Jump to content

Mike Martin's Live XW Clinics: Highly Recommended!


Recommended Posts

Mike Martin has produced a number of live clinics over the years following the introduction of the XW synths in 2012. The most recent was uploaded to YouTube in early 2016, four years after introduction. That's just one of the many ways Mike went above and beyond to support the XW series. Mike's support for all of Casio's products is one of the reasons I recommend them. I personally found these clinics, several of which I attended live, quite helpful, especially when the machine was new to me. They are organized below from earliest to latest according to their upload date on YouTube.

 

Note: Even if you have a XW-G1 there are things in the XW-P1 clinics that will apply to your G1. Likewise the clinic on the XW-G1 discusses many things that also apply to the XW-P1.

 

 

 

 

 



 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

The XW-P1 remains one of my all time favorite instruments. I have actually spent a lot of time with it recently as one of our artists, Steve Weingart will taking his XW-P1 on tour with David Sanborn.  The XW-P1 has an amazing quality and character that fits in perfectly with other instruments (including our own PX-5S and PX-560).  I also was exploring areas of the XW-P1 such as its HexLayer section which are actually remarkably different sounding than the versions in the PX-5S, PX-560 and MZ-X500.  I've tried to recreate many sounds on the PX-5S that I have on the XW-P1 and they simply don't sound the same at all.  The XW-P1 also has several other advantages in its wide selection of waveforms that only exist on the XW-P1.  Probably the biggest weakness of the XW-P1 is the onboard DSP effects. I find myself using pedals and other outboard gear with it and it is simply amazing. 

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

To Mike Martin,

David Sanborn....nice! Was a big fan when he first started recording-have his original album on vinyl. Worked with stellar musicians from day one-and incredible roster of session work. Has that difficult to capture unique tone and timbre-not easy on an alto. 

 

And Sol...the more I study and play the XW-the more intriguing and useful it becomes. The options just for midi alone are daunting-the only keyboard I've ever played that can send and receive USB and DIN midi-at the same time, and with separate settings-you could control 2 separate groups of instruments-or DAW and hardware simultaneously-connected to both. I could be wrong, but this is what I remember, although I have yet to try that. And another aspect to this that surprises me-after playing the keys quite a bit-the keys are holding up very well, and despite my being primarily a piano technique player, the XW key action is surprisingly nice for digging into-not as resistant as some spring-action boards-but somehow it feels real secure-but then I did add some more felt cushioning to the keys inside since I play pretty hard. I solved the problem of which Casio to play-by getting quite a few! Not the most economical choice maybe-over time every Casio I've purchased has been a keeper-except the CZ's-which I should have kept! Way fun programming those 8-stage envelopes.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Sol said:

Yes,"fits in perfectly with other instruments". 

I wonder if he would do better than the PX5S or MZ-X500 as a Master of a Midi Chain to control other external hardwares such as the main keyboard.

 

PX-5S is a much better master controller than the MZ.  MZ-X is not designed for extensive MIDI integration like the PX-5S.  XW synths are the better MIDI controller as well.  I would say the PX-5S is the best, since it has assignable sliders, knobs, pedals and mod wheel, assignable to any of the standard MIDI CCs, and 4 arpeggiators that can send MIDI CC messages on each step of a pattern.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, as I always see many videos and people showing how versatile the XW-P1 is in this sense, but nothing demonstrating the XW-G1 as a Midi Master.

 

I'm not sure about the Midi power of XwG1, and I'd even like my experienced colleagues to enlighten me if they know anything about its Clock, how many pulses per quarter (ppq) we're talking about when it comes to the control power of the XW Sequencers, and its power of synchronization, so that the slaves are obedient to the rhythm established by the master, to avoid echoes and musical derangements.

 

In fact, I would just like to use a Behringer Pro1 Clone + Rolnad SE02 rack as Slaves to the XwG1 through a Midi Hub Thru box. In P1 it's easy to understand how Sliders can integrate them as in a Mix, since you have one Synthesis Engine Level Line and another Layer Level Line in your Hardware distribution. Although it seems that P1 is limited to one MIDI channel in all four zones, can control your internal sounds and mix them with the Slaves sounds on midichain:

 

 

 

In G1 configurations we have Modulations and LFO for sliders behavior. I don't know if I can use K Knobs, or even split the keyboard, if I want to control and mix the Slaves by G1 as easily as in P1 - which can trigger the slaves' sounds in layers controlled with faders by default.

I just want to use my G1 like Martin Horn did on his P1 in this video.

The objetive question: how can G1 communicate these kind of midi parameters if it has no layer functions on sliders?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLKbCdE4Jic#t=21m59s

 

Korakios gave us a hint in Topic

"How to use XW-G1 Sliders & Knobs as Software Controllers in DAW Virtual Instruments???"

Among his tips, I just wouldn't turn off the Local, so I could mix the G1 sounds with the midi slaves through the sliders, as shown in Martin Horn's video with his P1?

Will it work? If so, I'll buy the Synth-Racks, with XWG1 commanding them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And about MZX I think that its battery to design pattern sequences and produce 8 MIDI channels, from its 5pinMIDIdin socket, makes it quite versatile to command all devices in play (synth, drumachines, etc), although the PXS5 has its value as a mixer. 

 

Zaytrius, in the topic "Casio Privia PX-5S, how to use a midi controller for my external synths?" showed that it was necessary to include a Keystep Controller between Privia and the brain of his Set in the Midi chain, probably because PXS5 is not enough to handle Elektron Digitakt.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.