But in the next section there may be something for you.

In addition to the Loop Library there are some SD2 Utilities from Ketron that include some file that were designed for Cakewalk, Sonar, Logic, Cubase and more. It is very possible that what you can use is in there. That would include templates for virtual drawbars and more.

This unit also responds beautifully to SysEx or System Exclusive information. You may need to explain to your wife or husband that the SysEx emails you are receiving are about music and not porn. The abbreviation does look suggestive.

With all these additional utilities, the little SD2 becomes a mighty big player in the Ketron line. I believe the success of this module will spur Ketron to build more of this type of unit for years to come.

We welcome your feedback. Send all notes to knat@ketronus.com. We would like your comments, suggestions and ideas for future articles.
Sincerely,
Jay Salam and friends.