I am new to digital ensembles, coming from an acoustic piano rather than a keyboard background. I am ploughing my way diligently through all of the Technics keyboard videos, but the PR604 is different and completely unsupported in the secret of its differences. Is there anybody out there who is also trying to explore the possiblities of the PR604 and understand its idiosyncrosies? Can anybody make head or tail of the atrocious unsers manual? I have joined the Technote Club and find its magazines very helpful, but again there is the problem that most stuffis aimed at the KN6000/6500 owner and doesn't explain where and how the PR604 diverges.

Hi Leo:

Welcome aboard, if this Technics is your first it will take awhile to get familiar with it. Give it time, I'm still finding new things and re-discovering old ones.

I have a PR804 and still own a PR900.

The most popular and most sells are the KN models vs the PR's. With this in mind, you will find more support, and topics supporting the KN models. It's just sure numbers of KN's vs PR's that causes this.

The people here on this forum are friendly, but do speak their mind, and will gladly help with any questions you may have. The KN6000/6500/7000 are similiar in a lot ways to the PR604/804, but on the other hand different too.

If you have any particular questions in mind about the PR604 ask away.

Anthony

Hi Leo,

I'm at the low end of the PR group with the PR54. However, having owned a KN6000 I'm at least familar with much of the things it and the KN7000 can do and less so with the PR family of instruments but I too will be happy to try to answer a question if possible. I don't know where the PR604 stands from a compatibily stand point but I've been happy to find the PR54 is able to read and play things from the KN6000/6500/7000 keyboards. Although so far it doesn't go the other way.

Heather

Hi there Heather and Anthony.
Thanks for your kind messages of support and encouragement. My first dumb question is how do I get from a performance on the PR604 using MSA and all that stuff plus my own playing to an MP3 file of the complete performance on my computer? I have just found out that when I use easy record and save to disk as a MIDI file, all that is saved as far as the computer is concerned is my playing - none of the backing or rhythm, which is all recalled when I play back the disk on the PR604.
My second dumb question is why the Technotes disks specially mentioned as being suitable for the PR604 cannot be played direct - I get an error messaage - but have to be loaded. Leo.

a technics or midi file is only a control sequence requiring your piano or a pc soundcard for playback. To make an mp3 you must play the total performance (from sequencer say) from the audio line out of the piano into the line in of your pc soundcard into a wave recording program, then saving as mp3. Alternatively, and much superior, is to use the usb connection to the Audio Recorder on the supplied CD or other wave application. Mp3s from Audio Recorder are highly compressed but if you get that far there are plenty of free programs to provide mp3s of whatever quality level you require.

Midi is the only format suitable for direct play since a streaming 16 channel data flow. Technics format is many other things apart from sequence information and has to be loaded into piano ram to provide banks of patterns, pads, sounds, registrations, effects etc. You could make a multitrack technics song sequence, save it as midi and play it direct if you so wished, then you would just have a song.

Hi Leo:

Sounds like your new to Technics methodology. First, when you record using easy record, you need to save your recording in Technics Format FIRST. REGARDLESS what your final intentions are with the recording. This will always preserve your recording in true original format when you recorded it.

Once you save in Technics format which will require you to experiment, get the feel of the instrument and explore the popular question "WHAT IF"... You can always load the song back later if you need it, and not have to re-record it again.

MIDI - If you want midi, then you will find out the Technics does a so-so job. You will need to convert a Technics recording, using the APC to SMF convert. This will ONLY convert the APC part into separate midi type tracks. You will need to work on the melody by manually inputing settings, preferably using a third party midi program.

MP3 - Can't help you much here because I haven't gone that route yet, mainly because my PR and computer are pretty far apart. You will need to install the CD that came with the PR on your computer and follow the instructions. Connect the cable from the PR to computer. Play the PR live or play a recording while the computer part is recording it. Save it, you have your MP3, I think.

Technics format, and midi format are computer digital. MP3 is considered audio, total different types.

As for the Technote disks. The disks you have, have to be compatible with the PR604. The only models that are compatible are the: PR903/703/xxx PR902/702/xxx KN's 6000/6500/7000 If the Technote disks you have are not the format of the models mentioned. They will not work. Opps, the PR804 files will work too.

Hope all this helps.

Anthony

[This message has been edited by AnthonyCian (edited 11-18-2003).]

there is no work or third party programs required for melody parts Anthony, simply save as smf with gm header on.

Hi All,

I've not tried the MP3 recording yet but I've saved to Midi by doing what Anthony has said. The biggest problem is knowing how to set the track setting which will make a big difference in the out come.

Maybe Alec can give us the best track/part settings so that you get the optimun output with the least or no manual changes required.

The way I did it I had to add program (patch)controls manually to the melody and set the drum channel to 10 using PowerTracks.

For example do I need to set any tracks to Drum1 or Drum2 or do all the drums automatically go to track 8.

Best Wishes
Heather

Hi Alec:
You mentioned, "there is no work or third party programs required for melody parts Anthony, simply save as smf with gm header on."

Do you mean after using easy record w/APC, having six different instruments for melody, using panel memory to change these instruments, then using APC to SMF convert? Your saying when saved to SMF with gm headers on, all the melody instruments will be carried over into midi? I thought in past conversations that the R1/R2/Left were ignored when using APC to SMF convert. Plus my end results only had the first melody instrument playing all through the song. The other five didn't carry over. One would have to manually enter these in which does require extra work, and using a third party midi software program gets better results and more control on what you want done.

Did I miss something?

Anthony

Heather,
a midi file expects drums to be on track 10, therefore before smf to apc convert set track 10 to drums in track assign. If starting from an easy recording set track 8 to part 6 or some other unused part. After conversion use track merge to combine tracks 10 and 9 into track 10 (assuming you have converted both drums into 9 and 10, set 9 as drums too). Then when you save as smf the voices are saved as gm and the drums come out correct.

Anthony,
To create a midi file you play each track from beginning to end in turn. You should normally have one instrument per track, thus no extra work is required; if you wish to change instruments during the track you do so directly as you play, or put a control command in later. This can be done on the 7000 afterwards in step record, or directly by real time recording each melody track as would normally be the case for a midi file. If you want to use an external program then naturally that is possible and may be easier but is not necessary.
Panel memory does not write control information to the melody tracks and does not get saved in a midi file just as the technics control track is not saved, there is no standard midi file specification to cater for these proprietry technics easy play features, just as there is none for easy record which is also an easy play feature.