new WK-6600 user

[GMS]

Just got this and figuring things out,appreciate any feedback re-working w/existing tones to create the type of sound I'm looking for i.e.cutoff/touch etc settings in tone editor(been going back and forth between them to get to an area where I can fine tune the highs/lows/timbre/

 overtones w/incremental adjustment)....also one of the tracks in the sequencer is stuck on the drum set setting,won't change to whatever tone I want like the others....however I copied another track to it and the track worked w/the tone setting from the one I used as copy source...????? Another thing I'm trying to figure out is-do the function settings for user tones saved in registration mem banks save specific adjustments made  for each tone or do they just remember one function setting/apply it across the board and you have to change it from voice to voice when you recall set-ups?

[- T -]

GMS

 

Taking you questions/comments one-at-a-time:

 

" appreciate any feedback re-working w/existing tones to create . . . . "

 

I am afraid that this one is a bit too general for us to deal with, at the moment.  Mainly because we do not know your current experience/knowledge with this or your aspirations/expectations with it.  Why waste hours of discourse on something that you are already familiar with or have no interest in?  Your best bet is to set down at the keyboard with the manual, select an item or area that you are interested in, and do some experimenting.  When you come across something that you do not understand, or that does not work as expected, come back to us with a specific question about what you are trying to do and what you are getting.

 

 

" one of the tracks in the sequencer is stuck on the drum set "

 

In the early days of "MIDI", Roland designed its various devices (keyboards, sequencers, tone modules, etc.) to use Track/Channel 10 for the Drum Set.  In time, this became, more or less, a defacto standard across much of the industry.  It was not absolutely mandatory, unless the device was listed as adhering to the General MIDI (GM) Spec.  The Casio CTK/WK keyboards follow that tradition to an extent.  See the track assignment layout in the table on Page 65 of the WK-6600 manual.  The "A" Track assignments are controlled by the EASY RECord method as described on Page 63 for the recording of all aspects of the Auto-Accompaniment feature.  This automatically assigns percussive instruments to Track A-09 and drum sets to Track A-10.  As you have already discovered, there is a work-around for this, but that is not really a good idea, because the results are not always predictable on playback.  If you want to record an ad hoc drum track to a track of your choice, you are best off doing this to one of the "B" Tracks using the "Recording Individual Tracks" method on Page 67.  It is best to view the "A" Tracks as being reserved for recording Auto-Accompaniment performances with the EASY RECord method.

 

 

" do the function settings for user tones saved in registration mem banks save specific adjustments . . . ."

 

I am not too sure what you are referring to here, but see the Parameter List on Page 126.  Any item (Parameter) on this list with a circle in Column 2 is saved as part of a Registration, and remains in effect until it is changed manually or by selecting a different Registration.  I think you may be referring to the Tone related items under "Mixer Settings", but if you are talking about such items as ADSR, cutoff, and other Tone "envelope" controls, those are internal Tone parameters, and are not affected by Registrations.  If you wanted two or more Tones with the same Attack time, or the same Release time, you would need to set those parameters internally within the Tone with the Tone Editor and save the results as User Tones.  You could then include those User Tones, along with other settings in Registrations.  While you are at the Parameter List, note that any item with a circle in Column 3 can be saved as a "power-up" default setting: See "Default" in the left hand column on Page 99.

 

Good luck !

 

- T -

 

 

 

[GMS]

Thanks for taking the time to reply-since I posted the first time I've figured things out in terms of the function menu EQ settings/registration bank user tones/Track 10 as drum track but would appreciate clarification of what is meant on pg.121 of the manual re-adj the phase shift amount of the low/high range enhancer-I've been dealing w/the EP preset tones settings to make user tones (see above for details)and just found out about this DSP setting which is anorher way of doing what I have been w/cutoff and tone volume in tone edit mode .....I've had the keyboard for only 11 days but have been spending a lot of time using it and seeing what's what....

[- T -]

An equalizer allows the adjustment of the relative volumes of the high, mid-range, and low frequency signals for a more balanced and pleasing sound, but equalizers are fixed (static).  If the overall sound suddenly shifts to the high frequency or low frequency end, this can be perceived by the listener(s) as an unpleasant passage.  This is what keeps the sound engineer on the sound board so busy during a performance.  Not just adjusting the volume of the various instruments, but also adjusting the EQ to keep everything "in bounds".  An enhancer is really nothing more than an automatic, or dynamic EQ that continuously monitors the overall signal and instantaneously adjusts the levels of the highs and lows (they don't usually don't do much, or anything, at the mid-range) to ensure a constantly pleasing signal.  You just set the "target" initial levels, and it does the rest. The tonal output of the average analog musical instrument is a single or mixture (harmonics) of smoothly undulating sine waves with wave peaks and troughs exactly 180 degrees apart in time.  In doing its "thing" an enhancer can shift the peaks and troughs so that they are not exactly 180 degrees apart (phase shift).  This is a distortion to the original signal, which can produce unwanted overtones (processing artifacts) or background white noise.  For a single instrument, this may or may not be noticeable to the listener(s), but by the time you run the output of an entire band or orchestra through it, it can very quickly become completely intolerable.  So, more advanced enhancers include phase shifters to offset the original inherent phase shift and keep artifacts and noise to an acceptable level, but consistent with modern sound technology, extra enhancer phase shift is occasionally injected purposely to produce "special" enhancement effects.  In other words, the enhancer, itself, becomes an insert effects processor - basically, a phaser, of sorts.  Now, from a practical standpoint, how you go about making those settings on a set-and-try, set-and-try, set-and-try basis through a keyboard operating system menu, rather than with a continuously variable real-time control (aka a knob), I haven't the slightest idea.  Most of the time, I never even think of the enhancer.  If I do, I try it at its preset settings.  If it sounds better, I use it.  If it doesn't, I don't.  Most of the time, it doesn't, so I don.t!

 

Good luck with this one !

 

- T -

[GMS]

Greatly appreciated again thx- now I have a better sense of what's involved...

 

Have you ( or anyone)noticed some of the EP presets produce "beats" * when playing voicings in the low-midrange keyboard area?

( * i.e.oscillation caused by the overtones of individual chord notes being slightly out of tune in relation to each other)  

 

I've been using the Clean EP preset which seems to produce more true voicings without this phenomenon after some tone editng....adjusting cut-off and touch volume to achieve a sound that's not "muddy" and has some highs without the "bell" sound the presets seem to have......     

 

I'm interested in finding out how other people have dealt w/this i.e. what EP presets they've used/edited;

what kind of editing they've done etc....

[- T -]

Ahh!  You had mentioned "beats" in another post, and I was not sure what you are talking about, but now I do, and it disturbs me.  No, I have never noticed that on any of my boards, and I do not recall anyone else here mentioning it.  You would think that, if this is a common trait to this model line, I would have noticed it when I was trying to come up with the Hodgson Wurly sound.  That was almost entirely in the mid-ranges.  Are you using EQ ?  That is one of the main differences between your board and mine.  All of mine were a generation older than yours, they do not have EQ.  If you are using EQ, turn it off and see if the problem goes away.  Do the same with DSP, if you are using it.  If either of these is the case, then it could just be a settings problem with one or the other of them.  If you are using both, it could be an interaction between the two - here again - a settings problem, but if you turn off both EQ and DSP (including reverb and chorus) and still hear the problem with just the raw preset (turn off DSP, even if it is part of the preset), then I would definitely be concerned, as it could indicate a problem with your board.  Check out some of the other tones - primarily the acoustic pianos and synth pads and listen for any slight amount of the problem in them.  Do you have a local shop where you could go try out your settings in one of their floor models?  By the way, that "bell" sound is supposed to be there on most of the EP presets.  That is the sound of the hammers striking the metal tines.  Most or all of the EP's that the CTK/WK boards emulate were tined instruments.  For me, it is under done.  Even with my boards set to their most sensitive setting I have to really hammer the keys to get a decent tine sound.  The same with the Wurly "bark".  I have to really pound the keys to get a decent Wurly "bark". 

 

[GMS]

I think what I've noticed is actually more related to the type of tone editing I've been doing-

(I spent some time w/EP 1 and Mellow EP before moving on to the Clean EP)

w/presets that are designed to sound good as is and which probably don't have that type of "overtone/beats" thing happening in their unedited form....

I have been taking them way out of their given cutoff area and messing around with the touch vol too and no doubt this leads to what I've described......

 

As far as function menu settings I haven't been using EQ (although I liked the way the EQ affected the sound),mainly because I've been recording using bass and found that whatever function EQ setting  I used would apply across the board to all the tracks instead of being something I could apply to each track individually(which is why I'm interested in exploring DSP 4 Enhancer as this will allow the individual tones to have their own high/low frequency settings)....

 

I have been using the Performance menu touch 1/2/off + the touch off volume settings( which I think are applicable to each tracks' tone unlike the EQ)....other than looking at how the  Enhancer DSP affects the sound haven't messed around much yet w/DSP but intend to use it,liked the effects at initial

review .....

 

My situation is up until a couple of wks ago I had been using a Yamaha DGX-230 (which had an EP setting I liked and used exclusively) to compose/practice and set up tracks,didn't get into the different tone options at all ....accidentally spilled coffee on it and some notes went out,the action got messed up which led to my getting the WK6600..

 

.I had been planning on getting a better keyboard to make some recordings and market my material anyways and the coffee spill just speeded up the process....didn't feel like taking the Yamaha apart and trying to see if cleaning the contacts would fix things,it happened while I was right in the middle of doing some developing of material using bass vamps/beats drum machine that I'd been wanting to get into for a while,liked the results I was getting and the processes I was using to make tracks and wanted to keep the momentum going ....

 

 

So really spending a lot of time dealing with a new instrument adjusting  things and figuring out how to use it wouldn't have been my focus if the coffee spill hadn't happened-as it turned out the WK6600 is a good upgrade,enjoy using the sequencer which makes what I was trying to work out on the other keyboard much easier especially w/the mixer/pan settings for each track, like the sound quality overall,different bass presets....really just need to get things set and focus on music/recording processes instead(TASCAM DP08FX which I'm also exploring how to do things with)....

As far as what you're talking about with the "bell"aspect of the EP sound,I like to hear it used w/a traditional "piano" approach to playing chords/

 

melody keyboard style is used(i.e sheet music type arrangements)or in contexts where that and other sounds (like the DX7 settings) work(R+B ballads etc)....Also when great jazz players use it...

 

What I've been focusing on is more riffs/comping/rhythmic patterns tied to beats(used in the drum machine context here)and melodic chord patterns that to me sound better with a more "flat" Rhodes type sound-no reverb or chorus(the Yamaha setting I was using was Funky EP and I'd like to find a preset/settings adjustment combination that will parallel it,think I'm pretty close w/what I'm using now)..although now that I'm going to be recording all this material I have(including complete songs w/melody in addition to the stuff described above)I think I'll use the "bell" sounds on occasion too.....

 

[- T -]

GMS

 

This is ironic.  You are obviously much more of an EP aficionado than I am.  I am primarily an acoustic grand guy, but even so, I always found my CTK/WK boards really limited on the variety  of EP sounds, but that probably comes from many, many years as a Roland owner.  Since Roland did own Rhodes for a while, all of my Roland keyboards had, at least. two to three times the number of EP sounds as acoustic piano sounds.  Plus I had a sound expansion board, that worked on several of them, that consisted of 500 non-acoustic piano keyboard sounds with wave samples (EP, Organ, Clav, etc), exclusively.  I never had a problem coming up with the appropriate EP sound for any occasion with that.  As a matter of fact, I am still using it in my 22 year old XP-80 workhorse here in the studio.

 

- T -

 

[GMS]

Yesterday I decided to spend some time dealing w/the tone edit menu settings/EP presets instead of letting the EP sounds I was using continue to bug me while I tried to focus on the material I was developing and the drum machine settings....

after a day of just listening to how the same voicing sounded using different EPs and messing around w/everything to get things to sound like I wanted I now have 5 saved user tone EPs......

to anybody listening it probably sounded like piano tuning....

 

I have 2 user tones from Clean EP;one of which uses the Enhancer O4 DSP

(I took the lows way down and boosted the highs w/it);a Mellow EP,an EP 1,and a Dyno EP. ..

 

I'm including the details in case anyone else is looking for EP sounds as described in the previous posts re- presets to use as a starting point....

 

the Dyno EP has the previously mentioned "bell" sound built into it,I just edited it a little...

 

Now I can choose from a bunch of EP's to fit the specific material in each case re-range/voicings open/closed position....

today I was finally able to focus on recording things,developing arrangements,working w/beats and tempos etc without this previously unresolved aspect of things.....

 

Spending as much time everyday as I did for the last couple of years playing the same keyboard my ears are still adjusting to the sound of this new one but I think it definitely has more of an overall strong sound w/better highs/lows...and I really like the bass presets I've been using (without any editing yet,)tried a string melody too that worked good....looking forward to getting more into the other sounds options i.e.acoustic/pads/synth now that I have a sense of how things work to some extent;and I've only had it almost 2 wks....

[Bassist]

Hi, I just bought a wk-6600 and was hoping to record tracks with drum patterns from the rhythms available. I’m having a hard time understanding how to record a track of drum patterns? Then add chord changes. Help ?

[Billy]

On 4/12/2020 at 6:13 PM, Kurt M said:

Should the mic work when you plug it into the mic input and turn up the volume or do you need an sd card in to get sound?

My mic works  but is very weak on sound on the wk6600. I now use a seperate amp on the floor for vocals.. Music and vocals always is better when you have a seperate sound source..