Hello again Forum buddies! It has occurred to me that there are so many suggestions, etc. for various registrations for different songs for the KN 6000/6500, maybe someone can compile a list of many of them all in one listing. I realize there are hundreds of registrations already built into the keyboard but I still find I would like to arrange my own for original or other songs but after I decide upon R1 and/or R2 sounds, I am never quite sure what left hand sounds blend best. I experiment a lot and end up with some good ones but they are often accidental. Any suggestions?

Ted Rose

Hi All,
I to have the same proplem as Ted when it comes to matching the appropriate voice and volume for the left part.Is there any rule of thumb that one can use? would be interested to know how you other guys do it,
Regards Gilbert


PS. Well, just noticed I am now a member it is a privalage to be part of such a great forum with such great people
Thanks Gilbert

[This message has been edited by gilbert (edited 05-17-2002).]

Hi Ted and Gilbert,

As I have said so often, I am a relative beginner, but I'll share my approach with you in the hope it may help. Perhaps both of you are already doing what I will suggest.

If I want to play a tune with a full sound like a big band or orchestra, I like to use Techni-Chord with the Orchestrator set to Part 4 so I can have a fourth voice. In the case of a big band I will set reed instruments as the left voice and brass instruments as the voice for Part 4 or vice versa. Since the Techni-Chord harmony will be applied to the Part 4 voice, I may prefer harmony in the reed section for one tune and harmony in the brass section for another. In the case of an orchestra, I often have Symphonic Strings in Part 4, Concert Strings for the Left voice, Bass Ensemble for Right 2 and a lead instrument (trumpet or piano for example) as the Right 1 voice. Then, make your pan, sustain, octave, and volume settings for the various voices.

If I am playing organ, then I usually treat the instrument as an organ and have the traditional upper/lower manual setup. However, if I want organ with a choir backing, I'll put the choir in the Left voice and I'm thinking of a traditional church setting here. An example would be "humming" (from the Sound Explorer group) for the Left voice and "Full Organ" for Right 1 with Techni-Chord set to "Hymn". Balance the volumes and you have a fairly representative church organ/choir sound.

I always use Fingered Chords, hence in the case of a big band or orchestra sound, I have Techni-Chord applying harmony to the Part 4 voice and fingered chords applying harmony to the Left voice. A very full sound results.

I like your suggestion, Ted, that someone offer a list of registrations for us to try. There are thousands of setups possible with the KNs and an experienced player could lead us in the right direction.

You guys take care.

Chuck

Hi Ted
I guess you mean the registrations of R1, R2 and left, together with some composer memory. All this has to do with what kind of music/songs you will play. If you playing Hip Hop, you maybe don´t like the Big Band registrations.

One easy way is to load one registration you like, then go to the composer menu and change some tracks (See my earlier topics belowed). You also have the "Blue Book" where you have a lot of songs compared with some settings in the inbuilt rythm memories.
However, it´s very difficult to explain personal settings here, should be better if you name a song you like to play, and then it will be more easy for us to help you match some registrations.
Lindoz

Hi, I love Big Bands and what I did was,( without using any discs), Make sure the MSA is switched on, go to Big Band and Swing, (or anything of your choice) there are 12,select the first one, press Variation 1, store the settings in Panel memory 1, Bank A, then select Variation 2 and store in Panel memory 2, then Variation 3 in Panel memory 3, then4 in 4. Select next Big Band and Swing, and store Var. 1 in Panel memory5,,, keep going. If you use all 12 then you should have 48 Right Hand settings. Listen to them, you may not like some of them, If you whittle it down to 24 then PANEL memory Banks, A. B. C. can be filled. This is more than enough and makes load easier, and quicker, as you still can leave Memory Banks 1 to 10 intact.
Decide on which backings you like and store in Expand, or if you want to pick and mix, store in Normal, remembering to set your wanted speed. If you wish to introduce discs, this can be easily done using selective loading either single or bank load. You may have to balance out the sounds, left against right, this is where Expand gives you total control, but most times I have found they are very close.

While I said Big Band and Swing, if you like any right hands from any Rhythm Groups, use them!!!

On Bebop’s third Disc I have a Big Band Bash, and that’s how I got the combinations used, in some instances changing individual backing instruments, whether or not you like them is a different matter!!!

If this is not clear, SHOUT OUT. Walter.


[This message has been edited by Walter McLaren (edited 05-17-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Walter McLaren (edited 05-19-2002).]

Hi Walter,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts/methods. I will certainly follow your instructions and learn from them. There is so much to learn about the KN because it provides almost umlimited programming options. Being pointed in a new direction regarding keyboard setups is very helpful.

Again, thanks a lot for sharing.

Chuck

Ted, I suppose when you're playing your keyboard you are mainly playing for your enjoyment and not for paying customers, therefore, use whatever voice that happens to strike your fancy. If you please yourself, you'll probably please others, too. 'Course, there will always be one dissenter, so just hope he doesn't have any rotten veggies to throw. I try to come up with different sounds and combinations with the styles, but it gets harder and harder each time to be different, so I'm always on the lookout for new sounds. When I find them, I include them with the style, so always check out sound memory - you may find something in there that didn't make it to the panel memory slot, but isn't on the keyboard. Sometimes when you can't quite get the sound you want for a particular piece, take the closest voice to it and experiment with special effects and see what happens. As long as you keep the original sound on disk, you can't hurt anything by playing with settings, unless its your own eardrums. Remember, that keyboard is what generates the sounds you want to hear, so program it to do just that. Get Alec's book out and have at it! Let us know what you come up with.

Hi Ted,

I find that when using the factory Composer Patterns I seldom use a voice in the left hand because there is just too much going on. This is especially true with many if the Big Band patterns. You may want to take a look back at the Swing file on the KN6000 page of www.kool-keys.com. Most of these arrangements were done to simulate an 18 piece band. Of course if you are arranging a song to sound like a small group it might be nice to have to have a small string section or some voices in the left hand. And, as Chuck suggests when playing traditional organ style the left hand could be used along with just a bass line for a B3 approach or a choir with a church organ.
In the end it might be a good idea to sequence a short part of the arrangement and carefully listen to your set up. Many times LESS turns out to be MORE.

Frank

Thanks everyone who has responded to my query concerning registrations. I will try the suggestions made and, as some of you have mentioned, what pleases one person may not please another. I love to "mix and match" and I DO come up with some interesting registrations now and then but I do appreciate the comments and suggestions from all of you musicians who are much more experienced and knowledgeable than I. I am a rank amateur who plays almost strictly by ear but oh boy does this fabulous instrument (I have a 6500) make me sound good!!! Thanks to all of you, dear friends!

Ted Rose