AlenK Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 It's been four months since I uploaded the first version of The XW-P1 Companion - A Guide to the Synthesis Capabilities of Casio's XW-P1 Performance Synthesizer. This is a revision of that document. I have corrected numerous spelling errors and other typos. I can't guarantee that it still doesn't have any but there shouldn't be too many now. I revised the wording in several sections to clarify them, to add the suggestions I received from Brett Myors, and to include the changes I mentioned later in the original XW-P1 Companion thread. I reduced the depth of the chorus effect described in section 6.3.3.2 in the context of attempting to emulate a Solina string synthesizer. The original values in Table 15 were too aggressive. I also added a new section that discusses emulating the dynamics of acoustic instruments. Update: This version has been deleted. See here for the latest revision. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dekatran Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Many Thanks AlenK!!! for your great work!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Same here, I've been using this and it is very handy to have all this in one document. Appreciate your work immensely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Display Name Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Yes - thank you for your hard work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korianna Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettM Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 Thanks again Alen, this is truly an invaluable resource. I've read both revisions several times now and I'm still learning new things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettM Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Hey Alen, I just noticed a subtle difference between Revisions 1 and 2 of your XW Companion: the cover page of Revision 2 refers to "Volume 1" whereas there is no such reference in Revision 1. Does that mean you have other volumes in the works? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob West Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Thanks so much for this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlenK Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 17 hours ago, BrettM said: I just noticed a subtle difference between Revisions 1 and 2 of your XW Companion: the cover page of Revision 2 refers to "Volume 1" whereas there is no such reference in Revision 1. Does that mean you have other volumes in the works? Yes. I am working on a Volume 2 that will contain examples/tutorials about how to achieve specific sounds from vintage synths in selected songs as well as emulating acoustic instruments. As you can imagine it's going to take a while to finish. Hopefully not as long as it took me to finish Volume 1! 😄 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettM Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 The more I study this, the more amazed i am. This must have taken an amazing commitment, timewise and technically. How did you determine the exact number of samples you describe for the various PCM and other sounds? This alone mst have taken hours. And it might be posted here somewhere, but I did not realize the "break" function for the leslie fast/slow effect can be utilized the way you describe. Excellent description of the Hammond and leslie technology. I'm glad you have documented this. Without these old "cutting edge" technologies, none of this new technology would have had a base to create from. I have been able to appreciate my XW's technology coming from many other instruments, acoustic and otherwise (as well as it's few limitations IMO) but studying this is definitely giving me a new inspiration to dealing with the depth available on this-it's easy to underestimate the XW's power with all the competition and years of development from many other manufacturers. I hope Casio will give you some recognition for what you've accomplished. I'm sure you did not do it for that reason-this is a labor of love I would think-but had you written the original manuals for all the Casios, we might not have needed this forum!(wouldn't want that anyway) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlenK Posted June 2, 2016 Author Share Posted June 2, 2016 Just a note to let those interested know that I made a correction to the document. Because the change is fairly small I gave the new version a 2a number and simply updated the document for download in the first post of this thread, Specifically, in section 6.3.3.1 I forgot to update the description of what to do with oscillators in the solo synth when you want to "steal" the solo synth's filter to process "paraphonically" one or more PCM melody tones in a Performance. For correct operation you need to keep at least one oscillator enabled and turn its volume down to zero. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlenK Posted June 2, 2016 Author Share Posted June 2, 2016 One other thing I wanted to mention. The XW-P1 Companion uses what is known as Scientific Pitch Notation (SPN) in which middle C is designated as C4 (or more properly C4). That system has been around a long time and predates MIDI. However, many MIDI references you will find online identify middle C as C5 (C5) while many MIDI software apps (e.g., DAWs) and Yamaha keyboards identify middle C as C3 (C3). Those are arbitrary assignments. The MIDI standard itself only specifies that note 60 is middle C (making A440 note 69). The XW-P1 Companion uses SPN because I prefer it and, more importantly, it's what the XW-P1 itself and Casio's supporting literature ALSO use (e.g., the range from MIDI note 0 to 127 is specified as C- or C-1 to G9, not C0 to G10 or C-2 to G8). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vin52ny Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 Thanks for your hard work on this. I'm sure it will be an invaluable resource to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XW-Addict Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 On 2-6-2016 at 4:23 AM, AlenK said: Just a note to let those interested know that I made a correction to the document. Because the change is fairly small I gave the new version a 2a number and simply updated the document for download in the first post of this thread, Specifically, in section 6.3.3.1 I forgot to update the description of what to do with oscillators in the solo synth when you want to "steal" the solo synth's filter to process "paraphonically" one or more PCM melody tones in a Performance. For correct operation you need to keep at least one oscillator enabled and turn its volume down to zero. This is one of my favorite thing the XW does, You have to discover this the preset don't demonstrate this but they do show the possibilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnomo Alegre Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Great! Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywolf Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Man....BRAVO!!!!!! THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seahps Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Just discoved this valuable great resource. A very big(not big enoigh) thank you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlenK Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 Thanks! But you should download Revision 3 instead: PS. Redundant to say given how I deleted Rev 2 (see first post in this thread). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seahps Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Thanks again AlenK! Best regards, seahps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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