Ketron U.S. -- Main Page

Hello to all the wonderful Ketron users and welcome to issue number 31 of Ketron News and Tips (KNAT). This issue is targeted for November 1, 2003.
This first thing I want to do is apologize and explain my absence. Due to a serious computer worm I lost many data files and tons of email addresses. This has caused many problems and a huge time investment in trying to recover what I could. There will be many changes in the ensuing months to try to avoid these problems as much as possible. If you get this email in error please let me know and I will remove you from the list immediately.
The second 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 do believe in) I will be putting the out in rich text format, but without images for the foreseeable future. Additionally, if you use a spam filter. please add my addresses as a friend.
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.

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In this Issue:
Band-In-A-Box offer still on but changed
Style Works 2000 Upgrade and delayed shipping
Sound Company Great offer
Tips: User Drums
Quotes: Just for fun
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Style Works Upgrade
First and apology: Style Works 2000 has been on back order again. All orders have been filled, but this software is getting much harder to keep in stock. I can't believe how well it is received.
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:
http://www.emc-musicsoftware.de/updates/updates.html

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
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 a few older, yet brand new and fully functional, Power Tracks Pro versions that I will give FREE, while supplies last, to anyone purchasing any version of Style Works 2000 . 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 free or $88.00 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.

TIP

User Drums
I have had a lot of questions regarding the use of the Drums in the many different units. This is one area that is highly inconsistent within the product line. It was much easier in the MS series because the drums were simply sequenced. With the coming of the X series and then the SD and XD models the drums with the recorded loops (grooves) have gotten ever more complex. So much so that it is almost impossible to offer any help by "Tips" because it requires many pages to make these techniques clear.
So I will do it with the instrument that is the most nearly universal, the X series, and hope that users of the other models can use some of these techniques. I think the XD users can also use these techniques mostly and SD may be able to use some. The Function Keys I will be using will be on my X and if you have a different model you may find the functions in a different location.
You have 4 slots on the X series for User Drums. You can put a complete sets of drums, including lots of various percussion, in each of these User slots. I would like to make a couple of useful suggestions right now.
Firstly, since the drums are triggered by MIDI note number (even if you are pressing a key) it is the best part of consistency to put the same type of drum on the same note number for all the drum sets. In other words, always put your snare drum on note 38 and alternate snare on note 40. This is how all the other drum sets are set up and if you don't do that you can go into a style and change to your user drums and have whistles and dinks where you would like bass and snare, etc.
Secondly, start with copying a set that you like pretty well already into a User Drum slot and rather that start from scratch, just modify the drums you would like. As an example if you like everything on a set except the snare then use that set for one of your User Drum sets and just change the snare.
Here's how:
Press F9.
This takes you to the edit drum set section.
F1 Manual should be "ON". If not, press F1 and toggle the setting.
F5 is escape if you want to leave what you are doing without saving.
F6 is key shift which is useful for people who are using a small controller keyboard or if you are on a 61 note keyboard like the X1 and you want to hear what drums are assigned to the keys below the low C on your keyboard. (Yes, there are drum sounds that you cannot normally trigger with the keyboard)
F8 Arrange to "Internal" is of no use unless you are using a memory card with sounds on it. Very few people use this option.
F9 Edit is the one we will be dealing with mostly.
F10 Drum On/Off takes you to the Drum Mix area which you can also access using F10 on your normal screen.
Look in the center of the screen to see which drum set you are going to edit. If this is not the one you want, use the Value -/+ keys to change sets. In the X series you have 20 regular sets with 4 more slots for user drums.
After you have selected the set you want to modify press F9 Edit to get to the editing page. You have a lot of great options here.
(If you don't have a controller keyboard, this will be much harder. One way to do it is to select a style on the unit that is using the drums you want to edit and press Start. That will cause the drums to play without the rest of the instruments so you can hear the drums. Be sure the drum or drums you want to change are being triggered by the style you selected. For example, if you hear a snare and you change to a different snare but nothing happens, then that is not the snare you need to change.
If you have a keyboard model or a controller keyboard then press the key of the drum you want to edit.
You may need to set the MIDI output of the controller keyboard to channel 10 in order for it to trigger the drums.)
F1 Manual -- Be sure it still says "On".
F2 Key -- This is the MIDI note number mentioned earlier. For instance the lowest C on the X1 is note 36. If you press F2 you can use the Value -/+ buttons to change the note number. If you have a keyboard you can simply press the key and the number will change.
Note numbers 35 and 36 are the standard Bass (Kick) drum notes. If your drums do not correspond to this you will have a lot of trouble making a standard MIDI file sound good if it has been programmed by someone using a different instrument.
F3 tells you what drum type is assigned to the note number in the F2 window. In other words it will be part of a particular group. If it says Kick, then you can select from the many different Kick drums in the machine.
F4 tells you which of the drums has been selected. Press F4 to highlight and use your Value keys to change the drum. For instance you have over 20 snare drum sounds and over 30 kick drum sounds. Choose the one you like for the sound you like.
F5 Escape lets you leave this section without saving.
F6 Key Shift explained above.
F7 Pitch -- This is how you tune the drum you have selected. Let's say that you have found the drum that suits you really well except you would like to hear the drum with just a bit higher pitch. Highlight F7 and use the Value keys to raise or lower the pitch of just that drum. It does not affect any drum except the one you are on.
F9 Save -- Press this to save the User drums you have created.
SUCCESS!! Then you must assign this set to the style you wish and save it either as a custom style or on your hard or floppy disk.
This is all pretty complex and you should let me know if it is not clear and I will try to answer questions in further issues.

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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.
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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)

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." -Albert Einstein

"How about this for a headline in tomorrow's paper, 'French Fries!'"--Convict James French, seated in the electric chair

"We need the young to get things done. And we need the elderly to straighten those things out." --Clerd Farnsworth

"Age is not important unless you're a cheese." -- Helen Hayes

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