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Bass patches on the PX5s question


pax-eterna

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**********Sorry. moot question now, it has no transpose button on the front panel. I do backing for drop in singers and a transpose button (yeah I know I can do it in my head) but live it needs to be seamless.

 

Thanks in case anyone looks at the thread.

 

 

Does anyone know of any demos (apart from those ridiculous ones from "pianomanchuck") I did ask Mike in another thread about whether Casio can get anything decent into it for bass patches, but I think it may get buried and it was really not the right place. So I made a separate thread.

The bass patches are pretty much all that is stopping me from buying one as I am sold on the keys side of it. But the basses (from what I have been able to glean so far) are pretty ordinary. JMO of course so please I am not trying to offend anyone. I am used to the bass patches on the Motif XF to give you idea of what I would like to get close to.

 

I did ask at "another" forum, but it's like the text version of a blank stare LOL!

Thanks

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Hi Dennis and welcome to CMF!  :) 

The bass samples I sent you a while back pretty much covered all the presets... but you can tweak the envelopes, filters and EQ so really change the character of the sound. I'm not really familiar with the Motif sound... Do you have some audio examples of what you are looking for? That will help us dial something in for you. 

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Hi Scott and thanks for the welcome, and sorry my first post seems to have been a bit on the negative side :)

 

As I wrote above, I am not so sure now as there is no transpose button on the front panel - As a solo player I do get "drop-in" singers from time to time (happens more than one would think - especially in an area with a LOT of retired performers)  so being able to change transposition on the fly is needed. ( I am a bit lazy and while I can do it in my head, with a LOT of effort, I would rather not ;) ) Seems from what I read that it is a couple of layers deep to change...

 

As for the sounds (yeah I do remember you sending the samples :) ) but tbh they did not really impress me much...To perhaps make it clearer I am a solo player who writes my own backing tracks (when not playing solo piano) comprised of drums and guitar (gtr in about 60%),  the rest - bass and keys -  I play live as well as do vocals. As I have written elsewhere, the AP/EP sounds I am sold on! But I could not find much in the way of info on either introducing new samples, or being able to tweak what are (strictly IMO!!) average bass samples..the bass sounds (in my situation) are almost as important as the piano sounds.

 

I will try and find some demos of the Motif bass patches, although I know of none that are "stand-alone" - they are mostly in mixes....

 

Dennis

 

Found one:  http://en.audiofanzine.com/workstation/yamaha/motif-xf6/medias/audio/a.play,m.144480.html  t is not one of the better ones, but starts to give you an idea...I will find more...or even record a small MP3 of them and post it - Can I post MP3's directly here somehow?

Edited by pax-eterna
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 Can I post MP3's directly here somehow?

 

I don't think those are a file type you can upload here.. maybe just post a link to the sound or upload it to SoundCloud, etc.

Have you been able to lay your hands on one so you can feel and hear it in-person.. to me that made all the difference in the world (obviously in a good way).

 

EDIT: Looks like MP3's can be uploaded here. Good to know!  :)

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No Scott, unfortunately the nearest stockist is about 7 hours return drive...I did hear some really silly demos of the PX basses by that "pianomanchuck" dude, but he obviously has no clue on what is actually played in basslines - or if he does he certainly did not display it ;)

 

I will ask the store if they can ship me a demo unit, I am not hopeful, but I will ask :)

 

I want to re establish a new SoundCloud page anyway, so I might do that and post some MP3 demos of the Yammie basses there...

 

Dennis

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Dennis, I think we should all appreciate the time PianoManChuck put into making his videos....but I do understand its not that helpful hearing instruments like Bass, Guitar, Synth and strings being played in the same piano style for hearing the quality sounds. I guess until someone else makes demos of the sounds thats all we have to go on...I just took a leap of faith and bought a PX5S after owning a number of flagship synths...it should be here by the end of the week. My guess is the Bass, Guitars, Strings and Brass wont stand up to the quality of the motif/kronos/kurzweil but I hope Im pleasantly surpirised.

 

:)

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Here's a couple of px-5s bass examples.  Super quick, out of the box, no eq, used a couple of the default phrases - I might have gotten a little chorusy on the fretless, but in headphones it sounds pretty ok.  2 files, slap bass and fretless.  Pretty straight forward, only modification was with the chorus on the fretless.

 

TAKE00.mp3

 

[edit] Sorry; I pulled the fretless demo because it was a pretty poor example

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Here's a couple of px-5s bass examples.  Super quick, out of the box, no eq, used a couple of the default phrases - I might have gotten a little chorusy on the fretless, but in headphones it sounds pretty ok.  2 files, slap bass and fretless.  Pretty straight forward, only modification was with the chorus on the fretless.

 

attachicon.gifTAKE00.mp3

attachicon.gifTAKE01.mp3

Thanks I will have a listen :)

 

Hmmm Slap is about GM standard, maybe a shade up decent though :) and amongst a mix probably useable - the Fretless had way too much attack, and sounded more like a pick bass (see what you mean about the chorus, but it sounded more like phasing or flanging - hope that is not part of the actual sample and is an added effect :D...But thanks for putting them up. I will record a short demo track of the Motif XF basses, but I suspect many here have already heard them :)

Edited by pax-eterna
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As I wrote above, I am not so sure now as there is no transpose button on the front panel - As a solo player I do get "drop-in" singers from time to time (happens more than one would think - especially in an area with a LOT of retired performers)  so being able to change transposition on the fly is needed. ( I am a bit lazy and while I can do it in my head, with a LOT of effort, I would rather not ;) ) Seems from what I read that it is a couple of layers deep to change...

Transposing the PX5s>   Press Sys Setting Button and Enter. Use the up/down buttons to adjust transpose.

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thanks Brad, but that is still a layer deep, and one needs to go in do it then back back out again to the main screen, and then remember to do it again at the end of the song, do-able yes, but just a tad more awkward that a dedicated button on the panel. Not necessarily a deal-breaker by itself, but with the other issues (for me)...You see the underlying bass and guitar patch samples are the issue, as there is no way to edit these at all. They are what they are...and if I remember correctly are the same level as the Casio CDP series...mind you it has been some time since I played one so my memory may be playing tricks.

 

I do appreciate the post though :)

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The Upright Basses and 3 Fingered basses on the PX-5S are all new have never appeared in any previous Casio instrument.  These are the first 6 presets in the bass category at not the ones represented in the audio demos above. This are quite good in my opinion.  I'm sorry though I won't be near a PX-5S today to do an audio demo.

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@pax

 

I didn't do anything to the sounds except the fretless.  It's funny you mention the attack because I was playing with the attack slider thinking it was the chorus and don't know where I left it.  And the effects are controllable.  Also, the lines were preprogrammed phrases that contain midi events so I think the phrase the fretless was using had some modulation in it to create the effect of vibrato.

 

I try to avoid names such as "GM standard" because GM only identifies what patch and bank number a sound is on;  samples and waveforms for sounds are different from manufacturer to manufacturer.  The GM slap bass on a generic laptop soundcard sounds nothing like the slap bass on a roland integra 7, and both sound different than the casio Px-5s.  In this particular case, the px-5s slap bass 2 works for me and sounds a little less generic than other samples I've heard.  It needs a little EQ bottom end, and that's all programmable.

 

My goal was really only to show the sounds bare bones (though I did mess a little too much with the fretless!)

 

I think I'm gonna pull that electric fretless example - it's really not a very good example; it's plaguing my very being

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The Upright Basses and 3 Fingered basses on the PX-5S are all new have never appeared in any previous Casio instrument.  These are the first 6 presets in the bass category at not the ones represented in the audio demos above. This are quite good in my opinion.  I'm sorry though I won't be near a PX-5S today to do an audio demo.

Thanks Mike, as I said I was relying on memory only :D re the PX and the CDP secondary instruments

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Mike reminded me that a user on the FB group was able to assign transposing to the knobs/sliders so that is another solution. Another option is to add an iPad mini to the mix to provide some sound support... that would open up a lot of possibilities and a mini sits very nicely on the battery cover.  

Thanks Scott, I already own an iPad with Sampletank, and a few other synths - someone on another forum (no not KP ;) ) said why not just take a laptop, well I also have one of those with a whole range of VSTi's but again if I really want to go back to using a lappy I would  just use a controller, although having said that......doesn't the PX5 allow 4 zones and can those zone be set to transmit on any channel? I must re-check how many MIDI outs there are on the back panel....

Re transpose, as I said it is not really a deal-breaker ( nice to know there are workarounds though :) ) just an item that goes into the cons column on my list.

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Thanks Scott, I already own an iPad with Sampletank, and a few other synths - someone on another forum (no not KP ;) ) said why not just take a laptop, well I also have one of those with a whole range of VSTi's but again if I really want to go back to using a lappy I would  just use a controller, although having said that......doesn't the PX5 allow 4 zones and can those zone be set to transmit on any channel? I must re-check how many MIDI outs there are on the back panel....

 

I was using a laptop with my rig and used an iPad last night live for the first time last night. Much better experience.. smaller footprint as the you can put it on the rubber pad (the mini at least).. also much better having the touchscreen right there. Also lighter - every pound counts!  My laptop will now stay at home.. getting old and fragile anyway.  :) 

Yes the PX-5S can do 4 zones on any channel.. split/cross layered however you like. 

Hope you get to try one soon.. I think you will really like the action, sound and flexibility. 

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I was using a laptop with my rig and used an iPad last night live for the first time last night. Much better experience.. smaller footprint as the you can put it on the rubber pad (the mini at least).. also much better having the touchscreen right there. Also lighter - every pound counts!  My laptop will now stay at home.. getting old and fragile anyway.  :) 

Yes the PX-5S can do 4 zones on any channel.. split/cross layered however you like. 

Hope you get to try one soon.. I think you will really like the action, sound and flexibility. 

 

Cheers Scott - yeah the more I am thinking, the more I can see that perhaps the PX + either iPad or laptop (or both?) might not be as bad as I am anticipating...just not sure about the complexity of it all, not to say I cannot figure it or get it to work, more can I be bothered...

 

I am really liking the AP's and EP's on the PX (going on web demos) and perhaps via midi use one of my VSTi basses - the backing tracks are not an issue as they are all audio....only trouble I have is if I move away from the MOXF, the market for them out here (even though still current and new) has dropped significantly so those factors need to be counted.

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond to posts here - especially as at the moment I am more a "tyre-kicker" than totally convinced, but each bit of info helps :)

 

Cheers m8,

 

Dennis

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