K.N.A.T

Issue No. 34

Hello to all the wonderful Ketron users and welcome to issue number 34 of Ketron News and Tips (KNAT). This issue is targeted for December 15, 2003.
This is the last issue this year. I want to take time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. If you are a person who does not celebrate Christmas, have a good day anyway.
One 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 New Version Released
Style Works 2000 in stock
Tips: How to use Reverb in SMF
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 (Tyros is now installed) 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.
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

BAND-IN-A-BOX
We are announcing that the new BIAB which is called Band-in-a-Box 2004 has been released. I have ordered many copies of this version and it will be shipped some time this week. It is not quite ready for shipment regardless of the fact that it has been released. There are many new features and this is a wonderful software. Stay tuned.
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TIPS
Reverb on Standard MIDI Files
I get a lot of questions on how to set reverb on Standard MIDI Files on the X series. There are several ways to do this and they tend to override each other if you are not careful.
We are only going to discuss two of the ways and how they interact.

You can do it in the "Song Setup Mode", I don't recommend this for several reasons, but here is how.
Load the song in the Song Play mode and Press F1 "GM Part". Here you have two choices. You can use the Page -/+ keys to advance the page to the part you are interested in and make all the changes for that part or you can press F10 "16 Parts" and then see the Volume settings for all 16 channels. Press the Page -/+ and you will go to reverb for all 16 channels. Press again and go to the Effects page and once more gets you to the pan settings.
Change the settings to what you want and press Save/Enter and you will get the screen that says "Save New Song Setup."
The two big disadvantages are:
1) This overrides the settings in the sequence of the songs so that if you tweak the song later in your sequencer, the changes will not take effect.
2) This is like a registration for songs. You can make the setup just the way you would like, but if you copy the song and put it on a different unit, the changes are not copied with the song.
If you have inadvertently done #1, all is not lost. You can load the song and press F1 and then Save/Enter and then F9 Remove. That action will remove the Song Setup settings from memory.

The other option, to change the MIDI file itself is, in my opinion, the best way to go. If you change the MIDI file, the changes will stay with the file. You can also get into some incredible detail, which we will not discuss since space is limited.
To do this you need either a keyboard sequencer or computer sequencer. I much prefer a computer sequencer like Power Tracks Pro or Cakewalk. I will do this explanation for Power Tracks Pro because that is what I sell and support.
Open the song in PT and be sure you are at the beginning. Go to the window menu. Hover over "New" and choose Event List from the side menu that pops out. Or you can simply highlight the track you want and press F2 on the computer. If you see an event at the beginning of the song that says ReverbCtrl or uses 91 in the event column you can change the value by clicking on it and using the +/- keys on your computer. If you don't see this event click on Ins (for insert) and then highlight the button beside "Control Change" and click OK. You will then be presented with a window that has choices in it.
The first choice is Channel. Be sure to set this to the channel you want to affect. In many SMF there is a common set of choices. Drums is almost always on channel 10, bass on 2, keys on 3, Lead on 4, etc. If you have any doubt, you should check the program change information to see what instrument you are setting reverb for.
After choosing the channel, set the time you want the reverb change to start. This is done in the Time window and is measured in Measures/Beats/Ticks. I usually put my reverb settings within the first couple of ticks of the song.
Then you choose the controller, which in this case must be 91, because in all General MIDI, General MIDI2, GS, XG and more, 91 is the controller for reverb.
Then you have Level to set. Your choice runs from O to 127 with 0 being off and 127 being full on. I can assure you that this is quite enough variation. Then click OK and you are done.
Do this on any other tracks that you need to change and save the song.
Some general tips are:
1) The more reverb an instrument has, the farther away it tends to sound.
2) Reverb is less pleasant on lower instruments like Bass or Kick Drum and more pleasant on upper spectrum instruments.
3) Tempo matters. Reverb can clutter and the faster the tempo or the denser the notes, the less reverb you will need to use.
4) Reverb affects volume because it is additive. If you are using a lot of reverb on an instrument, you may need to lower the volume of that instrument.

Enjoy!

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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)

"Conflict is the great architect of the universe. Without conflict, there is no progress." -- Clerd Farnsworth

"Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is." -- Albert Camus

"Without a struggle, there can be no progress." -- Frederick Douglass

"Adversity is the first path to truth." -- George Gordon Byron, Don Juan

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