Tom Williams

Thanks, Brad and Mike. I think it was a fuzzy memory of the knobs being "relative" that got me going down that mnemonic rabbit hole.

Hey kids, I think I once knew the answer to this but seem to have forgotten it. TLDR: Is there any setting, either system, global, or setup, that restricts slider data changes to when you cross over the preset value? (No, I am not talking about slider value range; different thing....) Explanation (if needed): Let's say slider #1 controls Tone 1's LP Filter cutoff frequency. Secondly, assume that the saved value of that cutoff frequency is 96... ...and that slider #1 happens to be sitting near zero when I pull up the setup. The default behavior seems to be: if the slider is nudged at all, the parameter value jumps to that value. So, the sound suddenly goes dark. On some synths, the value won't change unless you cross it by pushing or pulling the slider to the initial program value; hence, all slider-based transitions are relatively smooth. On other synths, the parameter value jumps to the value of the slider when the voice is invoked. Is there any such setting that affects slider-to-parameter relationship? Or is the only behavior "Touch the slider and the value goes there"?

Congratulations, XWA. II know what it is you are feeling. I'd just been playing (and enjoying) my PX-5S for the past several months, but hadn't done any voice programming in a while. Just yesterday I ran the voice editor and built myself a new layered piano in about 20 minutes, then just played on the sound for the rest of the afternoon. I am repeatedly amazed at how big a PX-5S can sound. Pretty amazing for a "stage piano." I look forward to hearing what you've put together!

For several months I have been dealing with a failing right output jack. I don't know if it's due to a warranty-eligible defect, or if someone banged on the plug during a gig. AT first I thought it was a cable problem, but it recurs with all cables. In a fit of creative desperation today, I grabbed a TRS effects insert cable -- two TS plugs at one end, one TRS plug at the other -- plugged the TRS end into a Privia headphone jack, plugged the Tip TS into the mixer's left channel, Ring TS into the mixer's right channel, and voila! I can't tell any difference in sound from the original line level stereo output. Moral of the story: keep a TRS insert cable around for hardware emergencies.

One generation of 1970s home organs did that: Octave C1-B2 was Major, C2-B3 was minor. You could also rig it so the sostenuto pedal switches chords.

If they're copper, perhaps you could remove the heads and use 'em to make homemade apple butter over a large fire. Hmm. With apologies to non-US readers: 40 gallons apple butter at 8 dollars per quart -> $320. Make three batches and you could probably pay for one timpano. Built-in fund raising for the concert band. See you later -- I gotta go patent that.

I would have added aftertouch.

Back to stretch tuning. Yes, it covers the entire range of a string piano. The counterintuitive reason is that the strings' overtones are not perfect multiples as e would expect; something about the realities of metal elasticity. Anyway, the end result is that the piano just sounds better when each octave is a few cents wider than a pure 2-to-1 ratio. Another weird example of that is Tympani, whose harmonics are quite sharp of the fundamental, which makes them seriously difficult to tune even for a one-note-at-a-time drum. The fun comes in with pipe organs and orchestras, which do not need to be stretch tuned. When a piano interacts with other instruments it is necessary to make compromises. Usually the alterations are made in the piano, because retuning a pipe organ is a big task. So now we have ROMplers which provide a little bit of everything, including built-in incompatibility between this set of samples and that set of samples. On my Kurzweil keyboards, there are pianos, and then there are "440" pianos which have had the stretch tuning turned off to make them play better with other instruments.

Well, that's a first. You know, when the discussion starts with "fake," "synthetic," "all wrong," and "miserable," you're not encouraging readers of this forum to jump in and help you. We may be worried about your public evaluation of our own efforts. I personally like the PX-5S pianos better than any Roland or Yamaha that I have heard (so far), and I even find it more playable and inspiring than my Kurzweils, but that doesn't mean the other instruments are bad -- just that I have preferences. On to your question: Do you have any synth programming chops? The PX-5S has two programming approaches that you can dig into: Tones, which are largely predefined in terms of envelope and timbre, but thus a good starting place for quick voice customization; and Hex Layers, which are wave-based six-oscillator voices with a little more granularity (thus more complexity / difficulty) in their programming features. Bearing in mind that the PX-5S is primarily intended as a stage piano with synth/controller features, it does have unusually deep access to its voice architecture.

Okay. Deep breath. I've tweaked most of the voices I use, so I don't know if the one I have is a factory voice or not, but I can definitely hear the Leslie speed change. So I'm going to give you a couple more checklist items. In situations like these, I encourage my (physical world) friends to "assume I'm an idiot," to eliminate blind spots, so don't take anything personally -- I'm trying to see if you missed anything. Are you running in stereo or mono? My PX-5S is hard panned left and right in my home sound system, and that may enhance the Leslie effect. Are you sure of the state of DSP Parameter 2 (if you're using the regular rotary) or 4 (if you're using the distorted rotary)? That's the Brake switch, which means no Leslie rotation at all -- just flat dry sound. For initial proof that the effect is there at all, you want brake off, speed fast. Other DSP parameters to set: Slow Rate 40 Fast rate 55 Vibrato / Chorus Off (to reduce confusion) Wet Level above 100 Dry level below 25 If this doesn't do it, I have one more trick available: I can (another day) post the setup I use for distorted organ, with mod wheel as the only speed control, so you can download it and plug it in. I'm glad you're trying to get the most out of this wonderful musical instrument -- hang in there.

I double checked. The above will work. I have an organ through distorted Leslie that uses both the mod wheel and the two switch pedals to change speed. The wheel goes from slow to fast; the pedals toggle slow/fast (pedal 1) and rotate/brake (pedal 2).

I haven't gotten to my PX-5S to play with it yet, but some things you can double-check: Are you wanting to apply the modulation to the overdrive rotary or the regular rotary? (Speed is P1 on the regular rotary.) Double-double-check: You have set it to DSP Param 3 near the end of the list of targets, and not just MIDI controller 3? Have you made sure no other modulators are assigned to DSP Param 3? In most factory patches there is a pedal or something assigned, and that other modulator may be overriding whatever you do with the mod wheel. In Stage Setting -> Common, have you double-checked the minimum / maximum numbers for the wheel? If I remember right, it goes from off to on when it crosses values 63-64. At least I think that's how it works on switched parameters. In Stage Setting -> Zone, is wheel set as enabled? I'll try to check on this tomorrow later today.

It has been a long time since I have tried it, but if I read the User's Guide right, turning "Auto Resume" on results in system settings being saved when you power the PX-5S off, remembering them when you power back on. Conversely, I believe turning Auto Resume off will prevent other system changes from being saved between off/on cycles. I'm 90% (but not 100%) sure that's how it works.

There are some unassigned GM (General MIDI) voices that you might want to check out under the Strings/Brass category: 032 (Cello), 058 (Oboe), and 060 (Bassoon). You can select one of those to replace an existing voice (e.g., piano) in Zone 1, and then save that stage setting. If the built-in voices don't do the job, the answer is unfortunately no. The PX-5S does not take user samples. For more information, check out the reference section of the Tutorial manual, starting around page 42.

Powered computer speakers can usually also take low-level headphone output. So, a cable that connects mini-stereo plug to 1/4" (or 6.35 mm), plugged into the headphone jack, should also work well. It has the tiny advantage of being slightly simpler cabling.