Need keyboard I can create new presets

[ThePianoMan14]

I currently own 2 WK-1250 keyboards and have a dilemma. I will be starting a concert tour next September and will be playing several songs on the WK-1250 which require me to manually input the Rhythm, Tempo,. Tone and Layer needed for each song prior to playing.  Asking Casio and consulting the manual, there isn't a way for me to save the sounds needed as a numbered preset then just punch in the number for each song.  I need to make this happen as quickly and efficiently as possible and need your help!

 

What keyboard should I consider where I can choose the tone, layer, rhythm and tempo then save it all to a User Preset with a custom name, i.e. song name.

I also want to download the current WK-1250 Rhythm tracks as I need them for the songs being played and don't want to change them unless the newest version sounds better.

 

If someone out there knows how I can do what I'm asking on my current keyboard, then PLEASE write back with the steps to be done because I haven't found it yet!

 

Thanks

 

Eddie

[Chandler Holloway]

The CT-X3000 or X5000 would be a good solution. There are 8 User Registration buttons on the front panel that you can use to instantly recall keyboard settings like tone, layers, rhythms, tempo, effects, etc. These 8 registrations are organized in 16 separate banks, so you could save up to 128 different presets and upload extras through the USB port on the back as needed. The only limitation is that you can't name these registrations, they are only labeled by number (i.e. Registration 1 in Bank 3 is labeled as 3-1, Registration 2 in bank 8 is labeled as 8-2). You would have to remember which registrations correspond to the songs you want to use them for. I show how to easily save registrations in the CT-X series arp tutorial I released a while back (skip to around 3:04).

 

As long as there are less than 16 songs in your set, you could always just keep all the presets for a particular song in separate banks to avoid confusion. You can even connect a second sustain pedal to the extra assignable/expression pedal jack and use it to switch to the next pre-set in line totally hands free. Each press of the pedal will advance to the next registration in the bank. So if I start on Registration 3 in bank 1, pressing the pedal will switch to Registration 4 in bank 1, and another press will switch to Reg 5, and so on until you get to reg 8, at which point it will go back around to Registration 1 in bank 1. As long as you keep your Registrations in the right order, you can call up 8 different pre-sets within one song without even having to take your hands off of the keys.

 

You can use the Registration freeze settings in the Functions menu to "freeze" certain parameters so they won't be affected when switching between presets. This is useful if you want to keep the Rhythm tracks playing when you switch to a different Registration, but still want to switch to different tones/layers/effects as needed. As you can see from my tutorial, you can also avoid interruptions when switching between presets by just keeping those parameters the same between the two different registrations (i.e. if the Rhythm, tempo, and effects saved in Reg 3-1 are the same as those saved in Reg 3-2, none of those parameters will be changed or interrupted when switching between those two registrations). Either way, it's great for stage applications where you want to change a bunch of settings on the fly without interrupting the backing beat. I've attached a .pdf of all the relevant manual pages for Registration saving, Registration freezing, and pedal Registration switching; you can find it here: CT-X3000 5000 Registration Info.pdf

 

As for Rhythms, I'm not sure what format the WK-1250 keeps its Rhythms in. I haven't been able to find a manual for that model online anywhere. I'm assuming they are saved in .CKF format because that's typical of the era, in which case you should be able to import them to the CT-X3000/5000 no problem. The X3000 has 50 empty slots for importing new Rhythms, the X5000 has 100 empty slots. Again, I can't find a manual for the 1250 so I don't know if there's an easy way for you to export those Rhythms directly to CKF format. You may have to record Rhythm playback into a separate MIDI sequence and then convert this MIDI sequence into a CKF Rhythm afterwards. Fortunately I have just released a very extensive guide on how to convert MIDI sequences into CKF Rhythms, which you can find here. If you want to use the old Rhythms but tweak them a bit so they use the newer, higher quality sounds of the CT-X series, the guide also covers how to do that. You can even record your own Rhythms on the CT-X3000/5000 for even more flexibility; I am currently finishing up work on a video tutorial explaining how to do exactly that. This video demos some of the new Rhythms on the CT-X700, the entry-level model in the CT-X series. It shares the same sound source and many of the same Rhythms with the CT-X3000/X5000, so it should be a good indication of the quality you can expect from the CT-X series.

 

The CT-X series is going to be a huge jump up in sound quality from the WK-1250, and they are very affordable.  The CT-X3000 is just $300 here in the US, and is fully portable as it can run on batteries. The CT-X5000 is more expensive at $450 and cannot run on batteries, but adds a few extra features like extra storage space for user tones and rhythms, custom DSP effects, more powerful speakers and the ability to connect a dynamic microphone directly to the back panel for vocals.

 

Hope this helps!

[Brad Saucier]

I bought a WK-1250 in 1997.  The WK-1200 and WK-1250 were made around 1997 and 1998.  They were updated around 1999 and 2000 (with a new color and new rhythms) and renamed WK-1300 and WK-1350.  You're correct PianoMan, that model does not have performance registrations. It does not have user rhythms either, which means you can't export rhythms. I seem to remember it does send rhythm playback out via MIDI so you could try what Chandler suggests.  A new CT-X3000 is a huge leap in sound quality over the WK-1250 and actually comes with a few of the rhythms found in the 1250.