Well, I FINALLY had the courage to take the Pa600 out to a gig ... but did I take it to a 1 hour senior gig? - NO - I took it to a 4 hour gig in a classy Italian restaurant last night, filling in for a friend of mine ... He has his BOSE system set up in this place- he's been there weekends for about 3-4 years - so it's easy - I take my kb, VH, mic and necessary cables and that's it - ... anyway, the Pa600 sounded really good through the BOSE ...

The snowstorm that hit Thursday and Friday REALLY limited the crowd ... this place does 250 - 300 dinners on a normal Friday - they have reservations for 500 tonight (Saturday) - but last night they only served about 150 in the dining room, and hardly any of them stayed around for the usual after dinner drink in the lounge where I played ...
the small crowd was a mixed blessing ... it was kind of lifeless playing to just a couple of people at the bar and a few couples having dinner in the lounge, but I didn't have the 'pressure' of playing for a crowded dance floor ...
I still am not totally comfortable navigating the Pa600 during live play, and I also still have to get used to what some of the styles sound like, but having done a LOT of homework setting up numerous styles certainly paid off ...
I still would like a fuller, more mellow sound on some of the saxes but otherwise the board sounded really good and I got a number of compliments, especially from the staff. so that's a good thing ...
So, I KNOW that the Pa600 will be the board for my 1 hour senior gigs, and it will be used on some 'full' gigs also - BUT the technics is NOT being retired yet by any means ...

Great news Tony.....but at some point you have to let go and sink your teeth into the KORG to really be forced to make it do what you want without the technics crutch....that's what makes all the magic happen under pressure. Keep up the homework and make believe you sold the other KB..those 1 hr NH gigs put the pressure on you vs the audience up close and personal to do better and really learn the Pa600...
good luck.

The technics not being retired really doesn't have anything to do with it being a crutch ... I still intend to work on the KORG every day, BUT I still LIKE the kn6000 ...

I know the feeling of being comfortable using a KB on stage very very well....can't blame you..sad part is that with the abandonment of technics you have to hang on to whats left
KN 6000/6500/7000 or jump ship and learn something new as you are doing Tony. But in my experiences only REPETITION will win in the end...over and over again UNDER GIG pressure making adjustments, tweaking, EQ'ing, every time you perform until its almost perfect for your needs until you do it effortlessly & with confidence..enjoy.

You mean like you did? Oh, whoops, no! You sold yours and went back to old familiar Yamaha, didn't you?

Handing out advice you won't take yourself? LOL

Difference is and it's a big difference...Tony has had the Kn6000 for a long while and isn't as familiar with all the other OS on most arranger KB units as I have experienced,......not bragging but the truth be told. For me to switch back and forth, etc, is of no consequence with the learning curve for myself. I tried to help Tony as much as I could and answer questions best I can. I don't profess the know it all mentality some do, but instead use my experiences of what I do know to help others when asked. Why it bothers you I could really care less judging by your continued condescending tone to most of my posts when I change units. But that's your problem.

I have a Ketron SD2 that i sometimes run my pa500 thru. The sounds ,especially the saxes, are much thicker/fuller than the Korg. Its a minimal hookup and there's a used one on ebay right now...I think their sounds are tops..

How does that work Sparky? Can you select a sound, say guitar, on the Korg and have the module play instead? Or do you select sounds directly from the module?
Thanks,
DonM

When you select your sound from the Korg- the sd2 module plays the appropriate sound from its first (gm) bank (it as several internal banks). Simply turning the volume on the Sd2 up and the korg volume down, you can do it. Or have both volumes up and combine the sounds if you like that effect.. I like to slide the balance slider down to left hand from the korg and use the ketron sounds for the right hand. Sometimes the midi signals from the korg to the ketron for drums/rhythms don't sync and you can get the default piano sound where a percussion sound should be- not always, but sometimes, so this method is best. One thing to realize is that if you use a volume pedal for the korg , you have to have a separate one (or use a stereo pedal) for the Ketron if you don't have the sd2 within reach or want to modulate the sound level. I do this as I have the sd2 in my rack. The sd2 does not have a volume pedal out, so you have to put a pedal inline with the (rca) outputs, or use the midi out to a midi solutions pedal controller and plug you pedal in there. To access the other banks in the sd2, you have to set up a profile in the Korg (using the sequencer is easiest) with the specific cc commands to access them- seq 1 for bank 2, seq 2 for bank 3.... If you want to select sounds directly from a module, then the sd4 may be a better choice as the sd2 has no surface control for this. It is all in the setup of the keyboard controller/sequencer.

Thanks Sparky. Very interesting. Something I might try.
DonM

Hi Sparky589

Expression(Volume) control is normally cc11, (Don’t confuse with sound volume cc7) and if you make sure the Korg outputs this command over Midi, then you will only need the expression pedal connected to your Korg, as it will control expression (Volume) on both the Korg and SD2 simultaneously.

Check also to see if the Korg has any Midi sound banks (I believe the larger models do) as you can set these to select any Midi voice and setting on the SD2, (Don’t forget to save them as a user voice) and then use them as if they were a normal Korg user voice. (Effectively the SD2 becomes part of the Korg)

Hope this helps

Bill

Thank you Bill. It's a little work but makes things easier afterward. I use a separate pedal for the sd2 as I play a midi accordion and the keyboard on gigs. The accordion runs through the sd2. With the full band I don't need rhythms; I use the previously stated method when single. I use a midi merge to input the accordion and keyboard signals to the sd2, and the midi thru to the keyboard for rhythms with the accordion on singles. .

And no, I don't play both instruments at the same time. Also, the camera adds 20 lbs....

Great gig pictures, ....although some might not like the Accordion,....it's one of the Only true "SOLO" instruments there is, Piano also, letting a musician "acoustically" play two things at once, rhythm, chords, melody.

Thanx for sharing.

Hi Guys,
PA3X / PA800 makes for a great controller for a sound module.
In Style Play Mode
press Menu Button
press Track controls
Press Track select button to toggle between Accomp Tracks & Lower /Upper Voices.

Default is BOTH for each of the tracks , but you can also set to internal or external. Press External to use a sound module, & at the top set the Bank & program changes required for the external voice you want to use.
When finished, drop down menu & write it to a STS so it's permanently linked to that style.

Off topic , but
I used to use this method for playing the drum & percussion tracks for my ketron style conversions. PA800 sounds were great for bass, piano etc, but PA800 couldn't play those ketron Live drum tracks , so I used the sd2 instead for the Live drum & Drum tracks.

Hi Tony,
do you need some styles? Spent weeks sorting out PA3X/ PA800 duplicates, plus the musikant duplicates. Might not be 100% perfect as far as PA600 goes ( ie it may not have all the PA3X styles & vice versa ) but if you need some, let me know.

Rikki ... thank you ... I actually got your styles from my fellow Rhode Island-er SteveM after I got the Pa600 ... so THANK YOU ...the wheel goes round, and round ...

This is just one of the things that makes this community so great, and SO valuable ...

Rikki,
Thanks for the information regarding using PA3X as controller. It's something I may try at some point.
All I really would like is a few electric guitars though. I need to do some looking around and/or editing.
DonM

Tony so now you have the Musikant JIG style I would assume?

Actually, Donny, I do not ... I have searched EVERY STYLE set and cannot find the JIG ... is it listed as the Irish Jig or something else?
thanks ...

World bank musikant

Hi Tony,
that's great. Hopefully some will be useful to you. Enjoy your new PA600.

Hi Donny,
I haven't got the Jig either, maybe the guy who posted the styles didn't have them all. Couldn't find it amongst the styles I downloaded and sorted.

Hi Don,
maybe you could try it with your Roland, using it as a soundmodule to see how it works and then maybe consider some sort of a soundmodule.
The korg loads samples, but I don't know if there's anything commercially available specifically for the pa3x.
I played around with loading wav files to put together a bit of a live drumkit for a couple of my ketron conversion, but I found time consuming, and discovered it was a bit beyond me. haahaa. Decided I'll probably go back to using the sd2 should I need the Live drum sounds.