K.N.A.T

Issue No. 32

Hello to all the wonderful Ketron users and welcome to issue number 32 of Ketron News and Tips (KNAT). This issue is targeted for November 15, 2003.
I want to do is thank all you lovely people who took the time from your busy day to resign up for this newsletter. Due to a serious computer worm I lost many data files and tons of email addresses. 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 in stock
Sound Company Great offer
Tips: Copy Style Parts
Quotes: Just for fun
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Style Works Upgrade
First an 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.

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TIPS
COPYING and TWEAKING PARTS (REVISITED)
=> As I have stated many times in the past, I don't believe you can have too many styles. However, you certainly can have too many crappy styles. Now think for a second. What makes a style crappy? Often it is just that it has been translated from one machine to another without having been tweaked. Playing the MS styles on the X series is a case in point. On the MS machines the drums were aggressive and the bass samples a little wimpy. So when the style creators for the MS balanced their styles they compensated so the styles were in balance and they sounded great. Then when the X series came out the drums were less aggressive and the bass samples were big and fat. So the result is that the MS styles sound crappy on the X machines.
But they are the same great styles that were wonderful on the MS -- all the same notes are there and all that musical inventiveness etc. What can be done?

=> The first thing to do is rebalance. Go into the F5 Arrange View and using the function keys highlight the offending part and change the volume. Going from MS to X this means running the drums up and running the bass down. I suggest starting with something like 30 on bass and 55 on drums. Then you can hear more cleanly what needs to be rebalanced on Chords 1, 2 and 3. Notice that there is nothing on Chords 4 and 5. This becomes very handy later on. The X is wonderful because you can reselect different instruments on each part and arrangement. For example: If Arr. A, Chord 1 is Grand Piano, you can make Arr. B Chord 1 DX piano or anything else you choose. This is true for all the Arrangements, Fills and all the Intros and Endings as well. This tends to make the X series Styles extremely versatile.
So after you have rebalanced (volume for each part or "trace" is global) you can choose to revoice. (change instruments)
I usually start with Arr. D and work backwards. Then I go to the intros and endings. Here is where you can run into other troubles.
Since volume is global on each part (chord 1, 2, 3 etc.) there is often a problem with a part in the intro that is suddenly too loud or not loud enough.
An example is in the Song Styles zip folder that is now on the secret page. The song I am referring to is Michelle the great Beatles song. After I got the guitars balanced to suit me the lead guitar in Intro 2 was not nearly loud enough to sound good.
Now remember that the old MS styles only had 2 endings so the X series plays Ending 2 in the slot for Ending 2 and for Ending 3. However, you can rebalance and revoice each on separately on the X so you can create variations.
What I did on Michelle was to copy the part from Chord 2 to Chord 5 on Intro and Ending 3 and boost the volume on chord 5.
You do this from the Pattern edit function. Press Pattern Edit and then F4 for Copy and CAREFULLY select from which part you are copying and to which part you are copying and press execute.
Be sure you have saved your style prior to this or your earlier tweaks will be lost and you get to do it again.
I realize that this is a really large subject to be in a tips section so let me know if I need to break this down into a series with more detail or if you ready to have fun now.
Get back and rebalance your styles. A good tip is to do this with your PA hooked up because balances tend to change depending on what you are hearing.
"Style On!!!"

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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)

"In order to succeed we must first believe that we can." -- Michael Korda

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try." -- Beverly Sills

"I have noticed that highly successful people usually arise very early in the morning. This makes failure a much more attractive option." --Clerd Farnsworth

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." -- Dan Quayle

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