Midi recording file

[Nulen M]

Hi !

After I've made my recording on midi, and when I save (or transfer) it to my pen-drive , it gets saved as ".ZMF" 

Due to this, I cannot import this recorded midi file into the software I use as it requires a ".MID" and several other types which do not include the ".ZMF" 

Please provide assistance on how to overcome this issue

 

Thank you :))

FIRST.ZMF

[Jokeyman123]

The manual does not clearly describe what you do to save your midi song recorder files as a standard midi file-an smf or .mid. Please be patient-I am a little nutty with details, but it's taken me months to figure out some of the tutorial details I am about to lay in your lap! 

 

Answering your question first.

 

The PX560 automatically saves the midi recorder song in its own proprietary format on the thumb drive as you see, the .ZMF file format. To save it as a true SMF .mid file, while the song file you are playing or editing is still "active" in the midi recorder screen, now select the "MEDIA" screen icon which brings up several choices, one of which is "save"-touch that option and your next screen will give you all the options for what you wish to save. This screen is the one that gives you the option to save your song as a .ZMF song file, or the other option-a standard midi file. Once you select that touchscreen option, now your song is saved as a .mid file on the thumb drive. A little roundabout way of doing it, but once you get familiar with all the screen options, it can go quite quickly.

 

I'm not sure why the 2 song recorder types are necessary-I think you can edit either file type in the same way but I could be wrong. I haven't noticed any differences as I've edited and created both types of midi song files.

 

You can skip the rest of the following info, but it might save you some time-most of this is not exactly clear in the manual, I've had to learn by experience.......

 

You can save thousands of midi (.mid) files on even a smaller thumb drive-and using the "media" screen, can load these into the internal memory slots of the PX560 and it will play using whatever settings were originally in that .mid file-you have to save the .mid file from the thumb drive into the PX560 internal memory to play it-it doesn't play it directly from the thumb drive. This doesn't always work out accurately as some of the tones used in the original midi file from whoever created it, may not exactly match the PX560 tones internally-this has to do with the midi mapping functions selected and saved in the original .mid file. This can be changed-once you have transferred the .mid file into the PX560 internal memory of the song recorder and while it is selected to play- by going to the PX560 "mixer" screen, select "C" in the mixer screen to see which tones are playing.

 

Understand the mixer screen can show you 16 separate midi channels listed as "A", "B" or "C". C will be the midi channels being played with the midi song recorder. Notice the small letter in the lower left-hand corner of the mixer screen.

 

The "A" mixer screen-not "C"- will show you whatever sounds (tones) you are playing live from the keyboard-this is an important detail to understand-because whatever tone you are about to record in your midi song file with the recorder-will use the settings shown in mixer "A"'s screen-and will record those settings instead of whatever you are seeing in the mixer "C" screen-took me awhile to figure that one out! And your live tone will be recorded in the midi channel you select from the midi song recorder track, although in mixer screen "A" it will show up in midi channel 1 for a single tone before you record it.  Only after you've recorded a part will you be able to monitor it in the "C" mixer screen-yikes.  And it will show up now in the correct midi channel you've recorded it into.

 

Maybe I'm getting too deep here, going way beyond what you asked for-but just trying to save you some head-scratching with the PX560 as you go forward with it. Or head-banging

 

 

 I always wondered why my new track would always play louder than everything else, and I couldn't figure out how to change this until I understood-one of the strange ways Casio designs many of their song recorder keyboards, the old PX575 does the same thing. Check it out yourself-select the mixer screen, go to the "A" screen and play the keyboard-you will see the loudness level monitored there as you play-and whatever other settings are there-loudness, pan, DSP etc. will be recorded in the song recorder-but you won't be able to monitor your recorded track (after you record it) unless you switch to mixer screen "C".

 

By the way-mixer screen "B" is only used when you connect the PX560 through USB or DIN midi to a computer or other hardware sequencer and play its midi file using the PX560 as a huge "tone module"!  You will not be able to monitor a remote midi file viewing the "A" or "C" mixer screen. In an ideal world, with a computer-size monitor screen, you might actually be able to view 48 midi channels of the PX560 in one place-a song recorder song playing 16 midi channels on "C", a DAW or external sequencer playing 16 tracks monitored on mixer screen "B" and finally-whatever you playing live on mixer screen "A"! And "A" can also be used to monitor your live splits and layers as you play those from the main menu screen for tones and registrations. Good grief, Charlie Brown! 

 

You can play a song and monitor it with the mixer-change whatever tones, pan or volume settings in the mixer as long as you are looking at the "A" mixer screen settings for each individual track you record-before you record it. Once you record each track, you can still change the mixer settings for any or all tracks from the "C" mixer screen, but unless you push the midi play/stop button and the "store button at the same time-this saves those mixer settings you've altered for that particular song. In other words-you can set up your mixer settingsin thre "A" screen before you record a track, and then again in the "C" mixer screen after you record the track.....Make sure you re-save the midi file immediately after making these mixer setting changes though, otherwise the midi file will call up the same settings as it originally was designed for, not the settings you re-established by changing the mixer settings, or from before you made you changes in the PX560. 

 

Complicated yes, and it took me quite awhile to understand all this-and Brad helped alot since the manual is a little difficult to understand or interpret sometimes-but then you can do alot with the PX560 once you learn all the menus, and if you haven't had to check into the Home for Slightly Confused Casios!

 

AKA HSCC....not affiliated with any other organization, known or unknown especially by me

 

Hope this helps......

[Brad Saucier]

ZMF keeps the proprietary system track data intact.  MID does not keep the system track data, so it can be loaded in other gear.  That's why they provided two ways to save.