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Hello to all the wonderful Ketron users and welcome to issue
number 30 of Ketron News and Tips (KNAT).
This issue is targeted for September 15, 2003.
The first thing to notice is the change of format. This has
been prompted by all the spam filtering out there. Spam is
crippling our industry and it will not be stopped until the
penalties are severe enough that it won't be profitable to
do it anymore. So to get past a few more spam filters (which
I believe in) I will be putting the out in plain text format
for the foreseeable future.
If you have a question to ask or a tip to submit, please let
me know at jay@ketronus.com. Also I love your comments so
don't hesitate to let me have a response.
In this Issue:
Band-In-A-Box offer still on
Style Works 2000 Upgrade and delayed shipping
Sound Company Great offer
Tips: 2nd split & 1Touch
Quotes: Just for fun
Style Works Upgrade
First and apology: Style Works 2000 has been on back order
for more than 2 weeks now and I am as anxious as those who
have paid for it and not received it. I understand because
I have paid for multiple copies and not received them either.
I am told the delay has been caused because of the upgrades
coming and shipping was delayed while the upgrades were installed
on the disks.
For every one who has purchased the Style Works 2000, either
Universal or Solton/Ketron the upgrade to allow XD9/3 styles
is posted. This is soon to be followed by an upgrade that
allows import/export function. Here is a description from
the EMC web site.
In the new version (V 1.87, 30.06.03) the efficiency of the
Style Editor has once again been improved, part length changes
are now available. Further the formats of Ketron XD9 and Kawai
CP have been added, the delay occurring during playback start
with Windows XP has also been removed (resp. there is workaround
for this problem). We are currently working on the Tyros Update
and on the implementation of the automatic part recognition
in the Song To Style Converter. The next new module will be
the import/export function.
More Style Works Upgrades
According to Klaus at EMC software, more upgrades should be
available within the week.
First the newest versions will be able to register from any
drive on your computer and not just the floppy.
For Universal version users the Tyros mapping is included.
And here is an upgrade I a very enthused about. Directly from
Klaus:
You can create a reference map for volumes, velocity etc.
for a certain style or a general one. This map should be created
from internal styles (save to disk and then load into the
new Reference Map Editor). Style Works then creates a min/max/avg
value for velocity, volume, expression, reverb and chorus
for each sound and min/max/avg for each drum note.
Now when converting styles the new data will be corrected
in such a way that
it matches the values in the reference map. Doing so the overall
mix should go
well together with the internal styles and also the mix within
a style should
give very reasonable results without a manual correction.
I am not yet sure
how much improvement this will be, but I am very optimistic.
If this does what I envision you should be able to convert
from one machine type to another and do the rebalancing on
the fly. One of the biggest time consumers is that the various
brands and models of instruments do not have the same volume
on certain instruments. This is very noticeable between bass
and drums. I am really anxious to try this out.
You can get to the downloads page of the web site at the following
address:
Super Sound Company Offer
Another great company is Sound Company. They have a super
offer of 8 XD9/3 Styles for download to anyone who registers.
Registration is free. Once you have registered, you will be
sent to your email, the download link. Go to:
http://www.soundcompany.net/xd/
Sound company also offers Mastering Studio for Ketron products
and I think the software is really useful. I am working with
them to see if I can become an importer for them.
They have just come out with version 1.5 for the SD1 that
includes 4.0 mapping and if you want to tweak your SD1 files
to the max and tailor your sound to your sound system Mastering
Studio is a swell way to do it.
They also have a version that works for all the XD, Vega models
which is really terrific.
You can download a 10 day free trial for the SD at:
http://www.soundcompany.net/sd1/mastering_studio/
Don't download it until you have time to learn it and really
try it. You will really like it.
BAND-IN-A-BOX dealer
Ketron U.S. has been a dealer for a while now and the response
has been 100% positive. BIAB works so well with Ketron. My
web site is devoted to Ketron and all the highest quality
things I can find that work with Ketron products and this
is definitely one of those.
The other software that is also from PG Music (the BIAB people)
and works perfectly with Ketron products is Power Tracks Pro.
This is a sequencing program and as such is perfect for tweaking
your MIDI files. Even more BIAB is the perfect companion to
Style Works 2000.
So much so that I am offering a software special.
I have several older, yet brand new and fully functional,
BIAB versions that I will give FREE, while supplies last,
to anyone purchasing any version of Style Works. Once supplies
run out I will make a different offer. I do not believe that
one can have too many styles.
If you order Style Works Universal, you will receive your
choice of the latest BIAB or 50% off of the BIAB MegaPAK.
Within the next couple of days this will appear on my Accessories
page in my web site.
I will also be offering BIAB at a great discount on the "Secret"
page, described above.
All supplies are in stock at the moment.
For my loyal customers who have already purchased Style Works,
if you contact me by email regarding the offer I have a special
for you as well.
2nd Split
In the Utility menu on most Ketron products starting with
the X1 is a little known and seldom used feature that is great
for keyboardists. It is called 2nd Split and it works like
this.
Highlight the function with the Function key and usually it
will say off. If you press a key, that note will be shown
in the little window. Or you can choose a note by using the
Value +/- keys.
When a note is chosen exit the function and turn on the 2nd
voice. The keyboard will then play the 2nd voice UP THROUGH
the chosen note and not the notes above that. How is that
useful?
Well suppose you split about a third of the way up from the
left and then you assign one of your pedal switches on your
FS6 or FS13 to 2nd voice.
Now lets say that you are playing a piano setting and have
high strings as the 2nd voice. You can play chord voicings
with the left hand and solo with the right without having
the strings follow the solo. And all it took was knowing the
setting was there and what it does.
One Touch
On Ketron instruments starting with the X series there is
a great feature called 1 Touch. This is a list of your favorite
voices that you can get to quickly and the best part is you
can select these voices from Bank 1 or 2, from User Voices
or even Programs.
Most of us use the same 15 or 20 voices a lot because they
fit our style. So it is a good idea to edit your 1 Touch list
to reflect your most common needs. The procedure is different
on the different models, but you can access the list by pressing
Save/Enter and then the Function key for the 1 Touch. In some
cases you will be given a list and a chance to edit. It is
easy to change the instruments on the list by just going to
that instrument when you have that selection highlighted and
the chosen instrument will then be in that slot.
Press Save/Enter again to save your choices.
Once you learn to use this feature it can save you lots of
keystrokes and button pushing whilst performing.
Let me know if you enjoy the use of these little tips.
As you may know, I put out this newsletter free of charge
and I hope to continue to do so. However I am not independently
wealthy and I am forced to derive an income from somewhere.
I am a Ketron dealer and I hope to be able to sell to you,
my Ketron friends, the products and accessories that you need.
I can promise you that no one will beat my price and still
maintain the level of service and support that I try to give.
To this end you will be my sponsors in what I hope will be
a informative and fruitful endeavor for many years to come.
Visit me at www.ketronus.com. Or email me at jay@ketronus.com
QUOTE SECTION
(Sometimes funny, sometimes thought provoking, but always
worth the time)
"By himself, Elvis Presley did more for the cause of
racial integration than all the legislation and activism throughout
history."--Clerd Farnsworth
"Good judgement comes from experience and experience
comes from bad judgement." -- Barry LePatner
"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died."
-- Erma Bombeck
"Education is when you read the fine print. Experience
is what you get if you don't." -- Pete Seeger
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