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Tuning the XWP1


Margo68

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Hi,

 

I wonder if anyone can help me with a tuning issue please?

 

I bought my XWP1 brand new, unopened in November 2017 and discovered that it wasn't tuned to concert pitch. I remedied this via the course tune function and all seemed fine. I assumed that this would be a global reset but I've just discovered that the sequencer is not in tune with the main keyboard. It's nearly a whole tone out. Never realised this before as I've only used the sequencer up to now,for mucking about as a standalone. Is there a way to tune the sequencer so it's in tune with the rest of the XWP1? If I have it in sequencer mode and go through settings, the tuning shows at the value I reset it to so I'm at a loss how to change it.

 

Thanks

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First of all, I would be gobsmacked if the default tuning of the XW-P1 was not 440.0 Hz for the A above middle C. Perhaps your XW-P1 had been pulled from the warehouse at Casio to upgrade the firmware to the latest version or to test something and the tuning was changed from the default for some reason before they packed it back up. 

 

Second, when you say you adjusted the coarse tune function, where did you do this? Each zone (1 to 4) and in fact each part (1 to 16, of which 1 to 4 are the same as zones 1 to 4) has its own coarse tune and fine tune parameters. If you, for the sake of argument, adjusted the tuning of zone 1, all the other zones and parts will be out of tune with respect to zone 1. The sequencer plays parts 7 to 16, so that could explain what you are hearing. 

 

The other thing I don't understand is your use of coarse tune. For all zones and parts, and even for the master tuning (see below), coarse tune adjusts the pitch in semitone steps. Are you saying your XW-P1's tuning was off by an exact number of semitones?  

 

All of that said, the correct way to tune the entire instrument is to use the Tuning and M.Coarse parameters in the General Settings menu (see page E-69 in the XW-P1 User's Guide). To start I would set Tuning to 440.0 and M.Coarse to 0 (and if you did indeed adjust the tuning of zone 1 then undo that too). Measure the frequency of a sine-wave-like tone, for example "Bell Sine Lead" (P5-1in the Solo Synth category) or "Sine Pad" (P6-0 in the PCM Synth category), while playing A above middle C. As I said, I will be astounded if it doesn't measure 440.0 Hz. 

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Thanks AlanK

 

I did my original retuning in the general settings, having followed the instructions on E-69. I could tell by ear that it wasn't in tune. I've not had the time yet to go into individual zones and change things, so I'm pretty confident I haven't altered the tuning of a particular zone.

 

Prior to retuning, I was surprised to see that it was showing 440.0hz  (as would normally be expected),  given that it was way off tune. 

 

I used course tune because I am saying , strange as it may seem, that my XWP1's tuning is out by an exact number of semitones and it's way off tune when set to 0. I have now reset my XWP1 to 440.0hz and M Coarse to O as you kindly suggested. Bizarrely, to get a concert A, I have to play a B on the XWP1, so it came to me tuned 2 semitones below pitch although it doesn't show this in the tuning menu !!

 

Whilst I'm not a novice musician I am new to synthesizers, so I'm definitely a novice on that score and I'm stumped what to do next.

 

Thanks again

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I did think of transpose as a possibility but did not realize that the XW-P1 kept the setting when you switch off the power, so I didn't bother mentioning it. That doesn't seem like a great decision by Casio, frankly, but it is what it is. I think you'll be fine now with the sequencer. The transpose buttons only affect the four zones. Once you undo the transpose everything should be at concert pitch. 

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Hi AlenK,

 

I fully expected when I switched it back on this morning, that I would be back to square one, but my XWP1 has kept my transpose setting. I still think there's something fundamentally amiss though, as I had to transpose to a value of - 12 which intuitively didn't seem right but perhaps it is? Also, I haven't touched the transpose before, so it came out of the box like it. Transposing is not something you can do by accident either as you have to hold down the transpose button and simultaneously press either the + or - buttons. I'll try the sequencer tonight. Fingers crossed.

 

 

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You only need to hold down transpose if you want to transpose in semitone steps. If you hit those plus and minus buttons without also holding transpose the jumps are in octave intervals, as explained on page E-37. That's why the word "octave" appears above them. Instead of choosing a transpose of -12 you could have simply hit the minus button.

 

It sounds like the octave transposition and the semitone transposition may be additive (I have never checked that little detail). In other words, jumping an octave does not remove or replace whatever semitone transposition has been previously set. (That would also mean, unless I am mistaken, that the total transposition range of the XW-P1 using those controls is four octaves; three from the octave jumps and another 12 semitones in the same direction using the semitone steps.)  

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