K.N.A.T

Issue No. 40

Hello to all the wonderful Ketron users and welcome to issue number 40 of Ketron News and Tips (KNAT). This issue is targeted for May 1, 2004.
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: In stock
New Web Site: Try it. www.keyboardstyles.com
News: X series
Tips: Why don't they include direction?
Quotes: Just for fun
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New Web Site Is Here
Now there is a new web site dedicated to keyboard styles. This site will carries products for most or all arranger keyboards. The Site currently is carrying Band-in-a-Box, Power Tracks Pro and Style Works for nearly all brands of arranger keyboards.
Also included will be style associated products for computer.
This is a very new site and improvements will be coming. Keep your eyes peeled.

BAND-IN-A-BOX
The new BIAB 2004 is in stock both in MegaPak and Pro versions. I have been experimenting with it and it is really improved over any previous version. Check for details at: http://www.ketronus.com/biab.html

News about the X series
The vague rumblings that I spoke of last month are now a confirmed fact. The X series is out of production. I heard a lot of grumbling about the fact that this instrument series is now "obsolete".
That would give you the impression that the sounds suddenly fell off the instrument! Out of production is not the same as obsolete. If that were true, a Stradivarius Violin would be obsolete! For myself, it will be many years before I get rid of my X series, if ever. I turned them on and by golly they sounded just as good after the news was announced as before.

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TIP

I had one of my very good customers call and mention that the Accordion sound bank I sold him did not load but one sound and the name did not appear to be correct. I tried it myself and got the same result. I immediately called headquarters in New York and explained the problem, but there was no one available who could help me immediately. So I did some experimenting on my own. Here is what I discovered.

First make sure you don't have the sound bank already loaded in any directory.
If you do, you may do what I did an delete it, being extremely careful to not delete the wrong one. I suggest you have you HD backed up before deleting anything.

Press Disk and make sure you are on the Hard Drive. If not press the Hard/Floppy buttons to get there.

Press F8 "Folder"
Press F1 "New"
Name the Folder ACC BNK (you could choose another name, but this makes it easy to find)
Press F10 "Execute"
Press F5 "Escape"
Make sure your hard drive is at the new folder.
If not press the number keys to select the folder.
Insert the first of the 3 Floppies in the Floppy drive and press the Hard/Floppy buttons to look at the file on the Floppy disk.
Press F10 "Select" and a little triangle will appear beside the file name.
Press F4 "Copy" and wait for the Floppy to copy to the hard drive folder.
Be sure you are copying into the correct folder.
When the copying is finished, put in the second disk.
Press F1 "Dir" to show the new file.
Then use the same procedure to copy that file.
Do this again with the 3rd disk.
Once all the disks are copied, press Hard/Floppy again and look at the files in the Hard Drive folder.
If they are all there (3 files in the case of the Accordion Sound bank.) turn off the machine for 30 seconds. This will be sure to clear the Ram of any sounds that are loaded.

Turn the machine back on and press the disk button.
Go to the folder ACC BNK.
Select all the files and press load.
Now when the loading is finished press Exit and return to the main screen.
Press Ram and you should have all the sounds in the bank ready for use.

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TIP

One of my pet peeves is that people ask for help and don't even know where the buttons on their unit are located. If you call me for help you had better know that much. So to that end, here is a short and very partial lesson on your buttons.

I am starting with the X1/4 first. This will be the second issue.

These are the buttons on the left side of the unit, but just to the right of the volume buttons and at the bottom. Starting with the farthest left in the highlighted section in the top row we have the 3 buttons that affect bass. Then come the 3 buttons that select styles banks.

The left-most bass button is "Manual" and this cool button turns off the bass in a style so the person controlling the machine can put in their own bass line.

The next button "To Lowest" is interesting for keyboard players and Jazz players especially like it. When you play a full chord in the left hand the Unit will pick the lowest note of the chord to be the bass note. This creates some very interesting and powerful chord structures.

The next or third bass button is "To Root". This means that the bass line will be simplified and center itself around the chord name. So if you are playing an Ab chord, the main bass note you hear will be the Ab note.

The next three buttons are Style and help you select your styles. The Pattern button is pressed when you would like to use one of the User Styles you loaded. The A/B is for banks and only comes on the X series since the arrangement of the styles is now different on the SD and XD series. The same is true for the next button, the Factory/Custom button since this feature is handled differently on the SD and XD as well.

In the lower row are seven buttons. Starting with the left one, this is the "Pianist" button. If you are a keyboardist, this buttons makes your entire keyboard active for the sound you are using in the Right hand. Some keyboardists really love this feature since you can do a lot with both hands and the arranger styles will follow exactly.

"Key Start" is a most useful button. If turned on, the style will start when you hit the first key.

"Key Stop" handy because if you have it on, the rhythm will stop immediately when you lift your hand from the keyboard or foot from the bass pedals.

Then come 3 "Lock" buttons - Drums, Bass and Chords. These lock buttons will lock the respective instruments to a particular part. Lets say you are on Arr. A and you put the Drum lock on. Then no matter what Arr. you go to the drums will still be on Arr. A. What is interesting is that even if you change styles the Drums will stay on the A of the new style.
The Bass and Chord lock buttons work exactly the same way.

The last of the seven buttons is Count/Pause/Restart. It has several functions. If you are playing a MIDI song, the button acts as a Pause/Restart button. It will pause the song in exactly the place it is in when you press the button and it will start the song from exactly the same spot when you press it again.
If you have a style called up and not a song, pressing the button will give you a one measure stick click count-in. The last thing is does is most interesting. If you are in a style that is playing, pressing the button will take you to the first beat of the measure regardless of where you are. This is really useful for people who must accompany "Sit-ins".

That is as far as we are going today. Now if you are using an XD9/3 or SD1 your button arrangement will not be identical. However, the arrangements are similar and you absolutely should know their locations at least generally on your unit.

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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)

"A few years ago comedians wore baseball caps sideways because it looked stupid and made us laugh. Now it is a fashion statement - but it still looks stupid." -- Clerd Farnsworth

"You know everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects." -- Will Rogers

"The brighter you are, the more you have to learn." -- Don Herold

"Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity a greater." -- William Hazlitt

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© Copyright 2004 by Ketron U.S.

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