Some questions about effects and sounds

[francoran]

I know that the best way is to experiment case by case, but I am looking for some hints and tricks to start and save time to play instead of programming. I will appreciate very much any help.

1. Which values of reverb, chorus and delay you consider reasonable for pads, strings, brasses and solos in a live performance with a little band (four or five elements)?

2. Is there a way to swell a solo sound that seems too tiny, for example an alto sax?

3. Which expander or little keyboard you find to be more complementary to PX5S in a pop/rock band?

[algx]

In answer to your first question I would say that it very much depends on the size and acoustics of the venue in question, especially for the reverb.  Experimenting with settings is probably the best way to get good results. Try getting to a position away from the stage and have someone play the keyboard so you can hear what it sounds like for the audience.  Bear in mind that the acoustics will change  as soon as the place fills up with people, becoming acoustically dampened by the audience.

 

For the second question, you can build a big sax sound by using the multiple oscillators in zones 1&2, 12 voices if you like, plus the other two zones 3&4.  In the PC editor select the sax sounds that are found in the oscillator drop down menu for the HEX Layers.  You can then set up the faders (1-6) in the Common menu, to control the relative volume  of each sax sound.  This should be big enough to cut through in most situations.

 

The last question is really hard to answer as there are so many to choose from.  The Px5s is very flexible though and a little time spent learning to program it may pay dividends and save you some money. You can zone each of the four voices across the keyboard and have a different sound on each zone. Also check out the patch downloads for this keyboard as you may well find that you could use these instead of having to program sounds yourself.

Hope this is of some help

 

 

[francoran]

Thank you algx, very clear, but what I mean about first question is that sometimes I find default tones with chorus, delay and reverb all at 127, that is not a good live set. So I would like to have an idea about which values it is better not to overcome, just for a starting point.

For the second question you have centered the point, but what I need is a practice example. In the case of an Alto sax, I found that a little choir in the background helps a little to swell the sound and I wish to put together just another tone, but I don't know wich one will sound better, maybe a triangle wave or a saw one? another one? Experimenting all the chances could be exhausting, so here again I would like to listen to an expert opinion.

Actually the third question is not very important, I am just curious to see what users think not to have in the PX5S... maybe a cup of coffee?

[algx]

I think I see what you are getting at with your first point.  If you are using the factory default stage settings most of them have sliders S4-6 as chorus, delay and reverb respectively, pulling these down to the bottom when you load a stage setting should bring their settings to zero.  This should be your starting point for then adding the effects you require by pushing the sliders up to a point where you find the sound your after.  When you get the effects right you can then press write and save the stage setup.  

On the second point I think the sax is particularly difficult to synthesise using waves alone, so you may be better off layering the samples already provided using the method i mentioned above.  You can also program the modulation wheel and pedals to change volume and filter settings etc to vary the sound and provide swells during a performance which helps make things sound a little more interesting.