Vorbis

I've used the WK7500 as a MIDI file player in small venue gigs to play backing tracks. The Casio WK has never been a problem using it in that way and I will play along with the file as it's playing. So as you suggest, maybe the engineers have something else going on inside on all the keyboards. My first thoughts were MIDI files playing did not use any of the polyphony. I do believe the MIDI tones indeed use polyphony notes as the file plays. The drawbar organ has 9 slides and percussion settings as well as any DSP effects you program on top. I could see the organ using 21 notes of polyphony easily. I would see that as a reserve for the organ to be played not a limiting set up to eliminate a 64 note polyphony or more depending on which Casio Model number you have the drawbar organ feature. Keyboard manufacturers still like to publish the number of polyphony notes available.

I took some time today to play a MIDI file that has 14 tones in GM that have up to 23 notes triggering at the start of a measure. I also switched the WK7500 into drawbar organ mode that should have reduced the polyphony down to 21. I played all 10 fingers along with the MIDI file playing. I still could not detect any dropped notes. I'm pretty sure however that notes were dropping off somewhere. Doing some research today on polyphony, it seems the electrical engineers have some options to impact how the instrument sounds. They can drop a beginning note that started or is sustaining in a FIFO (first played first out). Or they can drop a note LIFO (last played first out) and hide the dropping notes. Some of the luxury end equipment can analyze and drop a note being played as a harmonic. Seems that high end keyboards that have hex layers and multi polyphony to make up a single note can zoom past a 256 note polyphony with ease. Throw in some auto accompaniment, sustain, stereo DSP and we're really taxing the system at this point. Seems Casio has addressed this with their keyboards and minimized any impact as far as I can detect. Your description of the resulting note log jam is spot on. How are you supposed to make a purchase decision with so much happening behind the scenes? Playing the keyboard before purchase would maybe reveal any hardware deficiency.

Question regarding polyphony. Do GM midi tones count towards the polyphony count? Example on the WK7500, that keyboard is a 64 note polyphony but in drawbar organ mode that drops down to just 21 note polyphony. Plus they drop a few polyphony notes if it's doing a file playback or other functions like playing a DSP. It is my understanding that if you exceed your maximum note polyphony, the keyboard drops any additional notes played till the demand drops. I would think this applies to all Casio products but for example in the case of the PX560 with 256 note polyphony getting to that number would be tough to approach but with layers and other programming it might be feasible to max out. In listening to some songs playback and with a drawbar organ being played along side, I cannot say I have ever heard any notes drop out. Jokeyman your description and channel assignments brings up some valid concerns however.

After I posted about Houson Person, I went and Googled him which I should have done before posting. I never followed jazz and that is why his name didn't register with me.. The only one I could find about Rich McCrea was the guy who (founded?) the group Cake. I don't think it's the same guy however. I've gone to pipe organ concerts and some of those musicians who perform the classical organ pieces can certainly play pedals as well. I've watched players with MIDI guitars and play through a Roland MIDI box. Just incredible with what you can do with some of the equipment that's available today.

I would never take the pedal board for the Hammond out to a gig so I never got very good on bass. When the organ was home, I would hook up the pedals. In fact at home with the 200 watt amp powering the Leslie, I kid you not, the bass notes would rattle the aluminum siding on the house! You could watch the glass in the patio doors vibrate, As you note, there are some extremely talented people out there that can really play. I never heard of Houston Person but he might have been a regional talent. One of the music stores that sell these Hammond pedal boards had a user note. This guy's group had trouble keeping bass players. He wrote that after the last gig the band played without a bass player, they bought one of these Hammond pedal boards. The guitarist was able to stomp the bass pedals while playing guitar. Problem solved. Around here if the union caught you playing after you've been warned to stop, they would start breaking fingers. Granted this was 40 years ago but the message was clear. The unions were looking for the bands playing long term gigs like night clubs, dance clubs etc. and were collecting weekly pay for playing.

13 Note MIDI Pedalboard with Built-in Sounds Model XPK-130G Hammond makes these pedals available. They have 5 pin MIDI Din in and out as well as 5 built in bass tones that can be fed to your amplifier with a direct audio output. They can be found at most online music stores and a bit pricey but if you shop around you can find some great prices. How fun would this be to kick your own bass!

Very good details and pictures. Thanks for the how to project and the idea to begin with! CTK900 WK7500

Great idea! Definitely would like to see pictures and details how you installed the alternate switch port. I too had the Hammond/Leslie setup and you had to swipe your hand over the Leslie Speed switch. Mine had a center off position and if you wanted to shutoff the rotary you had to take a bit longer to put the switch in the middle position. CTK 900 WK7500

For what we play anymore, I have changed over to a 12 volt system. It consists of a 120 ac x 12 dc power supply. I have a 12 volt car audio amplifier that accepts any input including line level with 100 w per channel output. We now are using a laptop to drive the midi backing tracks where needed. I use the WK7500 as the midi player. I take along a 110 v power inverter and leave it in the car if I need to power the laptop and the 2 casio's that I have racked in case of power failure. I also have a 12 volt AGM battery that is not too big that is left in the car. That battery will last 4+ hours. I use a pair of decent 2 way speakers for the stereo output. I have a sub woofer that hooks to both channels but don't always use it. This setup has surprising punch, and is more than enough for a medium sized room. The setup has enough flexibility to play anywhere even outside where there is no power. Never had worries if something didn't work since all the components back each other up. The worst part of the whole system is having wires all over and the time to pack it up when all you want to do is leave when your gig is done. We do think alike however! CTK 900 WK 7500

I had to tear down my WK7500 because of a stuck note. What I found that this video here shows the CTX-700 utilizes the same construction of the individual keys. This is shown at about 12:30 mark in the You Tube video showing the tear down of a CTX700. A quick check at the Casio parts supplier indeed shows the same keys used in many of the Casio products. https://www.casiomusicforums.com/index.php?/topic/15792-ct-x700-teardown-from-youtube/ Until you take it apart and look at the individual keys, rubber boots that close key switches or as been suggested here that it could be a ribbon cable loose or even pulled out of its socket. At that point you should be able to see what problem exists. There are quite a few things that could be causing your keys not to sound other than those listed. Take your time after you have removed all the screws underneath and slowly separate the housing. If the video or the thought of tearing down your keyboard is too much of a challenge, then it would be time to send it to the repair shop. CTK 900 WK 7500

I see a lot of bands today with a sound man and his mixer board. They whip out their sound meter and crank till it is red zoning. I asked one of them if he could hear the "cone cry" that was distorting what was a good sounding band? Max SPL is what they want he tells me. Sounded terrible I left the place. Ted N here makes a good point however, most people listening to live don't care about sound quality.

Kieth Emerson was rumored to use the Moog to post process the output of the organ and to use MIDI to create some unique sounds. Of course when in the studio, lots of magic is created. I think my tinnitus is a direct result of the band days. Now I use ear plugs even when going to where DJ;s are playing.

If you want the Hammond experience, why not actual Hammond bass pedals? For $635.00 this gives you MIDI or you can select 4 bass tones generated itself and can be plugged to a line in or connected with MIDI cables. https://reverb.com/item/4724030-hammond-suzuki-usa-xpk-100-13-note-midi-pedal-board-for-xk-1-xk-2-and-xk-3-keyboards-black?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4Mmei_L43wIVBrbICh0hQAgAEAQYASABEgJvN_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&pla=1 I'm tempted to order a set myself... CTK900 WK7500

The point here is that copyright laws give wide protections to people providing intellectual property. Courts can fine the person infringing an amount of $200 up to $150,000.00 and force you to pay attorney fees and court costs for the violation. Rhythm files can be written song specific. Best to be aware of what you grab off the internet and what you post. I would agree that there's not much to worry about. But the laws do exist... CTK900 WK7500

Just to weigh in on this topic and copyright laws. It's quite clear if a rhythm file, midi or song is copyrighted or maybe not even showing or notice of copyright mark, it's not in the public domain even if posted on a website and freely available without paying for it, use of the file is restricted. Use of that material is licensed or must be used with permission of the owner. Use of the files or rhythms in the home is widely regarded as OK. Where it gets quite sticky is when your use gets back into the public sector. A rhythm file seems innocent by itself, but what if you compose a song or melody using that rhythm file as it's base. You post that song as your song for others to enjoy, play it for an audience or maybe if you're lucky it becomes a hit and it's downloaded, sold, played on the radio. Now you are using other peoples "intellectual property" for your personal gain and that could just be notoriety, not even for profit. Many people post their rhythms, songs, midi's for others to use, build off and enjoy, made freely available. However you may not know the authors intention to make public and free to use unless clearly stated. Granted this is all a text book scenario, but if you are called in to court to defend a copyright infringement, it's hard to defend. In looking at a lot of Yamaha styles to convert to Casio, some of the Yamaha factory files do have copyright notices. To convert them and post the conversions to a Casio site would be an invitation to trouble Just as Casio would probably frown on their rhythm files being converted and posted for use on other keyboard manufacturers. This isn't just restricted to music. Photo's, design, artwork etc etc are all subject to copyright laws. Will you get into trouble using other rhythm files from another keyboard, probably not but it could and can happen. Like Mike Martin says if you use it for commercial work, it's probably best off limits or get permission to use the material. CTK 900 WK7500