I've created a style with drums on track 10 & using guitar mode I produced a strumming rhythm on acc2 track. After saving this style. I went ahead to run my creation by pressing the start/stop button in Style Play mode. I noticed that I can only hear the drums playing in a loop without the guitar rhythm. The only way to activated the guitar is by pressing a key on the keyboard. In fact, what I prefer is to activate all of my tracks simply by pressing start/stop button.
I have in the past loaded other Styles and some are able to work on all tracks with simply pressing the red button. Therefore, I'm sure this could be possible. The problem is how?
I'll appreciated if someone has a suggestion on this.
That's normal behaviour even for the all the Korg factory styles. If you want the style to play full acc parts when you press start/stop, then hold down a chord (played quietly) then press start/stop. Then it will know what key you want it to start playing in.
I reconfirmed that the styles I thought were producing acc melody when only pressing the red (start/stop) button was incorrect. I had the memory button enable(thereby keeping the last chord I played on the keyboard). Which led me to think that the red button actually activated all acc components!! Sorry for that. You live and learn!
Basically what motivated me to exploit this approach was (This was mentioned to you during my visit in Corfu last summer), that I would like to use the pa2x as a backing when I play the Bouzouki instrument. The idea was to use the EC5 switch to select for example variation 1-4 which corresponds to a chord change on the fly. Effectively, using such method of chord changing should allow me to be in sync with the melody I'm playing on the instrument.
I think what you need is a programmable footpedal unit that can be programmed to send the chord changes you need. Or another player for the Pa2x who will play the chord changes at the right time. The EC5 can't generate chords.
I guess, what you mean is basically a kind of a midi box interface which allows you to send the correct midi commands to the pa2x containing the your pre-defined chords. The EC5 could perhaps be used as a chord selector. The selected switch of the EC5 may be interpreted as a trigger to the midi box which remaps this to a pre-defined chord table and of course, is send to the pa2x in midi format.
Alternatively, you could replace the MIDI box with appropriate midi software loaded into a laptop. The software may use the USB's ports to somehow interface the foot-pedals and PA2x.
PS: I was told recently that such a software is available free to download on the net.
The EC5 won't do it. But the Korg NanoPad is close (it generates chords on a single keypress) except you need it in a footpedal unit and with direct MIDI lead connection to the Pa2x. The NanoPAD can only connect to a computer and it's PADs can not be played with something as big as a foot!.
The Roland FC300 programmable footswitch will do exactly what you need, but it costs 339 Euros from Thomann. I don't know any cheaper solution.
The FC300 is rather expensive. Even if I commit in purchasing the unit, I imagine that the device was design mainly for the Roland keyboards and other Roland devices. I have a feeling that it may have some incompatibilty issues with the korg products.
If everything fails and if I find some spare time, I would like to build my own MIDI controller box. Incidentally, there is a forum which focuses on building midi box kits for enthusiasts. In this way, I'm flexible in customising the midi software (currently available on this forum) to suit my needs.
For those of you who are interested in the link visit http://www.ucapps.de/
(Its also in English)
I did more digging and the Yamaha MFC10 footswitch is a cheaper option that can do exactly what you want - on a single foot button you can send 4-note chords. There are 10 foot buttons and 10 banks, so you can have different chord progressions programmed in the different banks. It's 266 Euros from Thomann. You can download the manual from Yamaha's web site to check it out.
If you build and program your own midi footswitch unit, it will cost you a lot more than that, and it will have little resale value.
You can do more using external MIDI eg via the Yamaha MFC-10 than you can using the EC-5. Have a look at the appendices in the Pa user manual, read the section "List of footswitch and EC5 functions" and then read the section "MIDI Data".
But with an MFC-10 you can send multiple commands when hitting a single button. In that way you can send 4-note chords, you could change the sounds on 4 tracks simultaneously, you could select VAR2, BREAK at the same time etc.
Great Rob, I will look into the Yamaha's foot-pedal device in detail and confirm if this is what I really want. If its OK, then I'll be tempted to purchase it ASAP.
You can do more using external MIDI eg via the Yamaha MFC-10 than you can using the EC-5. Have a look at the appendices in the Pa user manual, read the section "List of footswitch and EC5 functions" and then read the section "MIDI Data".
But with an MFC-10 you can send multiple commands when hitting a single button. In that way you can send 4-note chords, you could change the sounds on 4 tracks simultaneously, you could select VAR2, BREAK at the same time etc.
Best regards,
Rob
I own an MFC10 and could send midi MSB/LSB data to change sounds, but
is it possible to send midi data to the MFC10 to change STS1 to STS2 for instance ?
I could not find in the appendice the midi data for the STS changes...
')
