Well I have to say it has been a love/hate relationship with this SD1 that I picked up last weekend. It is nowhere NEAR as user friendly as the Korg I2 I have been using for years.

One of the things I loved about the Korg is the way they had main button that were clearly delineated as:

Global
Arranger (For built-in styles)
Song (For midi files)
Disk (Devoted to all things related to loading and saving ANY music info. Styles, sounds, arrangements, midi files, etc.)

Those buttons were so simple because I knew where to go right away for anything.

This Solton strikes me as rocket science in comparison. Quickly interject, I am waiting for the full manual. I picked the keyboard up on a trip east, and they only had the preliminary one. The other should be waiting at home for me. I pray it's easy to understand.

Quick questions:

How the hell do you save anything????

I load from a diskette, and then what? There doesn't seem to be any command on any of the pages the midi file has, and there isn't an obvious button on the keyboard telling you either.

Also my big question is this:

Do you know how some midi files, especially old ones, used to put drum tracks seperately? Snare on one track, kick on another, cymbal on a third, etc. I guess they wanted different volumes, parameters, what have you.

Well they always had the midi files with the drum tracks all using channel 10. This never worked in Korg, because any instrument using a channel, was recreated if another track had the same channel number. Let me put that better. Track 1 is a guitar, and track 2 is a flute. If I put them both the same channel, EITHER channel would play both instruments. If I added more tracks with the same channel, it would do the same. So it would have been a cacophony if I left the midi files the way they were orginally, because the same thing happened with drums. It totally ruined the sound. Now Korg was easy in that they didn't care what channel you put anything. The drums could be any one of them from 1 to 16.

Now here's what I'm leading up to. The midi files I put in Solton that I used on my Korg will not change the track to drums automatically unless it is saved as channel 10. Why should it care? It should just follow the instrument command.

Also, I have some songs that have 2 seperate drum kits in one song. I used the percussion kit which is drum kit 6 in Korg, to play the timpani. So how am I supposed to get the two drum kits to come up in the Solton? If i put the two tracks as channel 10, do they play fine or do they work the same as Korg and screw up the instruments?

These are the first two big aggravations I have noticed.

One other little thing, is that in the Korg, the screens for each midi file showed each track and allowed you to transpose individual tracks. So practically all of my midi files are transposed in this way, and I liked it better because I just page up a screen or two and it shows me what the transposition is. Whether I have it plus 3, minus 2, etc. It was really easy.

For some reason the Solton doesn't recognize that information.

I put in a midi file that's up 4 keys from the original, and it plays in the original.

This is going to be an aggravation. *sigh*. I'll have to apparently transpose the midi files by shifting the notes to the key I want instead and then send them over.

ARGGGGHHHHH, I wish they had a "Solton for dummies" book. :-(



------------------
http://members.rogers.com/unison

Have you tried calling the store where you bought it ?


dano

The Korg i2 did not read GM files, if I remember correctly. The addition of a "standardisation" of channel assignments has made it possible for more people to share music on many types of keyboards. Unfortunatly, your old Korg was made before the mad rush to standard midi files came about.
Channel 10 is drums. Period. No matter how many tracks .... if they are on channel 10, they will play a drum sound.

As far as loading from floppy ... it's more like "copying" from floppy to transfer data to the hard disk. The "load" command usually loads the sequencer. The copy command will put the floppy data onto the hard drive.

DanO - any quick words of advice for our friend here about loading floppies?

Quick words of advice ?

The nice thing about the SD1 is how it now utilizies the hard drive .
The SD1 has "master folders" . If you copy a midi file onto the hard drive , it will be stored in folder 91 on the hard drive . If you press song play , the SD1 automatically calls up folder 91 .
If you copy a style onto the SD1 hard drive it will stored on another master folder ( folder 95) .

I know the folder assignment is listed in the preliminary manual .

dano
PS...contact your dealer for the manual ! or down load it off the ketron website .

Justforfun000:

You can download the SD1 manual (PDF) here:

English Version: http://www.ketron.it/pdf/manualSD1Eng.zip

French Version: http://www.ketron.it/pdf/manualSD1Fra.zip

Scott

Thanks everybody for the help.

One of you was wrong about the Korg though. It plays gm midi files fine. It's from 1994 I believe, and was also upgraded later on with new OS info.

So you were saying that it will play different tracks with the same channel without sounding screwy? It didn't work that way for me. I had a song that had two seperate tracks with two separate drum kits, and I changed them both to channel 10 on the Korg before trying it again on the SD1. It didn't work. Even worse, it seemingly screwed up my main drum track. It definitely didn't play the timpani from the percussion kit either. :-(

Another thing I don't understand is that when you are playing the midi file and you press start again (there being no stop button), it won't start playing again when you press start. What's also harder to follow is that on my Korg, it would always have on the computer screen the measure it was currently on. I could stop it, use the dial to go any number of measures back or forward, and play again. I don't see how you do it with this one.

Can you also edit the same way? For any song I'd move up a few screens and enter into the song data and it would show you each measure along with the notes and their velocity, length, etc.

Something like this:

1/1 C#4 127(vel) 34(sec)
1/2 f#6 124 18

etc

So I could easily locate each note in a measure and alter the main parameters.

Apparently I'm also going to have to change some drum notes.

First key on the keyboards (E1), is the best kick on my Korg. I think it's something different on the SD1.

Same with my drum kit 2 (power kit). F1 was the best snare. What a drag all the drums between keyboards were not standard.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by justforfun000:
Thanks everybody for the help.

One of you was wrong about the Korg though. It plays gm midi files fine. It's from 1994 I believe, and was also upgraded later on with new OS info.

So you were saying that it will play different tracks with the same channel without sounding screwy? It didn't work that way for me. I had a song that had two seperate tracks with two separate drum kits, and I changed them both to channel 10 on the Korg before trying it again on the SD1. It didn't work. Even worse, it seemingly screwed up my main drum track. It definitely didn't play the timpani from the percussion kit either. :-(


SD1 drum tracks are assigned to track 9 + 10 on the SD1 . A timpani sound would occupy a different midi channel .

Another thing I don't understand is that when you are playing the midi file and you press start again (there being no stop button), it won't start playing again when you press start.

This doesn't make sense . The whole Idea of having a hard drive is to store your midi sequences onto it . Copy everything you have on a disk , onto the hard drive . Midi files are automatically designated for folder 91 !

After you complete this .......try to play the midi sequence and press F1 for GM or F10 for 16 track . YOu will than see all 16 parts of the midi sequence at one time . USe the FUnction buttons to select the desired tracks you wish to edit .
YOU MUST PLAY THE SEQUENCE IN ORDER TO EDIT !
Once you make appropriate changes , press save enter button . RENAME the sequence .

What's also harder to follow is that on my Korg, it would always have on the computer screen the measure it was currently on. I could stop it, use the dial to go any number of measures back or forward, and play again. I don't see how you do it with this one.

Yoo would have to load the song into the internal sequencer to have this effect .

NO PRELOADING or copying INTO SEQUENCER ( I-2 does not have direct from disk play back ..I could be wrong) WITH THE SD1 or other KEtron . Ketron keyboards are all about storing info on the hard drive and having direct access .

Can you also edit the same way? For any song I'd move up a few screens and enter into the song data and it would show you each measure along with the notes and their velocity, length, etc.

Something like this:

1/1 C#4 127(vel) 34(sec)
1/2 f#6 124 18

etc

So I could easily locate each note in a measure and alter the main parameters.

Apparently I'm also going to have to change some drum notes.

First key on the keyboards (E1), is the best kick on my Korg. I think it's something different on the SD1.

Same with my drum kit 2 (power kit). F1 was the best snare. What a drag all the drums between keyboards were not standard.


PLEASE remember that you will always have to make adjustments with any new keyboard .

THE DRUMS on the SD1 are one of its greatest strength's . I would just be patient and learn a little more .

You may also investigate a different midi sequence . Fore instance ......If I have a midi file that is the same as the one your having trouble with ....I'll send it to you ! Gotta Go ........ dano

PIANO MAN in Catonsville Maryland or ketronguy@yahoo.com

Thanks Dan01. I know it's going to take me awhile to be adept, but I guess I was still surprised that it wasn't as obvious as I expected it to be. There seems to be a very different format in the way they play the songs.

I'm confused what you mean by the internal sequencer. Especially since it sounds like you can't do what I was asking. Maybe I misunderstood some of the capabilities of the keyboard. Is it a complete music workstation like the Korg? Can you create midi files from scratch on it?

Worse comes to worse I could do so in Korg and then transfer them, I guess all I'd have to do is learn the compatible commands. Most of my midi files play almost identical, but a few just do some small odd things. I have some instruments on bank D, and apparently there IS no bank D so I guess I'll have to change all those to a similar instrument in the other banks.

I guess the most frustrating thing so far is the way I can't seem to change anything when it's in the SD1. I have figured out volumes and such, but I see no way to alter the instrument of a track to something else. I guess part of the problem is I haven't learned to copy to hard disk yet. I presume you have more control over them once they are located there?

SAY, I just realized what you said about your midi files. I would love to trade some with you. I have quite a few actually, and a lot of them are my own recreations of songs and I'm pretty picky. You'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. I have some Canadian singers that I haven't found midi files for like Amanda Marshall, April Wine, etc. Don't know if they would be of any interest, but if not I have tons of others and all my working ones are very well done as I have tweaked them all.

If you wouldn't mind, I would love to send you one or two of the examples I have listed and maybe you could spot right away what was wrong with the way the sequence was set up in relation to the SD1. I could give you what it is SUPPOSED to be, and maybe you could let me know the formats I would have to change my files to before I transfer.

Actually anyone out there I extend the same offer to. It's great to have this little community to connect with. You guys are great. :-)

------------------
http://members.rogers.com/unison

Ooops. My mistake. I was confusing the "direct from disk read", I guess. It's been a while. Sorry for the mis-info. Was it SMF's that it can't read?