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The XW-P1 Companion: Volume 1


AlenK

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Here is the latest update to The XW-P1 Companion, Volume 1. I have added 34 pages of new content, most of it in Section 6 - Voice Programming Techniques, which has been almost entirely re-organized as well as expanded. I already "leaked" a few of the new techniques to the forum a couple of weeks ago. A lot more of them are described in the new document.

 

For those who prefer to get their content on the forum directly (i.e., "documents" ain't your thing) I will be starting several new topics here in the coming weeks to highlight specific selected techniques from the document. Each of those will point to an example uploaded to the files section of the forum. I also intend to release a zip file containing all of the example files when I have completed them.

 

I hope you enjoy this latest update. Now that it is complete I can get back to working on Volume 2, which will discuss emulations of specific instruments and famous synth sounds. It's about half done.

 

XW-P1 Companion - Vol 1 - Rev4.pdf

 

PS. If you have read previous versions there is no need to read sections 1 to 4 again; there is nothing really new there. All the updated sections and new sections are listed on page 5 and clicking on any one of the section numbers will take you there directly.

 

PPS. As of Dec 27, 2018 there has been a minor update to Rev 5; see below.

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1000 thanks.

I fully  printed the rev 3. Is there some log to tell which pages were changed/added so I don't have to reprint the whole thing (and hence save lot of trees).

Thanks again, as synth guides go, this is one of the best organized and most readable. 

 

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Normally me too, but I bought a spiral binding machine while ago and the deal came with boxes of pre-perforated paper....have to use them somehow. 

But later I realized how printing things that I plan to use often free myself from the limitations imposed on by expensive tech. I can toss the copy around freely, leave it opened on my bed for days, stack it on synth or under mess on my desk and generally don't have to worry where it is, what is on top of it, where it falls etc...

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Thanks. You know, if Casio would have me sign an NDA then loan me a pre-production keyboard while it's still in development I could potentially release a document like that when the keyboard itself is released or worst case not long after. Wouldn't that be nice? :banana:

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On 7/4/2017 at 10:30 PM, AlenK said:

Thanks. You know, if Casio would have me sign an NDA then loan me a pre-production keyboard while it's still in development I could potentially release a document like that when the keyboard itself is released or worst case not long after. Wouldn't that be nice? :banana:

 

If only Casio had asked you to do that on the XW's release, and shipped them with a much more clear and comprehensive owners manual. It would have made it so much easier to understand and use this wonderful machine, rather than the very basic and none too clear original manual that came with it.  

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Thanks AlenK, that has really helped me understand the capabilities of the Hex Layer function.  However, I have not yet ventured into that territory... can you refer me to the most basis of basic tutorials on selecting and applying waves to build a sound.  Was a bit confused in the manual...

Thanks again for your knowledge and help!

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Fortunately, there is a tutorial created quite recently that explains how to use Hex Layers. It's the latest in a series. Apparently, the next one up concerns the solo synth. Check out the previous ones in the series; they're quite good.

 

 

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I also highly recommend Mike Martin's live clinics. I found them quite helpful, especially when the machine was new to me. Note that the one on the XW-G1 discusses many things that apply to the XW-P1 as well. I've created a thread specifically about them:

 

 

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On 8/6/2017 at 7:39 PM, RickM said:

Thanks AlenK, that has really helped me understand the capabilities of the Hex Layer function.  However, I have not yet ventured into that territory... can you refer me to the most basis of basic tutorials on selecting and applying waves to build a sound.  Was a bit confused in the manual...

Thanks again for your knowledge and help!

 

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Alen, another great addition to an already outstanding document. I was particularly studied the descriptions for articulations since this is such a subtle aspect to creating realistic sounds. You clearly demonstrate that creative use of any instrument is part of the fun of making music in the first place!

 

If you have any interest at all, this document clearly screams professional publication. If Casio is not interested, I'm sure another tech publishing firm might pick you up. If this is a labor of love I could understand not making this a published book for profit, but it might be nice for future generations of musicians who someday may not have access to this kind of information. I know of 2 people who have submitted their "ebooks" for publication.  As a retired music educator I can tell you this type of excellent comprehensive publication in our highly specialized field is pretty rare. I have only come across one other book from the past that even approached this, a book by David Crombie form the UK which illustrated many of the classic synths but came nowhere close to your technical and practical descriptions. And Craig Anderton, the early creator of "Electronic Musician" magazine I recall, i think still resident in the Keyboard player forum.

 

This is still such an expanding field of knowledge, there are many younger musicians coming up who might benefit from something like this. Aside from some of the earlier more educational "user guides"-I think of my early 400+ page Ensoniq/Yamaha/Generalmusic manuals which are still amazingly detailed tutorials for those of us crazy enough to study them, and  my first CZ synth programming books much of this kind of information is becoming harder to find on the Internet despite almost every user guide ever published  available as a .pdf. This may not always be the case going forward.

 

Just saying in a rather roundabout way, thanks!

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You are welcome! If you are putting me in the company of David Crombie and Craig Anderton, both prolific published authors in the field, that is high praise indeed. I am "published" but so far the only in Home Theatre magazines (currently Widescreen Review).

 

Sure, it would be icing on the cake to make The XW-P1 Companion into an ebook. (I doubt any publisher aside from a vanity one would want to print a physical edition.) But I'm already reaching who I want to reach right here on the Casio Music Forums.

 

By the way, not that you asked, but I'm still hard at work on Volume 2, which I already promised will be free as well. Since I'm trying to come up with tones that illustrate the techniques in Volume 1 while also being educational from an application and even an historical perspective, AND hopefully being truly useful for making music, it's proving to be even more of a challenge than writing Volume 1 was!  

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I have downloaded it, printed it and slowly started to read it and tried to understand the capabilities of the system. Thank you for the effort spent on this, because reading the book makes clear the hidden power of the system. The solo synth part it's an interesting virtual analog wavetable with a lot of horsepower inside. Melody tones are clearly ripped from cheaper keyboard, like the CTK-6200 and put there to get a general Midi coverage. Having a G1 I have to figure the sampler part. 

 

Some explanations sounds interesting also as a PX-5S owner, like the hex tone explanation and why thre's a noise gate are an eye opener.

 

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