Ebonivor

Political correctness isn't your strong suit, is it Hugh? Love it! ;-)

Ooooh....dangerous territory there Hugh! I hope the ladies know you are joking...you are, aren't you?

Excellent step-by-step explanation dc2K!

Hugh, I just got around to checking out those couple of female vocalists you mentioned...very nice! Took me back to the late 60s when I played (guitar) with a band called Quartet Bossa Nova. It also inspired me to dust off some old favourite albums - Rainforest by Walter Wanderley (organ), and 'Wave' and "The Composer of 'Desifinado', Plays" by Antonio Carlos Jobim. I'd forgotten just how wonderfully relaxing they were. Thanks for reminding me.

Very nice. When's the album being released...I'll buy it. Quite apart from your excellent playing, I like the subtlety of your drum work...it reminds me very much of a highly respected session drummer that I sometimes get to work with. He knows just what to play and what not to play, and obviously you have that same philosophy.

Every PX-5S should come complete with an iPad and MIDI Designer! :-) I have a layout with Master EQ, Master Compressor, DSP, MIDI Transpose and lots more...in fact, it grows more and more nearly every day! The great thing about it is that I can store presets of the parameters for one-touch access...and buttons for bypass and reset to defaults etc. I'm planning to upload some variations to the MIDI Designer site soon, but I wasn't planning on including the Master and System control pages, but maybe I should put them up separately...they can work well as an add-on to Mike Martin's original MD layout.

First up, have you formatted the USB drive using the PX-5S? If not, you must do that before it can be used ( instructions are on page E-31 of the Basic manual that comes with the instrument). If you have done this, a folder named MUSICDAT will have been created. You must put any files in this folder for the PX-5S to be able to see them.

For what it's worth, I already have a transpose function set up in MIDI Designer as part of a layout I've been working on. There are two options: buttons for plus and minus 6 semitones; and another that uses a knob to cover plus and minus 12 semitones with up and down buttons and octave plus and minus buttons. It merely uses sysex messages to vary the PX-5S main coarse tuning. There are a couple of minor issues that I would like to improve and I might need to seek some help on those from SuperDan at MIDI Designer. I suspect that I have taken a different approach to the version Mike is working on, but all in all it works. I'm not sure whether I can post MD pages or layouts here, but I'm happy to email them to anyone who is interested in trying them out. Send me a PM in you like. I'll eventually upload the layouts, which include stage setting change buttons and knobs, pitch wheel controls, drum pads, tone preset buttons etc., to the MIDI Designer site, but I'm keen to see the final result of Mike's efforts first (in particular, he has already implemented System EQ which I have also been working on - I want to be able to use MD's presets to be able to adjust the EQ for different amps etc).

I have a a number of different MIDI Designer layouts that are designed to quickly change Stage Settings. There is one that gives one-button access to the first 20 settings; one for the first 30; one that allows presetting of 15 Stage Settings selected from the entire 100; and one that has a big knob to dial quickly through all 100 wih buttons to step to previous and next setting. There are a couple of minor issues that I would like to sort out, but generally they function well. I'm not sure whether I can post them here or only to the MIDI Designer forum, but I'm happy to share them. There are also some more complex and song/performance specific ones that I have as well, but I'm trying to get my head around sysex to be able to control some functions like transposition, EQ etc. Hopefully it won' be long before Mike's new layout containg those features will be available, then I see how it's done and implement them in my layouts. (PS: Mike Martin, If you are reading this, perhaps you might consider emailing me the page as it is, so that I can see how you've done it and then complete my offerings :-). I understand that you are very busy man and that developing any professional quality app takes a lot of time, and I also understand that you might not want to let something out into the wild that might not be fully tested)

Good advice HectorSpace. 40 odd years ago i had a band with a front line consisting of trumpet, sax and trombone. In those days, I was the guitarist, lead vocalist and arranger. I was just recently needing to get a gutsy brass sound for Sea Cruise and set about building a hex tone ( I have drums on zone 1, brass on zone 2, piano on zone 3 and bass on zone 4, all controlled via MIDI Designer). Individually, played with just single nots, the tone was sounding great...it had saxes, trumpets, trom, and brass section filling all six layers. I played around with the hex layer mix using Mike Martin's MIDI Designer hex layer controls until I got it sounding just right. Then I put it into practice... It was dreadful! I realised that all that I really needed was trumpet, sax and trom, just like I had used back in the day. I got rid of the rest and voila! You're right...I had forgotten that less is more!

Good luck trying to follow the manual Carrotsails, it's the most disjointed manual I have ever encountered, with the way you need to jump backwards and forwards for even the simplest instruction. I guess at least it saves a few trees! I'll try to explain the method as simply as possible: 1) Ensure that you have formatted the USB stick for the PX-5S. If not, follow the instructions on page E31 of the User Guide (Basics) that came with the instrument - or download it from the link the Scott posted. 2) With the USB stick plugged in, press and HOLD the Media button button until the display shows "Media" and "SMF Play" etc. 3) Press the "Exit" button 4) Press the "Audio Recorder" button (don't hold). This is the same button used to mount the USB stick. The adjacent blue light will light up. The display will show "Audio Select" and "TAKE XX". 5) Press the "Audio Recorder" button again and the light will start flashing. The blue light above the "Record" button will also start flashing and the show "Audio Standby" and "TAKE XX" (where XX is the incremental number that is assigned to each recording). 6) Press the "Record" button or simply start playing to start recording. Operating any pedal, slider or knob will also start the recording. The blue "Record" light will stop flashing and remain lit while recording. A light above the "Start/Stop" button will start flashing. 7) Stop recording by pressing the "Record" button (not the Start/Stop button). The "Audio Recorder" light will continue flashing until the file has finished writing and then remain lit. 8) To playback the file, press the "Start/Stop". Press it again to stop playback. The playback will also stop automatically at the end of the recording. 9) If you wish to delete the recording, press the "Enter" button and confirm with the "Yes" button. 10) To record again, repeat the steps from 6) 11) To exit recording mode, either press the "Audio Recorder" button twice or simply press the "Exit" button. To playback existing recordings, follow the steps as far as 4), navigate to the file you want with the "-/No" and "+/Yes" buttons and then control the playback with the "Start/Stop" button. I hope that makes it clearer. Just a word of advice... keep a notebook handy to write down meaningful notes or names of the recordings, because the PX-5S will only allow "NOTE XX" for the file names. Anything else won't be recognised. Good luck!

Agreed. I do like your idea of using the Write button on the keyboard. I was initially thinking that you would have to reload the data to to bring them back into sync, but at that stage, the data on the keyboard and that in the editor WOULD be the same. I'm going to try this method. Since I always save a copy to either the computer or the usb stick before editing, I can always go back to that if I need to.

Actually, pax-eterna, I just re-read your post and realised you were talking about the protocols - not the speed of the usb data path. So I guess it is an issue that might be addressable in software.

I totally agree that it is slow...and frustrating. But I'm not sure that the usb speed is at fault. I think it might have more to do with polling the large number of parameters ( I assume using sysex ), comparing the status of the data in the editor and then writing it back to the PX-5S. I could be way off the mark since I have only a limited understanding of midi, but there is a discussion on the MIDI Designer forum regarding a request for the settings in the app being updated when a device's controls were changed. The difficulty in doing so is apparently related to the amount of data that actually needs to be transferred. The other indicator that it is not necessarily the usb speed of the PX-5S is the fact that my MacBook Pro with its i7 quad core processor handles the data updates much faster than my slower processor Compaq laptop, yet both are USB 2.0 with the same specs. So the bottleneck might be Data Editor. I'm sure that somebody with far more knowledge than me can provide a factual explanation.

It doesn't really matter what anyone says, at the end of the day individual preferences will vary. Pax-eterna, your demonstration was very interesting and I understand your preference for using a source that is a constant, just as using a tone generator to test speaker responses is the norm. However, if we were to only base purchases on synthetically produced results and there were no other factors to be considered, we would all end up using the same products - the ones with the best test results. But when we don't have physical access to a product, these kinds of tests are often all we have to go on. Fortunately, we also have enthusiastic people like PianoManChuck who obviously loves to share his unbiased hands-on experiences. Like many others on the forum and the Facebook group, I was unable to actually see or try a PX-5S before buying. I spent countless hours researching it and a variety of other keyboards and PianoManChuck's videos were invaluable - in fact, he can take credit for me now being a proud owner. So, thank you PianoManChuck... and thank you Pax-eterna for posting this topic. I am now much wiser! :-)

Katie, thanks for uploading this. I love it! I've just used it to replace my attempt at constructing a better string sound in a recording I'm currently producing and it is just perfect. Just what I was looking for and so rich!! Well done.

That would be good. I would also like to be able to either print or export a list of the stage settings, tones etc. and their slots. In other words, just be able to print the contents of the right hand column of the Transfer area in the Data Editor.

Katie, you could always upload it as it is now (pleeease!) and upload a Version 2 when you are 100% happy with it yourself.

I like it a lot....are you going to upload the setting?

Hi Katie, in answer to your first question, yes you can. I prefer to use the Data Editor for this but it can also by easily done on the keyboard - which method do you want to use? I can post the instructions for whichever method you choose. Do you need to know how to assign the sliders as well? In answer to your second, question, this is possible, but only with hex layers. Each slider or knob can be assigned to two targets, so Target 1 can be set to increase a layer volume and Target be set to decrease the volume of a different layer. Unfortunately, controlling the volume of each zone requires a separate slider for each. However, you can get a crossfade but swapping the minimum and maximum values for one of a pair of sliders - so silding one up would increase the volume of its assigned zone, while sliding the other up would decrease the volume of its zone. It sounds a bit cumbersome, but it can actually allow more flexibily in mixing the two zones that you would have by being able to use just one slider.

Mau, maybe your eardrums are loosening up....just like the cones in new speakers! :-)

Wow this has really gotten out of hand! The OP's questions and concerns were quite reasonable, especially considering problems that some users seem to be experiencing after the update. Yes, it is normal for firmware updates to not be downgradeable, but I have known of instances where they not only are, but have been recommended after bugs have been discovered ( my Topfield PVR is just one example). As someone else has indicated, it really depends on what areas of the device's operating system are addressed in firmware. Members reading and posting comments should also understand that this forum is not restricted to those whose first language is English. Even native English speakers can sometimes post comments that are easily misunderstood - it's an unfortunate side effect of online communication. Imagine how much more difficult it is for those only fluent in another language. Anyone should be able to come here to seek help or to offer assistance. To respond to questions in a derogative manner as has been done here is not in the spirit of the forum, and in fact, in the case of Mau Van, who has contributed some much with his shared stage settings, it is downright rude.

Excellent explanation Choppin. I haven't really bothered with the Song Recorder, but after reading your instructions, I'm ready to give it go. thanls!

Mike mentioned on the Facebook group that he would be away for a couple of weeks, so maybe he is taking a well-earned holiday. I'm sure that he doesn't ignore any questions, but there are so many that I don't know how he could possibly have enough time to read them all!