Feature request: Save edited programs wherever you want

[anotherscott]

Unless I'm missing something, sounds can only be saved in their assigned categories. That is, piano tones can only be saved in the piano category, brass tones can only be saved on the brass category, and so on. There are two problems with this:

 

1. Some tone types are represented in multiple categories. So if you actually want to listen to, for example, all the possible EPs to find the one you want, you need to look in the EP category, the Hexlayer category, and the GM category. I'd like to move copies (altered or not) of the GM and Hexlayer EPs into the user slots of the EP category so I can have all my EPs in one place.

 

2. Even more importantly in my case, I want to create custom screens of eight patches that could include sounds from ANY categories, which I could do if I could copy sounds (altered or not) from one category to another. This way, I could call up a single screen that has, say, my favorite piano, favorite EP, favorite string, favorite brass, and so on, to have a single 8-slot screen where I can get from any one of these sounds to any other of these sounds with a single screen tap, for fast change during live performance. And then, with user patches on the PX560 already being laid out so nicely, a simple tap on the "next page" button could bring me to another 8. Which means any of 16 sounds are always available within no more than two taps. This could be done either with a new "user" bank that would simply consolidate access to all 400 User locations that currently exist split among the various tone categories, or if that's not easy to implement, I would be okay moving sounds into "wrong" categories for this purpose (that is, take advantage of the fact that there are 100 User locations in the HexLayer category to put all my favorites there, whether they were actually hexlayer sounds or not).

 

I understand that registrations can be used for such cross-category access, but there are no screen labels for them, so you have to memorize or reference a chart; plus they are arranged in banks of 4, so to have quick access to your 16 favorite sounds, getting from one to another can require as many as 5 button presses (i.e. to go from one of the four sounds in bank 1 to one of the four sounds in bank 4) vs. a max of 2 screen taps. Or, even just for your 8 favorite sounds, instead of tapping a single (labeled on screen) button, you could have to hit up to three (unlabeled) buttons (i.e. bank button, up or down button, registration number).

 

I know that others have requested that the registrations themselves be able to be selected via on-screen display, which would be ideal. But if that can't be easily done, the above would at least help (and actually would still be useful even if onscreen selection of registrations were ultimately supported as well).

Edited May 12, 2016 by anotherscott

[Brad Saucier]

Save your favorite tones to user slots.  Use the media screen to save those to USB drive.  Now reload your tones.  They can be loaded into any category from there.  Hex layer category is the exception (only hex tones will go there).

[anotherscott]

Wow, so glad I posted, looking forward to trying it, thanks!

[anotherscott]

11 hours ago, BradMZ said:

Save your favorite tones to user slots.  Use the media screen to save those to USB drive.  Now reload your tones.  They can be loaded into any category from there.  Hex layer category is the exception (only hex tones will go there).

 

It worked! It was a bit tedious... the tones have to be saved (and loaded) one at a time, and the only way to re-order things would be to delete and re-load the tones into new locations, so you'll want to chart out where you want each tone to go in advance. Also, not only can you not put regular tones into the hex layer category, you also can't put hex layer tones into any other categories, so no matter what, you can't end up with a hex layer and a regular tone on the same screen. But basically, it works. I put all my favorite sounds into the Synth category, because that's the one with the greatest number of user slots. I will have to do another pass to get a better order, though. (A computer librarian to manage patch locations would be very nice!)

 

As an aside, I wish the trigger area of the "exit" button in the lower right of the touchscreen didn't extend so far to the left. It's too easy to hit it when there's another function to its left. And I wish the scroll wheel and up-down buttons worked in more places... sometimes they do nothing, when they would be handy to navigate something on the screen.

 

And a quick basic question while I'm at it: I understand that the knobs/wheels/pedals can be defined to do different things... but do I understand correctly that, if you want these controllers to do different things on different sounds, those assignments are done at the registration level?

[Brad Saucier]

1) Over in the FB group, it was asked if a PX-5S style data editor app will be made for the PX-560. The official answer basically said the touchscreen makes a data editor unecessary and they won't be developing one. Not sure if that also applies to a file manager app. I would assume so.  

 

2)Yes. Controller assigments are stored in registrations.   

[anotherscott]

Thanks again for the info. I hope they do consider at least a simple librarian to re-order patches... or alternatively, if they prefer to keep all the functionality internal to its own touchscreen operation, an on-board editing function where you could "cut" (or "copy") a patch from one location and "paste" (or "insert") it at another. Another useful reason to be able to re-order patches: When you go to, for example, the "Electric Pianos" tab, there are 63 possible sounds there... it seems like it would be very useful to be able to re-order them so that the 8 sounds from that category that you like best come up on the first screen. Right now, the first screen gives you 5 Rhodes and 3 Wurlis, which is more of those than most people need quick access to, but if you want a Clav, you have to page down four times. I imagine many people might want to be able to get to a clav more quickly than that, and would be content to have just their favorite Rhodes and Wurlis on the first screen with the 2ndary ones moved to some location further down. These kinds of little enhancements can make a big difference for people who play live. Shipping with all the similar sounds next to each other is sensible and makes it easier to determine your favorites, but once you know what you like, quicker access to the sounds you really want eventually becomes the more desirable approach.

 

As an aside for anyone following this thread who likes the idea of combining sounds from different groups onto a single screen... don't overlook the GM sounds! I have found that, in some cases, I actually prefer the GM version of some sound to the "better" regular version. There are also a number of useful sounds there that have no equivalent anywhere else.