Jared Beaney

You can only record a rhythm/accompaniment on the 'system track'. I think you may have to do this part first as well, before adding other tracks. Access the system track by moving the cursor all the way to the left, past track 1, until all the track arrows light up. You're now on the system track. Choose your rhythm, arm to record, but use the Intro/Normal/Variation buttons to start the rhythm, as the Start/Stop button will engage the recording, but not the rhythm. You can also set a Sync start and play your first chord to engage the rhythm, recording and accompaniment all at once.

The Song Sequencer is where you will be able to do all of this. Press the Song Sequencer button, use the cursor arrows to choose which track you want to record to, choose your tone, press record and off you go. Repeat to keep adding tracks. Note however to record an in-built rhythm this needs to be recorded on the "system track" - you get to the system track be pressing the left arrow to move the cursor arrow on the screen past track 1, until all the arrows light up. This might help you get started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pgqux527BY

You're correct - the A/B/C/D folders are for midi files, which correspond to the A/B/C/D buttons on the panel when selecting a midi file to play. Audio wav files need to be in the Audio folder.

The XW will start/stop the phrase sequencer when it receives an NRPN message of: MSB: 38 LSB : 1 Data MSB: 1 for start, 0 for stop. I'm not familiar with the VS2400, but I'm assuming it has some functionality to send this message?

You might be better using inputs 2/3 and 3/4 on the Behringer 502 so you are running both the XW and the EMX in stereo, to take full advantage of stereo effects. Your main output would of course need to be stereo as well (2 speakers - or headphones). Moving up to the Behringer 802 would give you EQ control on both stereo channels - this can always come in handy.

While in Step Sequence mode, press the MENU button. Choose Setting and press enter. Here you will now see Solo 1 CH is selected as 14 - Change this to 1. This tells the step sequencer to use channel 1 instead of 14 for the Solo 1 part of the sequence. Now in performance mode choose which tone you want to have on channel 1 (Zone 1) which can be a solo synth tone, and also set what controllers you want for the knobs, which will now control the Solo 1 part in the step sequence.

Hi Dan The PX-5S always operates in Stage Settings. So there is no separate "Tone" mode, or "Performance" mode like we have on say the XW series. Now, since we are always operating in a Stage Setting, the tone category buttons will scroll through tones, but by doing so you are choosing which tone to use for the current Zone you have active within the Stage Setting. When you press EDIT, you'll notice you are prompted to edit either the Tone, or the Stage Setting. This is where the uniqueness of the PX-5S comes in. If you go ahead here and choose to edit the tone, and then make your changes, then press WRITE - you can choose to save the Stage Setting as a whole, which INCLUDES the edits you made to the tone, without you needing to save the tone separately. On other keyboards, to edit a tone, you most likely need to go into the individual "Tone Mode" (or single, or program or any other interchangeable terminology between brands) make your changes, save the tone, then call up your Performance/Registration/Program, bring the new edited tone back in, and re-save the Performance/Registration/Program. Again, by comparison, the PX-5S allows you within a Stage Setting to edit a tone, and save the whole lot in one step. The only thing to remember here though is the edited tone only exists within that particular Stage Setting. So if you would like to access your edited tone within a different stage setting, you would then need to save the tone separately to a User Tone slot. Hope it's starting to make sense!

Dreamer, If you have copied all of the ZPF files to your computer, you can then copy these from your computer into the MUSICDAT folder of a USB drive to be able to load load them as needed directly to the PX5S via the USB drive. Overwriting the Stage Settings with the ones you have downloaded from here will then be ok as you have all the original presets backed up on your USB and/or computer.

The 100 Stage Settings are all presets, with no blank slots. If you want to keep the presets, you can transfer them all to your computer first, (drag from right of screen to the left). The only option to load your own Stage Setting .ZPF file is to overwrite one of the already used slots.

Dreamer, Can you describe exactly the problem you are having? Are you getting any error messages?

The data editor for the PX-5S is now available for download. Happy days! You can find it here- http://support.casio.com/download.php?rgn=5&cid=008&pid=1343

No probs - I like to cover the basic before diving in deeper. Check on the XW under "Setting > MIDI" that 'USBOutSel' is set to KEY. If you do need to change this setting you will need to turn the keyboard off and on again for it to take affect. Also make sure everything is plugged in before you open the Garageband app.

No probs - I like to cover the basic before diving in deeper. Check on the XW under "Setting > MIDI" that 'USBOutSel' is set to KEY. If you do need to change this setting you will need to turn the keyboard off and on again for it to take affect. Also make sure everything is plugged in before you open the Garageband app.

Hi AndreiR Can you just clarify exactly how your setup is connected? You've mentioned the you have the XW connected to your computer via USB, however you'll need to connect your iPad to this USB output on the synth, and then perhaps use a MIDI-USB connection from the MIDI OUT of the XW to your computer. (to have them connected at the same time)

For any fellow Aussies out there.... not Austrians ;-) PX5 is now available and shipping here also.

The LK215 will only transpose your live playing, not the built in songs. An option may be to find the particular piece you are wanting to learn as a MIDI file and transpose that using some MIDI sequencing software, then load it into the keyboard for the lesson system.

Hi Tudor I've seen what you've posted over at keyboardforums.com as well, so hopefully I can help get this sorted for you. Firstly - Navigation and Keyboard channels: Keyboard Channel is simply choosing which channel a MIDI signal is output from the keyboard to another device - so in this instance it is irrelevant. Navigation Channel - this is the one which matters here. The Navigation channel lets the keyboard know which tracks you are interested in. The number you are choosing here is selecting which track will be assigned to the "Right" hand part, while one number below what you choose is automatically assigned to the "Left" hand part. eg - Navigation channel set to 6 Track 6 = Right Hand Track 5 = Left hand I had a look at the Chopin file that you've been using which only has two tracks in it. Unfortunately the way this is set up with the two parts is going to put it back to front in the LK-215. You'll need to set Navigation channel to 2, however this will end up having the Left Hand as the Right part, and the right hand as the left part due to how the original MIDI file has been put together....no great drama, just remember to choose the opposite part for which one you want to learn. Another thing to try is instead of playing straight off the SD card, load the MIDI files into the keyboard memory via the SMF Converter software. You'll also need to make sure you have the most up to date driver installed to establish a connection between your computer and the LK-215. (see here: http://support.casio.com/download.php?cid=008&pid=340&rgn=5) I unfortunately don't have access to an LK-215 to test this, however I think the file may need to be loaded into the keyboard memory itself to perform correctly. Hope this helps!

Do you mean you have it on the CS67 "furniture" style stand? If so make sure you extend the stabilizers that are on the bottom of each leg by un-doing the screws, sliding the metal brackets out, and screwing in again. This should help with the wobbles.

When you record a song, the keyboard stores all the settings as they were when you performed the recording, so it is defaulting back to this each time. To overwrite these settings with the mix that you have created, you need to perform what's called a "Panel Record". First make the changes that you want (ie change the volume of the solo part using the mixer function) Then while in Song Sequencer mode, while holding the FUNCTION button, press the MENU button (last button on the right of the registration buttons) Using the arrow keys, move the cursor down to select PanelRecord Press ENTER, and YES when asked if you're sure. Your mixer settings should now stay as you have set them. If you decide to make further changes to your mix, you will have to perform the Panel Record again to store any new settings.

Hi everyone Jared here from Casio Australia - I'll be dropping in as much as possible as well to answer questions, take feedback etc etc. Great to see this community of Casio users grow!