Ken Madell

Inspiring group. Marvelous composing and performing; opera quality. Tnx Tsquare.

Thanks Tsquare, the songwriters deserve a lot of the credit for the bridges; Duke Ellington, Charles Trenet, Fats Waller. and CASIO for the 'Codas, which are just the Accompaniment endings. Since I'm 'keyboarding', I'm not looking for piano tone exactly. Satin Doll is StagePiano layered with Syn-Bass5, with Chorus 2. and Ain't Misbehavin is just StagePiano with an AutoHarmonize and some reverb. I use Audacity and any piano is the toughest; BUT it's probably the mp3 format that is responsible; the .wav recording is pretty realistic. Maybe I get some credit for the interpretations.

Hi T, I like what you are doing VERY MUCH. and relate it to years of my past activity, that proved to be SO fruitful for me. Just a SMALL upgrade will save you years of tiresome work and frustration. 560 though fine, is outdated, and not standardized. FIRST thing is FREE or very nearly FREE - GET 'SWEET SIXTEEN MIDI SEQUENCER' from the Windows store. I just opened my AINT_MISBEHAVIN.MID save from my CT-S400, and immediately could see that all 16 tracks were Casio standard that I learned from my WK7600 . Rhythm tracks are MIDI 9-16. bass 8 drums 10 miscperc 9. 11+accomp instrument parts. Those easy arrangements of the Gershwin are VERY good. Whose are they, and where available? I want copies. PLAYED EXPRESSIVELY and MUSICALLY !! Actually more than half of what I do is to write 'easy piano' arrangements at similar skill levels. I also teach piano AND drums for the Guitar Center company. My personal YouTube channel has tutorial videos of many of my arrangements. WHAT I LIKE: You are doing some great by Ear playing/arranging already You sense the value/need of Classical Training for your fingers/ ears/ and musically expressive sensibilities You are already applying expressive USABILITY of your hands and ears. SO - JUST DO IT; FIND $229 SOMEHOW, FOR A CT-S400. I'm exploring it, like you're exploring your hex layers; and the 400 is less technical. THUMBS UP STIMULATING INSTRUMENT, AND the 6 track recorder has a mixer. Piano touch is VERY REALISTIC semi-weighted, and piano sample and speakers are improved over the 560.

I'm really happy learning to vary and combine the many controls the CT-S400 gives you to style each tune, and mix the final production. Satin Doll, I Wish You Love, and Ain't Misbehavin'. Still looking to see if my cheap PC will let me record in stereo. For most holiday performing, will be using a small mono Fender Bass amp anyway. CT-S400 Classic Jazz 128kb.mp3

Thanks Tsquare. and I'll convert future posts.

Thank you Brad. What IS EXPRESSION that it does? I don't understand what it is supposed to be doing. Thanks again.

This is the tune I decided to learn to explore operating my 3000, and it's content. Simple, and I enjoy it. Colors of the Wind.wav

I have it calibrated, and can't find anything in the manual about how to make it do something useful; like moving a slider in the mixer etc. Is anybody using an expression pedal ?

Thanks for jumping in Brad, Dunkie has set me scurrying also, and I saw all you mentioned; plus remember you can quantize each track of your recorded SONGS. It sounds to me now that Dunkie just wants his own drummer tracks, not chord changes or multi-instruments as I first interpreted 'backing tracks'. If so, I tried this, and think he should just record each of his 'drum kit' drums, one at a time like overdubbing, on it's own song track in the recorder. Use the metronome and precount. He can re-record any track he doesn't like and/or quantize each track. Worked real good for me and was kind of fun. Dunkieboy, we just need to find out now if that is what you want to do?

Hiya dunkieboy, I'll be glad to work with you. I've been desciphering these d*n Casio manuals for 20 years now. I'm very busy also as a teacher and band member, but I have a head start on you, in having created a user rhythm (and done some song writing) of my own already ( yeah, which took about 2 weeks learning, in spite of my previous Casio experience ). Just be a little patient. The problem is not with the design of our Casios; they are awesome. The problem is that their features are so flexible and advanced. It's worth a study time investment. Many guitarists won't do that. I'm busy like you, but know it's worth the time to review what I learned ( and have certainly forgotten some of, last year ), and do this with you, if you want to. Maybe you are just looking to RECORD a backing track of chord changes with fill-ins and rhythm variation USING a rhythm pattern that is included in the 5000. That's pretty easy.... If you just want this, you don't need to know anything of piano, but the note names of the keys. If you want to create something new, the easiest thing to do is to find an existing rhythm in the 5000, that you feel would be suitable if you could change the mixer volumes and instrument assignments, and perhaps mute a track or two; not compose anything new. Remember that you have 4 variations, fill-in, etc. as much as you need to, (or have time to) work with. You think that will do what you need? I do some teaching and chatting on Messenger and Quora, and email, which is easier. If you want to do this little project let's connect by Messenger or email,phone. Start on facebook.com/piano.and.keyboard.lessons for contact info. Direct telephone call won't work though, because I keep priority only turned on. Or you can tell me how to connect with you.

Absolutely, not to fear, Casio is shattering my expectations more than ever the past 2 years on those portable models that Brad mentioned, and that I use for teaching, composing, and even some solo performing. These models are being picked over Yamaha by reviewers, mainly because the sound is so awesome. I love them also because their operation is greatly streamlined, and you can do very quick, interactive editing, and all manner of tonal adjustments. I'm excited to see what's next also.

Wow, is this word processor interface something new? Woopie! 😁

It was accidental negligence missing your post. Hi. I'm still in awe of my 3000. I still love my 7600, 4400, and 691, but this is different. I can view, modify or create almost anything. Anything bad or limiting about a keyboard seems to be gone. You do things a little differently, but I like it better. And if I ever need to, I think I'll be able to create some things on the 7600, and load into the 3000. Love the new Synth library and piano.

I will look. Y'know, I'm a dedicated teacher hooked on Casio because I think they are the same. So, I doubt myself B4 them. And the 3000 is an amazing design, but there is a bit of small print in the manual that is important, and might be missed. I am actually surprised, and relieved to find out that if there are verified bugs, they can be fixed. Casio amazes. I often giggle (with glee, I guess) as I digest the design, and the musical possibilities. I have a 7600. This is light years better.

Did the band and club circuit back then also as a drummer. I've started keyboard playing in church and Salvation Army Senior parties. No more stage fright. Want to do solo weddings on my 3000. Wish me luck. Some people can do very nicely, by ear like you. My step-son never took a music lesson, but he's soooo creative. I had to study hard. I found that the important thing is to reach a place where you feel you have found your own musical voice. If you haven't done that yet, then study a little theory and reading to let more ideas into your head. Ken