TechnoBob Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Hi all New member here - I currently use a Korg PA-500 arranger keyboard. I was swayed a few years back by the PA-500's use of its Songbook database system which allows very quick finding and loading of a song; simply put, it remembers EVERYTHING that makes up a song/performance - patches splits layers transposition pads style rhythm Also, this is remembered onboard with no loading necessary for hundreds and hundreds of songs - brilliant for band practice and playing live! Admittedly, this is all MIDI data, so NO samples etc. are saved So, my question is simply, how does the Casio MZ-X300/500 store a "song"? I have read the manuals, but I'm still not certain if a song, pattern or registration does this? I would like to be able to save sample data as well, if possible Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Registrations are performance setups in Casio land. The MZ-X has a total of 96 memory slots onboard. Each one can be custom named. With a small usb thumb drive attached to the MZX, "all save" files of 96 registrations each can be saved and loaded quickly for expanding the total number that can be carried along. Actual sample data is stored in another location as user waves. Assignment of samples to pads is stored as part of a "pad bank". The selected pad bank number is then stored as part of a registration. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnoBob Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 On 7/29/2016 at 3:11 PM, BradMZ said: Registrations are performance setups in Casio land. The MZ-X has a total of 96 memory slots onboard. Each one can be custom named. With a small usb thumb drive attached to the MZX, "all save" files of 96 registrations each can be saved and loaded quickly for expanding the total number that can be carried along. Actual sample data is stored in another location as user waves. Assignment of samples to pads is stored as part of a "pad bank". The selected pad bank number is then stored as part of a registration. Thanks for the reply - more questions I'm afraid! So I would have to load all my pads (containing samples, SMFs, phrases etc.) as a sample bank first, then choose a registration/song that makes use of the pads? Is this a relatively quick process, say 10mb in 1 bank? Is there any way of knowing when loading a registration if a linked pad/pad bank is available/unavailable? How much space is there in a pad for user samples (samples, SMFs, phrases etc.) on board, or are they played/streamed/stored from USB? How quick would it be to load another 96 registrations from USB? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Correct. Create your pad bank setup first and save it. Then save that selected pad bank as part of a registration. Registrations simply recall whatever is stored in a particular location. If you decide to overwrite a pad bank, that will change what the registration calls up. There is no warning system for that. The keyboard has internal memory for everything. The usb thumb drive is used for file storage and retrieval and the wave audio recorder. For the MZ-X500: There are 100 user pad banks. 16 assignable pads in each bank. User items assignable to pads are chords, phrases and samples. Onboard memory has space for 100 user phrases, 100 user chords and 3 user samples banks. Each sample bank contains 16 samples. 4 samples in each bank are 9 seconds each. The rest are 4 seconds each. 96 registrations can be saved as one file. And loaded. It loads and saves in about one second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnoBob Posted August 2, 2016 Author Share Posted August 2, 2016 That's great, thanks for the detailed response. A few more questions: The confusion with Casio's naming conventions continues! From reading the manual, registrations cannot be named, only numbered. This is how I thought I would save songs, but I need names, not numbers! This leaves me with Casio songs and rhythms. Which of these will allow me to name a song, that contains a "style" with intros, fills etc. as well as pad banks? Confused! Thanks in advance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 As I said in the earlier post, registrations can be named. The manual is misleading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnoBob Posted August 2, 2016 Author Share Posted August 2, 2016 Thanks for the quick reply BradMZ - I appreciate your help. I've just been listening to your SoundCloud content - nice! Sorry, I missed the naming bit of your reply!! The manuals are a bit wonky on this! I have many more questions - getting my hands on one would be the easiest way but unfortunately I'd have to travel to a different country to do this! So, is there another online resource, apart from the manuals, where I can find further information or is this the only forum? What I really want to do is work out a Casio workflow for setting up each of my band's songs comprising: a few different sounds split over the keyboard a rhythm track made up of intro, fills, A + B variations and endings etc. some complex chords played from a pad a few sequenced phrases or samples from a pad for "jazzing up" different song sections etc. easy access to more than 100 of these when playing live From the manuals I think I can do 1, 2, 3 and 4, its 5 that puzzles me - quickly loading a song by name with all the 4 elements included. The manuals cannot help me here! I struggled with the Korg PA500 to do the above, but managed to work it out in the end; I just hope I can do the same with the MZ-X500! Thanks in advance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Again, registrations are used to save the entire keyboard setup as you wish. 96 registrations are always in memory. They can be chosen by name on the touch screen. They can be programmed to advance by pedal in any sequence you wish. Or they can simply be chosen by the bank buttons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnoBob Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 Cheers BradMZ - I think I've got it now! Thanks for your patience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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