mcdtracy

Nice. I gotta try this layered setup out. Thanks.

Yes. I think the number of files on the disk impacts the amount of time needed to mount the device for use so fever files per device is a better way to organize for live work. The cost of the USB devices for samll sizes has really dropped so that's good: about $1/GB. 4GB seems to be the bulk size currently. That's a lot of audio recording space and still room for a lot of midi's so for $4 you've got a lot of capacity in your pocket. NOTE: Beware of really cheap devices because they can't keep up with real time audio recording and you'll hear stuttering and drop outs.

If I'm reading your question correctly, I think the answer is that the PX560 only recognizes files on a USB device in the top level directory named MUSICDAT. All MIDI"s, WAV's and Preset files need to be placed there to be used by the PX-560. Better organization might involve using multiple USB devices to separate by type... of course that requires the wait for the load times. Does that help? It may not be the answer you *want* but I think it's the right answer.

What features of the MOX F8 do you like the most? I went with the Casio for the amazing bundle of features close to $1300 (I bought the stand with the 3 piano pedal feature). Internal speakers we on mu *MUST HAVE* list for example. For the $'s you just can't beat the Casios. But if $'s aren't the top criteria then the feel of the keys or perception of a "real piano" experience or any number of factors will drive your decision.

The MIDI recorder does have a Looping feature. Let me see what I can figure out for a realtime use case. I'm not sure this will lead to anything better then just running into a pedal and building tracks that way.

MIDI by the standard is limited to 16 tracks. So, the PX-560 supports three simultaneous MIDI engines. Port A is has16 midi channels for the live tracks. Port B houses the MIDI Recorder system track and some more stuff (the details are in the manual on Page 101). GET TO KNOW THE PDF FILE OF THE MANUAL or an online site to see it in a browser. It's got a ton of useful info. PORT C is the MIDI Recorder Playback channels and I *think* the rhythm tracks happen here so that's where to set PAN, etc for the backing stuff driven by MIDI (rhythm tracks). When the tracks are playing and the Mixer is open you'll see volume events in the bottom of the mixer. Muting (or solo'ing) tracks can help determine what's playing on the track.

Is there a way to use the features of the PX-560 to act something like a Looper Pedal? I'm hoping someone has a clue. I've looked for a way to do this with the midi recorder and audio recorder but nothing jumps out at me as a good process to lay down the instruments sequentially in realtime. For Open Mic's the audience has becomes accustomed to the performer building a loop and not suffering the "Karaoke" impression that pre-recorded audio or MIDI backing tracks convey. Seeing the artist layout each performance like Jacob Collier in realtime goes over well. I have a Ditto Pedal I can use and I could pre-load a fixed length drum track since most loopers use drum rhythms in their more expensive Loopers. Any clues appreciated. If there are optional Arranger devices that have this feature I'd appreciate a tip. Small is good like the Arranger Module from that R company.

I know one of the major online vendors opens the box before shipping it out (at least for guitar set-ups) but I'd be wary of getting a box that has been opened for any reason... missing parts? Previously returned product?

The PX-560 is typically reviewed as having a poor organ implementation. Probably starting with the set of organ samples that might improve this area of the instrument. Life is full of tradeoffs and there are some great low cost Hammond Organ keyboards that are often mounted just above the Casio Stage Pianos and well as a lot of other products. A quick Google search will narrow down to a few specific options in the sub $1000. $2000, $3000 price ranges.

Yes. Saving changes to the built-in rhythms require you to created a USER rhythm that uses one of the built-ins as a starting point and gets saved to a USER slot after the edits. I've done this to create rhythms that only have volumes for the bass and drums: Like a piano trio. I also tweak the drum set to use brushes for good dinner music vibe. No persistent cymbals and subdued fills. That one dinner music piano trio works for light jazz standards and I just added tweaking the tempo with the expression pedal between 60 and 180 beats per minute in realtime. I could optional tie that pedal to accompaniment volume but I tend to use the middle knob for that. I think it can be done to create a set of rhythms that put the Upper 1 and 2 and maybe Lower 1 and 2 out the left channel and put the rhythm instruments out the right. I'm just not sure why when volumes for the accompaniment can be controlled in real time and panning the band across a Stereo field is a good idea for running into a PA. Running and MONO PA you'd just benefit from separate volume and EQ settings. With extra work they can also be tweaked using the mixer and tone adjustments anyway,

But those Nord keyboards are RED. Life is full of tradeoffs. Mine was saving $2000 of my savings to invest. :^) Buying an expression pedal is really the best way to control a rotary sound with complete speed control. It can also be used creatively to: add strings or pads (on upper 2's volume) behind a Piano on upper 1. vary LFO's, filters, effects for synths vary the tempo? Need to try this idea out The M Audio expression pedal works well for $29. But it's build quality reflects the cost. There are sturdy models for 2-3 times the price.

When yu open the mixer you only see the 1st of three pages. That first page has the tone (you should see Piano and strings in slots 1 and 2) Use the Blue box with down arrows near 1/3 on the right to access Pages 2 and 3. (WHEN EVER YOU SEE THESE ARROWS THERE ARE HIDDEN PAGES IN THAT AREA). Page 1: tone, volume, pan Page 2: Coarse tune, fine tune, bend range Page 3: Reverb, chorus, delay <<< ZERO THESE OUT TO HAVE SPLIT CHANNELS WITHOUT LEAKAGE.

Yes. Near the bottom of the mixer settings for each channel there are effects settimgs for reverb, chorus and delay. They take both channels (piano and strings) and apply the effect as a stereo effect and that's where the bleeding across channels comes from. Zero these effects out (or drop them to a level where you can tolerate the bleeding) and you have pure piano and the left and pure strings on the right. NOTE: The sound will be rather dry. To mitigate that you might add effects in the design of a USER tone using your base paino and strings as starting points for a custom user tone with added reverb, chorus or delay as desired.

Good luck... I'm sure you'll need to use the manual for complete understanding of some of the steps or watch the YouTube Tutorials but you'll end up knowing how to do a lot of useful things along the way. Sometimes I'll take a question asked as a prompt to hit the manual and learn something new with the Px-560 like how to use the optional expression pedal to create Leslie Speaker effects controller with your foot. That was a fun one. Or making standard Midi files sound right when the drums are mapped to a bass instrument. Unfortunately there's not a lot of activity on this forum so some questions (like yours) just hang in the air for a few days. Sad because there's an immense mount of power in this instrument. But learning to master it all takes a lot of effort... I'm sure that's true of any truly complex stage piano with an arranger, sequencer and audio recorder built-in.

"Teach a man to fish...." You can do this and have a lot more power to control your performances. Before you start this pick a BANK NUMBER and 1-4 button you can use to save this results. You want a "bright (with a lot of tremble/high frequencies) piano". I think the Piano #4 "GrPno Modern" fits that bill. Use the TONE button and open the Piano's page and select 04 GrPno. Then you want to add a huge reverb effect. Use the MENU button to see the EFFECT option. In the EFFECT page hit "Enter" on the top line. Then on the next page change the REVERB TYPE from what it's currently set to to "Stadium 2" on the second page of choices. You can play the keys and decide which large reverb effect works for your taste. Then save these choices to the BANK #/1-4 Button you have available to recall these settings when ever you wish. NOTE: You can also edit any of the pubilt in pianos and modify the reverb to a custom settings and save the result to a USER Piano setting slot (29 and above).

Go into the controllers menu and edit the Knobs setting using the LFO options on pages 14-15 like depth, rate. You can put two options on a single knob too.

There's a system setting called "Auto Resume" that saves setting between sessions. Hopefully that will save the Local Off setting. I can't find any additional documentation about the MIDI Capabilities beyond what's in 2 pages in the Manual. Look's like the conventional thinking is right... the PX-560 makes a lousy Midi Controller. How about an M-Audio Keystation 88 II for $200 and use the PX-560 for it's awesome sounds as a target? I have seen it written that the PX-5S is a better controller. Everything in this price range makes compromises in some area but the PX-560 does a great job in almost every area EXCEPT MIDI controls. Sorry.

On the MIDI menu there is a setting for LOCAL CONTROL. Turn that off and the PX-560 sounds will not be activated.

Would it be enough to turn off the PX-560 speakers in the systems menu?

I have seen it written that the PX-560 is a poor MIDI controller since it misses some key features. But if you want to see if it will meet you needs start by making sure the Privia MIDI send channel and the device to be controlled uses that input channel. Please let us know if it works for you because others might also have this need and might not want to carry a computer to every performance to be the controller.

If I understand what "on/off" switch means to you, I think the answer is no. Do you mean a foot button (like a effect box) that is pushed to start the effect and pushed later to stop it? There isn't a pedal supported by the PX-560 that does that. There is an optional expression pedal and it can be programmed to turn some things on and off. Based upon your reply we can continue to think about using the expression pedal for your use case. But there are a lot of "drum machine" devices available that do just this *if you ONLY want drums* and no other capability of the PX-560 with your guitar. As a guitar player, I think investing in a Looping pedal (like a Boss RC3 or RC-30) that has drums too would be a better use of your time to deliver better solo performances. Looping can allow you to build complete backing tracks that you create in front of the audience so they don't get that "karaoke" impression that other technologies imply. They see and hear *you* performing every part (except for the drums unless you slap the guitar for a bass and snare drum effect).

Google translate detected Portuguese: Friends, I bought a Casio PX 560 and would like to put more piano tones, how do I put sampler? Where do I go down and how do I do it? Please help me hehehehe I translated Scott's answer using Google: "Hi there. You can not load user samples into the PX-560. If you want different piano tones you will need to use a VST or app. Sorry!" to: Olá. Você não pode carregar amostras de usuários no PX-560. Se você quiser tons de piano diferentes, você precisará usar um VST ou aplicativo. Desculpa! That binary joke was funny but less than helpful. I looked at the Manual to see if it has a Portuguese section... it does NOT. I wish Oziel good luck. He's going to need it to fully understand the PX-560. Hopefully, he can read a the Espanol un poco. I do love using the internet to understand the world better. McD

That was easy... the video shows how to get to the "release parameter" in the first minute. Edit the "warm pad" tone Edit -> Edit -> Amp -> Envelope Tweak (i.e touch the 00 numeric value until it turns RED) the "release time" value towards a negative value until the sounds are what you'd prefer (i.e. less overlapping and muddy). You can also increase the "Initial Level" setting to make a pad less sluggish and close to the event behavior of a piano allowing your playing to be more rhythmic. NOTE: Save your edited TONE to a unused REGISTRATION button (24 BANKS of 4 1-4 buttons). Or you'll have to manually tweak these parameters every time you want the same results. McDTracy

TWO APPROACHES: KEYBOARD EVENTS: On/Off timing The simplest approach to keeping these pads sounds from getting "muddy" is to change your approach to "ON" and "OFF" events. A piano starts when the hammer hits the string and stops when the key is lifted and our brains tend to treat pads with the same logic. Change your approach to pressing the keys well before you want to hear the sound and lift ODD earlier than you'd normally do. Leave silence between chords and you'll have less sonic overlap and a clearer transition. CHANGE THE "TONE" SETTINGS: I'm too new to know how to do this. I looked at editing this TONE and quickly saw that the "decay parameter" is part of the tone and not editable. So, the tone needs to be re-created as an editable HEX-LAYER (I think... if I'm wrong please advise in this thread). So, I need to watch the "Understanding/Creating HEX-LAYERS" video to see if I can use an existing TONE as starting point for an editable HEX-TONE and modify the decay. If I get a clue I'll let you know. If existing factory TONES can't be used as a starting point then the TONE needs to be designed to match the WARM PAD sound and tweaked to taste. McDTracy

Thanks for the quick reply Brad.