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Allanon

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Posts posted by Allanon

  1.  @Popsel Hi :)
    Well, to be honest I've not looked yet at how tones are stored, I had just a quick look some time ago to what the Sample Manager stores but since a tone has many more parameters than a pad data I've started from them to try to understand the logic behind.
    I hope to map the pad data in a week or two since I'm quiet busy with my real job now...

    Btw ZTN seems not much different from pad data, just more complex because of the more parameters & eventually custom samples with velocity triggers, etc...
    I don't know why the Sample Manager cannot reopen tones coming from the MZ-X, I never tried.
    I'm pretty sure that there is some sample data conversion (compression) between SampleManager->MZ-X and back, maybe we cannot reopen tones because a bug or by design. 
    Maybe the Sample Manager cannot decompress sample data... who knows... we need to investigate :)

     

  2. 13 hours ago, Popsel said:

     

    ...
    That’s why it’s difficult.
    You don't get any support from Casio as a developer.

    Everything has to be found out very laboriously by experiments.

    John Melas, the Developer of the Editors for the Yamaha Synths needed years to reverese engeneer Yamaha's Format.

    So it looks like this behavior is unfortunately common among instrument manufacturers.
    It would be of great help if Casio documented the proprietary sample format.

     

    I'm trying to understand the file format used to store pads, I really miss a PC editor and I'll try to build an editor when I'll have figured out the format.

    Data are not encrypted and not compressed, at least it seems so, but the job is really time consuming:
    - change data

    - export

    - check what's changed in the exported file

    multiplied for every single parameter

     

    Why manufacturers does not make public the saved file format it's a big mistery for me
     

  3. A software to manage data files would be awesome, if only Casio could open the format to the public I (or any developer interested) could develop such a software, this wuold add an infinite value to the MZ X keyboards...
    Think about if you could edit/create you pad banks from the PC, or manage the registrations, this could save a great amount of time!

    Come on Casio! If you don't want to update the firmware or invest in software tools, give us the ability to build the software we need! :D
     

    • Thanks 2
  4. 59 minutes ago, Zeus said:

    I download some from free sites and in some cases do audio to midi conversion on online sites. So whats the proper way to go about?
     

    My midi collection comes from free sites, no big problems playing back them, I've never tried to convert audio to midi but I suspect that they are the most problematic ones

  5. 6 hours ago, vbdx66 said:

    Hi, great stuff. I have already heard this song but I am completely unable to put a title on it...?

     

    Fade to Gray (Visage) :D

     

     

    Thank you all for the nice comments, I hope to find soon a couple of hours to make a new video!

    • Like 1
  6. Hello guys,

    Finally I've got the time to record something on the MZ-X500, I hope to make more videos soon, I'd like to show all the incredible features this keyboard hide under its blue skin 1f642.png
    I think this keyboard deserves some respect :D

    I think 


     

     

    • Like 5
    • Thanks 1
  7. @Shad0wfax I completely agree with you!

    I've a MZ-X500 along an MOX6, and I'm using the MZ-X500 almost every day to record ideas, and play for pure fun!

    It's so easy and quick to edit stuff or to create a scene (registration) adjusting everything you need! The only complains are for Casio policy about this keyboard which seems to have been abandoned to its destiny.

    I hope that Casio will think again, and will listen to all users of the MZ-X line for an updated firmware release, anyway the really important thing for me is that every time I turn on this keyboard I really enjoy it :D
     

    • Like 1
  8. On 11/2/2018 at 12:05 PM, Randelph said:

     

    Allanon, I very much agree, there’s some really basic software improvements that would go a long ways.

    - Cool idea to switch on/off parts/channel using the pads!  Examples please.  Do you mean like with some Yamaha workstations where you can switch on/off 16 different sounds using hardware buttons?

     

    - Drawbars to adjust 4 parts volume without going to mixer?  How would this be done?  At the very least the Mixer page needs to be on the first screen, instead of having to scroll to the second screen.  In the course of editing or performing, I’m using the Mixer page a lot, and it makes no sense that there’s a dedicated hardware button to access Tones, PLUS they put access to the Tone page on that first screen.

     

    - What is it about the sequencer that is not working for you?

     

    - More flexibility to assign and use DSPs: once again, how would you have this implemented?  I suppose cost restraints made this decision, but only having 2 DSPs instead of 4 makes things harder.  

     

     

    I’d love to see a moderated thread for these kinds of suggestions.  I suppose there might be some trickle down to Casio from the many threads on improvements to the MZ-X, but what if there was one thread that was moderated by Brad?  Much better chance of Casio looking at it and not having to go thru so many threads

    - Only firmware improvements, not ideas for a next generation board

    - Basic guidelines laid out for how to format our suggestions

     

    Randy

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Hi Randy!

    Here are some things that could be implemented in software, as I said I enjoy the MZ X500 but dreaming does not costs too much :)

     

    PADS

    The interface should show a new button where the player can select how the pads should behave, it could really nice to have these modes:

    - Playback (the currently implemented mode)

    - Switch Channels (this could be very helpful to mute or solo tracks, for example during the playback of a midi file you could use pads to mute or solo certain tracks on the fly)

    - Instrument Select (Using this mode you could switch to an instrument in defined in the mixer, suppose you have track1 : Bass, track 2 : Sax, track 3 : Strings, etc... uosing this mode when you prss pad 1 the istrument in track 1 is assigned to the currently selected voice (1-4), it could be very handy to have a more extended palette of sounds under your finger tips).

    - Cool idea to switch on/off parts/channel using the pads!  Examples please.  Do you mean like with some Yamaha workstations where you can switch on/off 16 different sounds using hardware buttons?

     

    DRAWBARS

    The interface should allow to select how the drawbars works, right now the drawbars behaviour changes depending on the selected tone (standard tone, hex layer, drawbar organ, mixer), this is ok but it could allow more flexibility implementing the following:
    - Auto (the current implemented mode)
    - Performance (Allow to change volume & Cutoff of the 4 voices used for the upper/lower)
    - Volumes (Allow to change volume of the channels, again very useful to adjust midi playback on the fly, the organ percussion buttons could be used to select the 1-8 tracks & 9-16 tracks).

    - Effect Tweaker (allow to tweak the DSP effects on real time without the need to dig into the tone edit screen)
    The Mixer page is very well designed but during live you miss many useful informations like chord, beat count, split, arpegiator, knob assignments, etc... it could be very useful to arrange volumes from the main screen.

     

    SEQUENCER
    A workstation like the MZ X500 deserves at least a sequencer like the one seen on the Roland FA 🙂
    gallery_console_effects.jpg

    Come on guys, we are almost on 2019! :D

    DSP
    Well, on this topic I've no idea if it is possible or not to add more flexibily because of the hardware implementation...  anyway I do not say to increase DSP channels, that's impossible because as I said it's binded to the hardware implementation, instead I was wondering if it is possible to allow more flexibility on the routing system.

    Ok, finished :D
    That's my dream for my first Casio Keyboard I ever had, come on Casio make your customers happy! :D
    ...and forgive my childish english!
     

  9. Yes, I agree with you, this is a great instrument but I feel that the software side is somewhat incomplete, with some little improvements this keyboard could really become a monster!
    Some features I really miss, for example, are :

    - The ability to switch on/off parts/channel using the pads

    - The ability to use the drawbars to adjust the 4 parts volume without going to the mixer

    - A more comfortable sequencer (this is the main wish I've for this instrument).

    - More flexibility to assign and use the DSPs

     

    I'm not complaining, this instrument has still much features and flexibility (for example with the pads) that other keyboards doesn't have, I'm just saying that with a little effort on the software side the MZ-X could really became an iconic instrument, if no firmware updates will follow, well... it will be a lost opportunity for Casio to mark the MZ-X a the best innovative instrument of the last few years.


    Said that, I still have great fun playing my MZ-X500, excluding the noisy keys, I've not found any issues in my almost-daily use, I'll keep it until I'll be able to bear the noisy keys that sometimes I'm able to hear also thought the headphones!
     

    • Thanks 1
  10. @Brad Saucier and all ppl interested, loading samples in tone's single notes works like a charm!

    It took me a while to understand how the whole thing works but I've successfully created a tone with all the needed samples, then I've created a pad bank and on each pad I've recorded a phrase using the "special" tone loaded in upper 1.

    Then I've saved the pad bank, finally I've setup all the other things (mixer, effects, rhythm, upper 2 tone, etc...) and I've saved all the stuff in a registration, it's amazing!

    As Brad said, using this method you can easily exceed the sample lenght limits, also you can chain samples in the pad phrase as if they where a single big sample.

    This method requires some work, but when you have finished the result is amazing.

    When I have some free time I'll record a video showing the final result :)

     

    • Like 4
  11. Hi @Brad Saucier and thank you for your answer,

    I've read somewhere this theory from you in another thread but I wanted to be sure about the "standard" way.

    I will try for sure your suggestion, so to have an ordered array of samples I have to build a special tone for each song/setup that needs samples and program the pads to shot phrases with that notes.

    Then I've to put the tone in a registration along with all the other settings nad I'm ready to go.

    Sounds good  :)

     

    Just for the record I'm trying to put stuff togheter to play "Fade to grey" with all that nice french phrases :P

    • Like 1
  12. Hello all,

    I'm trying to find my way to use the pads for live gigs, so it necessary to switch song setups in the fastest way possible, but I'm not sure if what I'm doing is the best way...

     

    So here is what I've done so far :

    • I've prepared some samples on the pc and saved them on a USB drive
    • I've loaded the samples into the MZ-X500 (Media -> Load -> Sampling)
      • First question : is it right that I have 16x3 (A, B, C banks) slots where I can load my custom samples? In my test song I've used 10 slots for 10 samples, 7 short and 3 long.
    • I've assigned the loaded samples to pads
    • I've saved the pad bank

    Now I'm going to build a music preset to access with a registration key, so I will :

    • Setup my favorite tones, rhythm, pad bank
    • Setup other things like fx and so on
    • Write my registration so I can switch all the stuff with a single button press

     

    Now my dubt is, how can I override the 16x3 slots limit to setup many songs which uses many samples? Is there a way to quickly swap sample banks? I'm not sure if it possible, the manual is not clear enough or I may have missed something :)

     

    I'd like to carry my MZ X500 on live gigs along with my MOX6

     

    Sorry for my english :P

     

     

  13. Hi @MichaelL

    The Roland FA-07 and the Yamaha MOXF6 are similar products, but both are quite different from the MZ-X500.

    The MZ-X500 is an arranger/workstation (more arranger with some workstation functions) while the FA-07 and the MOXF6 are pure workstations.
    So, in my opinion you should look better what product you need because all depends on your needs.

     

    The FA-07 and MOXF6, even if they have some accompaniment functions cannot be considered arrangers, I have a MOX6 and a MZ-X500.

    The MOXF is a great workstation, more difficult to program but way more powerful, especially in sound programming: it's a great instrument for live performances and as a composing tool. I think the FA is of the same kind but with the addition of the pads which are very useful, I cannot say which is better because I only have the MOX6 which is very similar to the MOXF.

     

    The MZ-X500 is more oriented to one-man-band performances even if, as I said before, it also great for live performances.

     

    What are your needs? 

    :)

     

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