Volume control of drums/accompaniment, other beginners questions

[Rudolph R-N R]

Hi everyone, new owner of ct-x5000 here!  I succumbed to Casios nefarious upgrade scheme and here I am.  After experiencing how good the sound and action on the x700 was, it was only a matter of time before I went for the big speaker older brother (absolutely love powerful, good sounding speakers built into keyboards).  Am thrilled with it.

 

I also have a Korg Pa1000, which is a better board in pretty much every way except that at 4 times the price, and weighing about 10 pounds more, I'm reluctant to cart it around to jams and family gatherings.  One great feature on the Pa1000 is it has a dedicated knob for the accompaniment, whereas on the Casio you've got quite a bit of button pushes to achieve it.  That's the primary reason for this post.

 

Just so you know- I've watched the Casio video tutorials, watched Daniel Lindholms breeze thru for creating a song, have looked up in the manual for relevant info, etc.  I get how to create and name User Tones, have populated many of the Registration banks, and I'm up to speed on many of the other basic operations.

 

But once I push the Part/Mixer button, it's just a blur.  I get into there, see that Keyboard (live playing) is selected, I use the number pad to choose which of the 9 parts to affect, but after that nothing goes as desired.  I can never tell when the numerical pad goes from inputting numbers, or is used for scrolling/entering/exiting, etc.  I don't know how to switch from Mixing Keyboard parts to Mixing Drums, etc.

 

1. How do I save changes made in the Mixer mode?  With my Korg that would be saving the changes to a Style or Song. 

 

2. Why isn't the Function mode savable to a User Tone?  And if you can't save it to a User Tone, what's the point?

 

3. How do I switch the Mixer settings from Keyboard to Drums and auto-accompaniment?

 

4. Once I'm on the Drums or Auto-Accompaniment page in the Mixer, is there a way of changing the volume for all the drums at once?  all the accompaniment at once, including drums?  I appreciate having all that Mixer control, but often times I just want ALL the drums or accompaniment to be louder/softer, quick and easy.

 

4. Is the Casio Data Management software ONLY for transferring Tones and other files to and from the keyboard to a USB stick?  Tried it last night, was really surprised I couldn't even rename the User Tones on my Win10 laptop, which is a slow process using just the keyboard.

 

5. Is it true that in order to edit FX that I have to jump from Function mode (which reverb for example) to Edit mode (Send to each of the FX)?

 

6. The Part/Mixer button- what's the difference?  For some operations you jump back and forth between the Part and Mixer, I end up not knowing where I am and what I'm doing.

 

 

Just so you know- I'm not knocking the X5000.  Am super stoked that at this price point how great of a job Casio has done.  Love the speakers, the sounds are surprisingly decent (and as someone who suffered with a WK7600 for years, this is huge), the keybed is surprising decent (after several years of the WK7600, I grew to hate its keybed, it possibly loosened up over time). Etc.  This board is fun to play and many of its functions are intuitive and easy to navigate.

 

For me so far, the only things I'd change is adding a 2d volume knob for accompaniment, and add a few more buttons separate from the numerical pad so that the numerical pad didn't have to play so many different roles.

 

Thanks in advance,

Randy

 

[Brad Saucier]

1. How do I save changes made in the Mixer mode? With my Korg that would be saving the changes to a Style or Song. 

 

 For upper/lower parts, and other keyboard performance parts, mixer settings can be saved to registrations.  For MIDI recorder songs, mixer settings are saved in each song.  For individual parts within a rhythm, those mixer settings are saved in each rhythm.  

 

2. Why isn't the Function mode savable to a User Tone? And if you can't save it to a User Tone, what's the point?

 

Can you be more specific?

 

 

3. How do I switch the Mixer settings from Keyboard to Drums and auto-accompaniment?

 

4. Once I'm on the Drums or Auto-Accompaniment page in the Mixer, is there a way of changing the volume for all the drums at once? all the accompaniment at once, including drums? I appreciate having all that Mixer control, but often times I just want ALL the drums or accompaniment to be louder/softer, quick and easy.

 

 Overall rhythm volume control is in the function menu as accomp volume.  This setting can be saved as a registration.  For fine control over volume of each part within a rhythm, it is necessary to edit a rhythm and store the changes as a user rhythm.  

 

4. Is the Casio Data Management software ONLY for transferring Tones and other files to and from the keyboard to a USB stick? Tried it last night, was really surprised I couldn't even rename the User Tones on my Win10 laptop, which is a slow process using just the keyboard.

 

 It is for transferring files only, not for editing files.  

 

5. Is it true that in order to edit FX that I have to jump from Function mode (which reverb for example) to Edit mode (Send to each of the FX)?

 

 System effect types are chosen in the function menu.  Send levels for system effects can be adjusted in the mixer and saved as a registration, or can be done while editing a user tone and saved with the tone.  DSP effects are always done from tone editing and saved as user tones.  

 

6. The Part/Mixer button- what's the difference? For some operations you jump back and forth between the Part and Mixer, I end up not knowing where I am and what I'm doing.

 

Long press the button to enter mixer mode, then short press it to enable part selection and part group selection.  While the part lamp is ON in mixer mode, the plus and minus buttons will select different mixer part groups.  And, the number buttons will select a specific part by number. 

 

When the part lamp is OFF, the number keys become cursor keys, up/down left/right.  The cursor menu navigates left and right through all mixer parts.  Once you land on a desired mixer part, the up/down cursor keys will navigate all of the editable parameters for that part.  

 

 

[mrmr9494]

Hi Randelph,

 

I know what you mean about the Part/Mixer being a blur. I've used the keyboard for a while now, and I still get thrown by the way that Part and Mixer do very similar things but navigate completely differently. That part of the UI could really have been much more consistent.

 

Brad has answered most of your questions well. There's a trick to getting the numeric keys to enter numbers; in most situations where the rotary dial selects a number, you can also enter "0" and then type three digits. For example, to enter "55", you type 0-0-5-5. It took me ages before I discovered that trick, and it really speeds up changing a bunch of numbers from 0 to 127 or vice-versa.

[casio_style]

Well, in fact, everything is not so complicated, the main thing is to understand how everything works. When you have pressed "Part" and the light is on, you can select parts (sections) in the mixer. These are: 1 - 9 song Sys, 1 - 8 Song Solo, 9 - 16 Song Solo, 1 - 8 Midi In, 9 - 16 Midi In, 1 - 9 Keyboard, 1 - 8 Rhytm.
After selecting the desired section of the mixer, long press the button "PART", you already enter the selected section of the mixer and can adjust all the available parameters.

[Rudolph R-N R]

On 11/9/2020 at 10:42 AM, mrmr9494 said:

Hi Randelph,

 

I know what you mean about the Part/Mixer being a blur. I've used the keyboard for a while now, and I still get thrown by the way that Part and Mixer do very similar things but navigate completely differently. That part of the UI could really have been much more consistent.

 

Brad has answered most of your questions well. There's a trick to getting the numeric keys to enter numbers; in most situations where the rotary dial selects a number, you can also enter "0" and then type three digits. For example, to enter "55", you type 0-0-5-5. It took me ages before I discovered that trick, and it really speeds up changing a bunch of numbers from 0 to 127 or vice-versa.

mrmr9494,

thanks for your commiseration.  I've had lots of practice on over a dozen keyboards over the years and have consistently found that there's usually a 'top layer' that is very user friendly, but going deeper, it can be a slog fest at first.  i've resigned myself to this and am much more zen these days.  i'm not particularly talented with tech, but i've found that persistance, and choosing your battles helps.

 

Not sure what you mean about the extra zero, i've consistently entered 3 digit numbers for Tone locations.  i'll keep that in mind.

 

Randy

 

 

 

 

 

[Rudolph R-N R]

On 11/10/2020 at 5:23 AM, casio_style said:

Well, in fact, everything is not so complicated, the main thing is to understand how everything works. When you have pressed "Part" and the light is on, you can select parts (sections) in the mixer. These are: 1 - 9 song Sys, 1 - 8 Song Solo, 9 - 16 Song Solo, 1 - 8 Midi In, 9 - 16 Midi In, 1 - 9 Keyboard, 1 - 8 Rhytm.
After selecting the desired section of the mixer, long press the button "PART", you already enter the selected section of the mixer and can adjust all the available parameters.

Yes CS, navigating that is not so bad, but i'm surprised that setting up a mixer doesn't yield more parameters.  Part on/off, rvb/chorus/delay send, pan, volume, and that's it.  Not sure why Function has so many parameters, esp including octave and type of reverb/chorus/delay.

[Rudolph R-N R]

On 11/7/2020 at 12:16 PM, Brad Saucier said:

1. How do I save changes made in the Mixer mode? With my Korg that would be saving the changes to a Style or Song. 

 

 For upper/lower parts, and other keyboard performance parts, mixer settings can be saved to registrations.  For MIDI recorder songs, mixer settings are saved in each song.  For individual parts within a rhythm, those mixer settings are saved in each rhythm.  

 

2. Why isn't the Function mode savable to a User Tone? And if you can't save it to a User Tone, what's the point?

 

Can you be more specific?

 

 

3. How do I switch the Mixer settings from Keyboard to Drums and auto-accompaniment?

 

4. Once I'm on the Drums or Auto-Accompaniment page in the Mixer, is there a way of changing the volume for all the drums at once? all the accompaniment at once, including drums? I appreciate having all that Mixer control, but often times I just want ALL the drums or accompaniment to be louder/softer, quick and easy.

 

 Overall rhythm volume control is in the function menu as accomp volume.  This setting can be saved as a registration.  For fine control over volume of each part within a rhythm, it is necessary to edit a rhythm and store the changes as a user rhythm.  

 

4. Is the Casio Data Management software ONLY for transferring Tones and other files to and from the keyboard to a USB stick? Tried it last night, was really surprised I couldn't even rename the User Tones on my Win10 laptop, which is a slow process using just the keyboard.

 

 It is for transferring files only, not for editing files.  

 

5. Is it true that in order to edit FX that I have to jump from Function mode (which reverb for example) to Edit mode (Send to each of the FX)?

 

 System effect types are chosen in the function menu.  Send levels for system effects can be adjusted in the mixer and saved as a registration, or can be done while editing a user tone and saved with the tone.  DSP effects are always done from tone editing and saved as user tones.  

 

6. The Part/Mixer button- what's the difference? For some operations you jump back and forth between the Part and Mixer, I end up not knowing where I am and what I'm doing.

 

Long press the button to enter mixer mode, then short press it to enable part selection and part group selection.  While the part lamp is ON in mixer mode, the plus and minus buttons will select different mixer part groups.  And, the ncumber buttons will select a specific part by number. 

 

When the part lamp is OFF, the number keys become cursor keys, up/down left/right.  The cursor menu navigates left and right through all mixer parts.  Once you land on a desired mixer part, the up/down cursor keys will navigate all of the editable parameters for that part.  

 

 

brad,

thanks as always to somehow who manages to understand and keep straight so many different boards!  I hope Casio supplies you with all the equipment you desire!

 

I understand now most of what you wrote, but creating Tones is still befuddling. I get it now, it's not a multi it's a single Tone, and the Edit menu is where that happens.  Good number of parameters, but why isn't rvb/chrs/dly TYPE included, and Touch would be nice too.   How am I supposed to save those parameters to a Tone?

 

Have to admit that i'm still mostly a multi/single user, like my yamaha xs7, my korg m3, etc.  my Pa1000 is the first arranger I've taken seriously as an arranger, using it's rhythms and arrangements for the first time, which is surprising considering I've had a half dozen arrangers over time (though mostly cheapies).  it's a different way of thinking than non-arranger boards, it's usually easy to edit and save favorite sounds for direct access.  but arrangers have their own convoluted way of approaching sounds, which i'm apparently encountering here.

 

for jam sessions and group playing (arrangers have a hard time incorporating into a group unless they're leading the charge), i always want direct and easy direct access to tones and multi-tones.  but as time goes on, esp since this IS an arranger, i want to incorporate at least the rhythms and possibly even some auto-accompaniment into what I work on having on hand.  what do you suggest as a practical approach to this?  i'm used to focusing first on the sounds, then the multi-sounds, but with an arranger you have so many different ways to spend precious time building up musical resources.  and please, i hope others chime in as well on how they approach saving sounds/rhythms/songs to this particular arranger.

 

one idea i had is, well, with only 100 user Tones available, i'd get as far as i could editing the Tones as best as i can, with rhythms associated with each.  and then when I've reached 100 then I can save that to a usb stick and start out on rev2 with all that i've learned from my first generation of learning this board.    it's always such a cyclical process....

 

randy

 

ps and considering that you can press the rhythm button and have it bring up Casios suggestion of a Tone and tempo that it goes with, perhaps that's another approach, instead of being so Tone-centric.  

 

that said, my current efforts are to build up User Tones that are solid, that i can use to build registrations

Edited November 13, 2020 by Randelph

[Brad Saucier]

Reverb, chorus, and delay are system effects.  DSP is an insert effect.  In other words, DSP is the only tone specific effect.  Each system effect type is shared by all of the tones at any given moment and stored by registrations, not by individual tones.  This is why you can only adjust the sends levels for system effects.  Imagine the conflicts if every user tone was trying to change the reverb type that the entire system is using.  If you're familiar with using an analog mixing board with effects, it's the same system.  DSP is a channel insert effect.  System effects are channel sends to main effects.  

[casio_style]

9 hours ago, Randelph said:

one idea i had is, well, with only 100 user Tones available, i'd get as far as i could editing the Tones as best as i can, with rhythms associated with each.  and then when I've reached 100 then I can save that to a usb stick and start out on rev2 with all that i've learned from my first generation of learning this board.    it's always such a cyclical process....

 

randy
 

ps and considering that you can press the rhythm button and have it bring up Casios suggestion of a Tone and tempo that it goes with, perhaps that's another approach, instead of being so Tone-centric.  

 

Tones are easy to edit. Select the tone you want to edit, then long press on the "Function" button and you are already in the menu for editing the 

Tones are easy to edit. Select the tone you want to edit, then long press on the "Function" button and you are already in the menu for editing the selected tone. After you've done everything right, when you exit the edit menu, save the tone as a custom tone. And then you can "attach" it to any style, saving all the settings (style, tone, mixer parameters, etc.) in the registration bank.