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sequencing aaarrggghhh part 2


Jokeyman123

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"Note" does indeed include a drum hit. You can trigger only one drum instrument on each step of any of the monophonic tracks. But each step can be a different instrument within the same drum kit, if you so choose (normally you would not so choose). With the chord track (only) you could trigger up to three different drum instruments on every step, assuming you were to configure that track to use a drum kit (normally it does not).

Remember that a drum kit is just an assignment of percussion instruments across the MIDI note range. If you have chosen a drum kit for a track (you do that in the mixer) instead of a chromatic instrument (piano, synth, whatever) then different notes will now play different drum instruments.

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"Note" does indeed include a drum hit. You can trigger only one drum instrument on each step of any of the monophonic tracks. But each step can be a different instrument within the same drum kit, if you so choose (normally you would not so choose). With the chord track (only) you could trigger up to three different drum instruments on every step, assuming you were to configure that track to use a drum kit (normally it does not).

Remember that a drum kit is just an assignment of percussion instruments across the MIDI note range. If you have chosen a drum kit for a track (you do that in the mixer) instead of a chromatic instrument (piano, synth, whatever) then different notes will now play different drum instruments.

 

So parts are tracks?

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Practically speaking, Scott is correct. But technically it would be more accurate to say that parts are played by tracks. Tracks are parallel (in time) channels of independent information in the sequencer. Nine of the sequencer's 13 tracks each play a particular part. The assignment of track to part is fixed; you can't change it (track 1 plays part 8, track 2 plays part 9, etc.). (There is one exception. You can choose to make track 7 play part 1 instead of its usual part 14.) The parts (there are 16) are each assigned a tone in the XW's "mixer". You can also change in the mixer a lot of other parameters associated with each part, including volume, pan position, reverb amount, MIDI receive channel, etc.

Note that seven of the XW's 16 parts are NOT (normally) addressed by sequencer tracks. The first four are known as zones. You can play these live from the keyboard. Zone 1 (i.e., part 1) is the only one of these for which you can select the Solo Synth, Hex Layer or Drawbar Organ as the tone. It's also the only one that the sequencer can play, if you choose track 7 (called "Solo1") to play it instead of playing part 14. Parts 5, 6 and 7 are neither playable by the keyboard nor by the sequencer. They can only be accessed over MIDI. All the other tracks can also be accessed over MIDI.

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One of the problems here is that the manual is inconsistent in its use of the word "part". In the "Using the Step Sequencer" section it equates a part with a track, but in the "Other Useful Functions" section it makes it clear that a "part" is as I have described it above. The manual can't have it both ways. I choose the latter definiton and use "track" where the sequencer chapter says "part".

 

Now, the sequencer section also refers to some of the tracks as DRUM parts. Since you will, by default, hear only one kind of specific drum instrument on each of these tracks you might think that is all it can do. But that is just by default. By programming a step of such a track to play another NOTE on the keyboard, you will then make it play a different drum instrument. Or you can select a melody tone in the mixer for the associated part and have that track play ACTUAL chromatic notes, just like some of the other tracks do by default.

 

Regarding your implicit question, if I am understanding it correctly you are asking if it is possible to record three different drum "parts" from the keyboard on a single step. The answer is "not simultaneously in real time". You can record each drum track separately in real time, one after the other. Or you can, in theory, repurpose the chord track to play a drum kit and input in real time a three-note chord at a given step that corresponds to the three drum instruments you want to hear on that step. But there is no real advantage to doing this other than preserving parts to be driven by an external MIDI sequencer.

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My original post I wasn't sure if I was doing something incorrectly.

 

Yes, I was confused by tracks and parts and what you say makes more sense now.

 

Thanks Alen and Scott for putting up with my ramblings.

 

I'm sure I am not clear in my writing and I apologize. My brain has bad sectors lol.  :unsure:

 

I did it in sequencer step edit. I recorded multiple parts on one step. It takes a bit longer to do than on the fly, but if you want precise multiple drums on one step for say a backing track it is good.

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Just another important point re sequencer that another user clarified for me-when recording drum tracks, each track is monophonic but you can input several different percussion sounds on the same track, just not on the same beat, seems simple but wasn't for me. Each step in each track of the sequencer can have a totally different sound, but if you want to layer 16 bass drum beats on top of 16 snare beats it must be done with seperate tracks. Again, seems like a simple concept, but..........not for me!

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Just another important point re sequencer that another user clarified for me-when recording drum tracks, each track is monophonic but you can input several different percussion sounds on the same track, just not on the same beat, seems simple but wasn't for me. Each step in each track of the sequencer can have a totally different sound, but if you want to layer 16 bass drum beats on top of 16 snare beats it must be done with seperate tracks. Again, seems like a simple concept, but..........not for me!

 

 

Yeah, takes me some extra brain cells for sure. What I do is go into sequencer step edit, 1st step add in a hit in drm1, same step add a hit from drm2, same step add a hit from drum3 ect. go to 2nd step bla bla.

 

So yeah, you can put kick drum and a snare or whatever on the same beat.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Yeah, takes me some extra brain cells for sure. What I do is go into sequencer step edit, 1st step add in a hit in drm1, same step add a hit from drm2, same step add a hit from drum3 ect. go to 2nd step bla bla.

 

So yeah, you can put kick drum and a snare or whatever on the same beat.

 

Bobby, do you mean in step edit mode you can "overdub" or allow it to trigger multiple notes (i.e. drum + snare) on the SAME step, on the SAME track?  Or do you have to change to track 2 for the snare, track 3 for hats, etc.?

 

I know obviously you can have multiple sounds layered on the same STEP but must use different TRACKS....

 

Supposedly each track (except the one "chord" track) is monophonic which would mean only able to trigger ONE note/drumsound on each step, so if you want multiple sounds on the same step you have to use multiple tracks.  However, I have noticed in the past the step edit mode does offer more flexibility than using the buttons & sliders "live" method, so would not be surprised if what you're saying is correct (if I am reading it correctly, that is!)

 

Gonna have to play around with this......... Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, but if indeed you can layer multiple sounds on a single step, on a single track, that will be very awesome...

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Bobby, do you mean in step edit mode you can "overdub" or allow it to trigger multiple notes (i.e. drum + snare) on the SAME step, on the SAME track?  Or do you have to change to track 2 for the snare, track 3 for hats, etc.?

 

I know obviously you can have multiple sounds layered on the same STEP but must use different TRACKS....

 

Supposedly each track (except the one "chord" track) is monophonic which would mean only able to trigger ONE note/drumsound on each step, so if you want multiple sounds on the same step you have to use multiple tracks.  However, I have noticed in the past the step edit mode does offer more flexibility than using the buttons & sliders "live" method, so would not be surprised if what you're saying is correct (if I am reading it correctly, that is!)

 

Gonna have to play around with this......... Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, but if indeed you can layer multiple sounds on a single step, on a single track, that will be very awesome...

 

 

You're putting them on the same step with a different part for each sound. On one step you can put Drm1, Drm2, Drm3 ect. With the sequencer off, and with the first preset selected, go into step edit . You can scroll through the steps and parts to see what parts are on each step.

 

I hope I'm explaining this to where it makes sense for you. If not I can give an example.

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As far as the XW-P1 is concerned, "PART," "TRACK" and "MIDI CHANNEL" are pretty much interchangeable and synonymous...

 

Sounds good! :)

 

I think what confuses some ( me, at first) is that each track is monophonic except the chords track. But, each "step" is polyphonic in that you can put the 9 tracks on a step. At least with the sequencer off in step edit mode anyway. I haven't tried it with the sequencer running in step edit mode but it may work too.

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You're putting them on the same step with a different part for each sound. On one step you can put Drm1, Drm2, Drm3 ect. With the sequencer off, and with the first preset selected, go into step edit . You can scroll through the steps and parts to see what parts are on each step.

 

I hope I'm explaining this to where it makes sense for you. If not I can give an example.

Gotcha and that's how I thought it was, I was just misunderstanding your earlier post then :)  thanks!!

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  • 3 months later...

I've been out of the XW loop for awhile, my XW was in rehab for awhile recovering from a firmware update so been trying to bone up on the faqs again and came across something else which once again reminds me this an instrument whose functions need to be practiced and rehearsed as if its an ensemble!

 

When switching between performance and sequence mode, (I think) one can transpose live from the keyboard (like an auto-accompaniment instrument) in sequence mode or performance mode. What's confusing me is that some of the preset performances trigger sequences that I can transpose live if I activate the keyshift/rotary slow-fast button located in the drawbar section of the XW but not always. One of the values that can be turned on/off within a performance is the key shift function (p. 65 in the manual). So some preset performances are stored that allow for live transposition of the active sequence already set in the performance and some don't whether I activate the key shift button or not, does that sound right? And I guess if I want to set up a new performance with a sequence that will transpose live, I need to pick a specific keyboard zone that will do that although again i can't figure how that works. I see how to zone for arpeggios and phrase sequences within the performance but not the transpose function.  Leave it to me to find the real stumpers the manual left out.

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  • 5 years later...

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