Indispensible!

[zygor]

MIDI Magic: Once I got the PROGRAM mode distinguished from MIX / COMBI modes (Alesis QS7.1 / Korg Krome 88) the synths' sounds are totally accessible! The trick for me was to preface every Program and Combi / Mix with raw MIDI (HEX Code) data to set the correct mode, else the last chosen mode would remain for the next song. So my MIDI Presets list begins with the four "0_dummies":

"0_Alesis MIX Mode":
F0 00 00 0E 0E 0D 01 F7

"0_Alesis PROG Mode":
F0 00 00 0E 0E 0D 00 F7

"0_Krome COMBI Mode":
F0 42 33 00 01 15 4E 00 F7
F0 42 33 00 01 15 24 00 F7

"0_Krome PROG Mode":
F0 42 33 00 01 15 4E 02 F7
F0 42 33 00 01 15 24 00 F7

So before adding a new MIDI Preset, I open one of the dummies, "select all" & "copy" from the Raw MIDI (Hex Code) window, THEN hit "+" to add a new Preset name with corresponding MSB, LSB, and Program numbers.

Also, in Settings - Audio & MIDI - MIDI Predet Order - "Raw MIDI" is first at the top of the list.

[arlo]

Thanks for posting. Here's a suggestion: instead of copying and pasting the raw MIDI data into each new preset, you could just attach one or more of those mode changer presets to each program change preset. Then if you need to make a change to that raw MIDI code, you can just do it in one place. With your MIDI Preset Order set to send raw MIDI first, the raw MIDI of the attached presets will still be sent before the program changes.

[zygor]

Thanx Arlo, that's MUCH easier!

[arlo]

Great.

[MickeyKeys]

Love this! New user here (read: about 6 weeks) and the learning goes on.

Played my second gig last night with this connected to my keyboard rig. Worked wonderfully; the few hiccups I experienced were no doubt user error.

Seeing this topic makes me almost wish I hadn't ditched my old QS7.1 (which I didn't appreciate was way ahead of its time). 

No use crying over that spilled milk, though . . .  now I'm using it's modern equivalent (IMHO), a Kurzweil PC3.

Wondering if we have any other Kurz devotees out there, and if/how this might translate to a PC3 . . . I'm completely illiterate at raw MIDI, but can easily see that this would be a game changer for me.

[MickeyKeys]

OK, this is going to be longish (sorry), but I hope it will be helpful.

First - a little backstory, if you will.

Shiny new iPad Mini running the latest iteration of SLM.

Keyboards - Roland RD700NX and Kurzweil PC3.

Connections - Lightning to camera adapter to USB MIDI on the RD700NX. 5-pin MIDI Out 1 from the RD to MIDI in on the PC3. Channel 1 from iPad to RD. Channel 16 from RD to PC3.

I had song-specific setups ("Live Sets" in Roland-ese) in which I had embedded program change messages to call Setups (Kurzweil-speak for "Kombi") on the PC3. And MIDI setups in SLM that were doing a fine job calling the Live Sets on the RD, which in turn called the setups.

So far, so good.

But I realized that sometimes if you stick with Setups (the PC3 HAS to be in Setup mode for this to work), it becomes a bit impractical (read: a finger-slip away from a train wreck in a live situation) to shift to Program mode to use Programs such as the excellent "KB3" tonewheel organ simulator. In other words, I need me some more flexibility.

I spent some time looking and it seems that I can't find raw MIDI commands for the Kurzweil PC3 that are analogous to the ones Zygor's using to change modes on his QS7.1 and Krome 88.

So, how to automate all this via SLM?

So I set about looking for another way to make this happen, and using as a starting point information from a post on another forum, it looks like I'm going to pull it off.

Well, the answer on a PC3 is to use Quick Access Mode, which allows you to organize both Setups and Programs into banks of 10 regardless of type. Then you create MIDI Setups in SLM that will call the QA Bank entries regardless of which bank they are in.

So, for starters I created three QA banks:



For each bank entry I created a MIDI setup, starting each setup name with "PC3" to make them easily searchable.

Now to enter the MSB/LSB/PC data into the SLM MIDI Setups . . .

This is where it starts off being a bit of a headache. But a deep breath and a swig of coffee and we can work this out.

In ALL cases MSB is zero. OK, THAT's easy enough . . .

For LSB, if the bank# is 1-9, LSB is zero. If the bank number is 10 or over, you drop the rightmost digit and input whatever's left.

Therefore,
for banks  1 - 9, LSB = 0
for banks 10-19, LSB = 1
for banks 20-29, LSB = 2
for banks 30-39, LSB = 3

etcetera and so forth.

Moving on up, and in my case, for banks 1020-1022, LSB became 102.

PC numbers are composed of the rightmost digit you dropped earlier plus 1 thru 0 (not 10).

In other words:

In my example, if you want "Sustainable KB3" from bank # 1020:
MSB = 0, LSB = 102, PC = 01



For some strange reason numbering within banks is assigned right to left, so if you wanted "doors, man..." in the same bank the numbers would become 0, 102, 04.

The joker in the pack is when you get to the tenth entry.



PC would be "10" not "0" or "110", so "Horn/Organ LA", for example, would be 0, 102, 10. As that old philosopher Billy Joel once sang, "Don't Ask Me Why".

Let's say you want "Whiter Shade R" from Bank# 1022.
MSB = 0, LSB = 102, PC = 21

You can create as many banks as you need, but are limited to 10 Setups AND/OR Programs per bank.

As long as you follow the above numbering convention, however, you can call them or any of the entries in the factory pre-loaded QA banks.

When you're "live", all you need worry about is that the PC3 is in Quick Access mode. No need to switch QA banks on stage.

I had my misgivings, but you know what? It all works!

One small surprise was that I thought the "MIDI thru" jack on the RD700NX would work in this configuration.

It didn't. I'm getting it to work by using the RD's "MIDI Out 2" to the PC3's "MIDI In" (5-pin both ends)

Of course, this whole discourse is very specific to my own setup, but I also tried on the Kurzweil alone by connecting the USB MIDI cable from the iPad to the PC3 with the RD turned off, and it worked just fine.

Below is an example of one of the songs we cover, ELO's "Evil Woman".



For this tune, SLM calls "Concert Grand" on the RD and a Mellotron setup on the PC3.

If we follow this up with "Riders On The Storm", I have a Rhodes-based Live Set that plays thunder and rain on the lower keys.



Tapping the song in Perform mode calls "Riders' Rhodes" on the RD but leaves the PC3's Mellotron setting alone since no setup has been chosen in SLM for the PC3 on "Riders".

However, with the PC3 in QA mode and bank #1020 displayed, I can use the jog wheel or cursor buttons to manually select another entry "on the fly" if I want to - say, if the leader suddenly goes off the set list and calls an organ tune. As long as the Kurz is in QA mode, this is the only time you might conceivably need to change banks on stage.

Likewise, I can select "Concert Grand" from the RD in a similar fashion, independent of SLM.

The whole thing is a bit daunting to set up for the first time; but once done, it doesn't seem that it will be terribly difficult to keep up; and the days of scrambling to select a patch or set of patches are, I think, finally behind me.

Arlo, thanks for an amazing app! I've only dreamed of being able to do this for years!

[arlo]

Cool stuff, thanks for posting!