Travst

The video series makes good business sense to me. With the XW series having great appeal to the lower end of the market, I think that many buyers will be fairly new to synths. I fit into that group (being a guitarist first) and it is frustrating to try to figure out new instruments using only the manual, particularly when they are as feature-packed as the XWs are. I depend on the internet for tips on my older synths. With the XW, there just isn't a large body of information available, even though the synth has been out for nearly a year. A video series expanding on the work that Mike has already published would flatten the learning curve and encourage more musicians to keep and use their XWs. As Gary mentioned, many of us would pay for a book or video series on the instrument.

Two things will draw owners to this forum - active discussion and content. This site needs to be where the authorities choose to hang out. By content I mean things like patches and innovative ideas. I'm glad to see that the number of people participating in threads is growing. Mike, you can and will have a tremendous impact on growth of the forum. From your videos, participation in other forums, and expertise people know your name. They are going to come to you for advice, support, and content. I'm here because you posted about this forum and you're here.

I think the first and best function of this board would be for users to share information and discoveries about this synth. I agree with what's been said above, it's like an arcane science to deep program some synths. Especially if you're like me and just getting your feet wet in programming and MIDI.

I've had the best luck with an external distortion pedal or plugging into a Marshall and letting it rip. I'm not a fan of the built-in distortion on the P1.

Nice, Gary. The PW sounds great on it.

I've been playing with it and it is pretty deep. I never seem to have enough time in one sitting to really work through it. It looks fairly straightforward if one has all the graphic elements on hand and the programming knowledge. I'm a bit short on both, but have been stumbling forward.

I just got an email from Sweetwater and they are running a special on the G1-$599 with a $139 Gator case. Not a bad deal since the synth isn't being discounted much at other retailers. For anyone else who needs a case, Tuffcases on Ebay offers a nice one for $69 with a limited number available. I just received mine and it's a steal at that price.

You might want to hit gearslutz.com for more info on gear. Study and search before you post questions there. Cakewalk forums should help as well. Homerecording.org has a section for new folks and they are helpful and forgiving.

Take a look at Ctrlr. We were discussing it in another thread, it looks like it has potential. www.ctrlr.org

And remember to NOT plug/unplug cables which have phantom power applied to them.

Andrew, I've not seen any apps for Android that I consider to be useful for production. There are beat-making apps and such that others may find useful, however.

With regard to updating the interface with a controller, I have been tinkering with the Ctrlr application. It's over my head at the moment. Perhaps someone with more experience would like to take a look?

That would be ideal, since I have an Android tablet. However, I've about given up on the possibility of serious production apps for it, as least in the short term.

I've been keeping an eye on on the Apple apps for music production, midi control, etc. There are a lot of useful things out there. At some point, the utility vale of an iPad will be high enough for me to buy one. As an aside, I once thought that guitarists (I'm a guitar player) spent a lot of money on gear. That is false. KEYBOARD players spend a lot of money on gear. This is a very expensive hobby.

I think a small mixer would be a good idea to get started. It will get you what you need without a lot of extra hassles. Plus, mixers are handy things to have for a number of reasons.

That's good news. Recognize that you're going to be frustrated at times. Hooking all this gear up and making it work with software can be complicated. That is why people with stable systems are so reluctant to change things around and check out software updates carefully. It all takes time to learn. Now.... can you hear the XW through your computer/Creator?

Andrew, I'd look at the track in Creator that you want to track the Casio on. There should be a way to select the track input. See if you can find it and try the various options. Update us with what you see.

Gary, I was just giving him something to think about. I wish I had a dime for every guy who's bought a mixer thinking that it was going to feed 24 channels into his DAW.

Keep in mind that most, if not all, inexpensive mixers only feed a stereo mix to the computer. As you expand, you may want to have separate line ins for each instrument/mic and use something like a USB interface. Over time as you learn, your needs will become much more obvious.

You have a routing problem if you can't hear the music playback. I assume that you have the phones plugged into the computer's soundcard? And the Casio out (L channel mono) to the line in on the card? The first thing that I'd look at is the options in Windows. Right-click the little speaker in the lower right of the screen and check to see which playback and recording devices are being used. Reset them to other defaults as necessary. If I were at home, I'd get a screenshot of my setup for you, but we can help you through this. No need for a mixer.

I'd give that a shot, it sounds like a good solution. I remember the problem described in that thread and I don't think that I've seen a solution posted in any of the forums that I follow. Finding a Windows machine and doing the update from it sounds like the quickest fix.

Andrew, are you wanting to record into the computer? That's a big topic. I use Reaper for recording and a Phonic Firefly as my interface. If you want to learn more about recording, check out gearslutz.com.

I tried out all the pedals with the XW-P1. I was going to try to get some clips, but they all sounded like crap inline to the line in on the interface. I'll have to mess around with it and find an alternative. So, I broke out the Vox Pathfinder 15, my only solid state amp. A very decent keyboard amp in my opinion. I wasn't impressed with the Cool Cat. It is a fairly low overdrive pedal and it didn't get the fat sound I was looking for. Nice, but thin. Next up was the Bluesbreaker. A bit better than the Cool Cat, but still not as fat as I would like. The Big Muff? Well.... it's fuzz. Sounded great if fuzz is what you want. The clear victor was my personal fav, the SRB808. Now, I realize that it's a boutique pedal (I was lucky and caught a sale on it for $104) and without clips, this may not be of any help at all. I didn't have the time to break out mics and get everything arranged and I'm not that great a player (yet). I'm a guitarist. The SRB808 is based on the TS-808, but it is Dave Wireman's own design. The fat switch kills and creates a huge sound. The sound is less intense that a B-3 through a Marshall (Deep Purple) but it is smoothly overdriven and fat as hell. I was using my DigiTech TR-7 pedal in front of it for the rotary speaker sound. With a volume pedal, this setup would be perfect for me. Can you get into a music store and try some pedals out with the Casio?

Yes. My understanding is that one can build a panel tied to the XW functions and control it with a MIDI controller. I understand most of the work involved in developing panels. However, I am not a graphic artist who can make buttons and the slick custom stuff. I'm playing with it now, but it will be a while before I get up to speed due to the limited amount of time I have to spend on stuff like this. I have a week off at Christmas. If I can avoid going to the in-law's for the week, I will have some time to dig deep into all of this.

I wish I could help you Gary. I'll work on my Sanskrit.