hi everyone,
i've been using a korg i5m on stage with
a roland controller and other various modules. does anybody use a ketron x4 or
xd3 on stage and if so what is the pros and cons of the ketron. thanks for any info.
wrinkles

I'm using a X4 module. PLease fire your questions! -- José.

hello,
thanks for any help you can offer. i'm considering one of these units as an upgrade. from what i've read, this seems to be a nice unit. but here in the states
there seems to be only a few dealers nationwide, so dealer support and tech
support concerns me. anyway here are my questions.
1. on my korg i5m in arrangement mode, if you play a chord with your right hand
and a note with your left hand(you'll hear bass note) (with no arrangment/style
playing) then when i push my start pedal the arrangement starts.when i push
the pedal again the arrangement stops and the left hand only plays the bass.
this feature is important because i do a lot of "lead in's" for my singer which
require the bass to be there with the piano before the arrangement is started.
can the x4 be setup for this?
2. can you write styles from scratch?
3. can you convert styles from other sources ie. midi files, other keyboards etc.
4. how is playing gm files on this unit. can you play along?
5. what about the sounds compared to korg triton, yamaha, roland etc. ( i would
like your opinion.)
6. do you play professionaly with this?
thanks
wrinkles303
davecraycraft@ij.net

There are a couple of members in this forum that sell Ketron equipment. I'm sure they will come to this thread and will help you in whatever they can.



I think this can be done (maybe not in the same way) with the help of the manual bass feature. I'll look at this in detail tonight.



Yes!



Not on the keyboard. I use an external software made by a german company to do this (conversion of styles from other brands and production of styles from midi files).



I find the quality of the sound (plain GM files) pretty good, although Roland and Yamaha can do better with their GS and XG norms. Yes, of course, one can play along, either in full keyboard mode (one sound) or split mode (two sounds in different parts of the keyboard). One can also mute a chosen channel.



I can't make comparisons with synths, but I think arrangers are generally better in acoustic instruments. IMO the Ketrons have an edge in metals (saxophone, trumpet,...) and drum tracks, and Ketron styles, specialy latin "heavy" styles, are the best sounding of all (because of an addicional "groove" track). If you're into this kind of music you should consider a Ketron. In pop /jazz / smooth latin (bossanova) styles, Yamaha sounds better IMO, and I like Roland for some pop music (I had a G1000). The piano sound (that I use a lot in my shows) is one of the weakest points in the X4, but you can load optional soundbanks with decent pianos (there's a loading time involved in the operation, however). Also, the newer Ketron generation (SD1, and XD9/XD3) have a much better grand piano sample, so in your case an XD3 could also be an interesting choice.



I don't think I can call myself a professional, because playing is not my first occupation (but playing music occupies an important place in my life!), but I do make some money with my music. I think that the overall quality of the sound is more than enough for professional standards. And for the music business around me (mainly private parties, weddings, not really serious bar/club circuits), my choice seems to be apropriate. The music business is not the same everywhere, and you should take this into consideration when making your choice. In a different country or in a different music business circuit my choice would possibly be different.

You might want to take a look to the XD3/XD9 manual (online in the Ketron official site). Many functions and features are common to the X4. Hope this helps, and I'll be back later.

-- José.

[This message has been edited by matias (edited 06-05-2003).]

thank you so much for the information,
you gave a lot of information for me to research and think about.

regards
wrinkles303

Yes this can be done with the X4. You would have to do this in two little steps. The arrangement can be triggered or stoped with the optional pedal, and addicionaly you would have to press a button (pedal control not possible) to switch bass manual on/off. AJ, correct me if I'm wrong.

-- José.

[This message has been edited by matias (edited 06-05-2003).]

Jose,

You are correct.

wrinkles303

You can also (in ARRANGER MODE) select Bass+Lowers and turn down the volume for the lowers so all you hear is BASS when the arranger is NOT playing. Now you can assign the START/STOP to the pedal (F6/F13) so that like the Korg, you can turn the arranger on/off via pedal and when the arranger is off, you'll hear only bass from the left notes being played.

Thanks

AJ