Ketron U.S. -- Main Page

Hello to all the wonderful Ketron users and welcome to issue number 36 of Ketron News and Tips (KNAT). This issue is targeted for January 15, 2004. So I am starting off the new year by being late. I hope this does not establish a precedent, but it is the second time in a row. I enjoy being on time and feel a lot of pressure when I am late.
This is the second issue this year. My excuse this time is that the 15th is my birthday and I took most of the day off. If I continue to be late, I sure hope I can keep coming up with excuses :-)
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 New Version Released
Style Works 2000 New Pricing
Tips: A little tip on registrations
Quotes: Just for fun
==============================================

Style Works Upgrade
First to let you know: Style Works 2000 is currently in stock. 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.
Now the bad news. Due to the rate of exchange between U. S. Currency and the Euro the price has taken a substantial jump. Actually the price of the software from EMC is the same as it was, but would still cost more because of currency conversion. Still the software gets better all the time and I believe that when the value of the Euro drops against the U. S. Dollar the prices may come back down.
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

===================================================
TIP
I recently got another question about registrations. First you must understand what the registrations do. They generally affect the Global settings and not the individual tweaks. Think of a registration as a electronic photograph of your keyboard settings at a given time. This means you can use the registrations as a balancing device or more.
One person compained that he like to change the volume of the style sections to tweak the sound before performing. This makes a good deal of sense. If your sound system is bass heavy for example, you may want to lower the bass a bit. His problem was that he had to do it every time he turned the instrument on. However, if he set the volumes in a registration and left that on, any style called up would then be subject to that setting. How easy is that!
There are some hidden things you can do also. For instance you can set the equalizer and have it work in just that one registration. You can set the reverb types on some of the models. You can set rotor on or off. You can set the Jump on or off. You can set which Arrangement comes up. There are tons of things you can do.
Don't be afraid to try and above all, HAVE FUN.

===========================================================
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)

"A jazz musician is a juggler who uses harmonies instead of oranges." -- Benny Green

"Country music is three chords and the truth." -- Harlan Howard

"Music is moonlight in the gloomy night of life." -- Jean Paul Richter

"Music is the shorthand of emotion." -- Leo Tolstoy

||Home | Tips & More | Demos | Downloads | Reviews | Returns | Links | Contact ||