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[Musicwithharry]

As you all know, I LOVE my PA700. As a stand-alone instrument, it really is one of the best arrangers out there. It sounds great and works great, as long as it is by itself...

I have started a side project with a couple of lady friends who sing. We are a trio, and I am programming the PA700 with MIDI files and such so we can play live. I will be the band, basically, and play another board over the top for my guitar parts and other sounds I want to do live. The PA700 will pretty much handle everything else.

I am having a problem with layering, via MIDI, from the PA700. I have a number of other boards in my arsenal, but wanted one of them (Korg Kross), to provide layer support for certain songs. Some of the layering support would be for the drums and bass (but mainly the drums). As we know, when you have dense music passages, the electronic drums can get a bit lost in the mix and the PA700 only has 1 pair of stereo outputs.

I was programming the Kross (first generation) for a few songs to test how the PA700 would talk to it...

IT HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE!

The PA700, in sequencer mode, not working right because I have the layered parts that are supposed to be triggered on the Kross from the PA700 do not always trigger. I have to hit the button next to the play button on the PA700 a couple of times before the other machine starts to play the parts.

I also had a problem with the EFX for the Kross being reset to zero when loading in a new sequence or just going into sequencer mode on the PA700. I created a MIDI setup that stopped the transmission of many of the EFX control change messages so that the EFX settings/routings on the Kross sequence presets would actually stay on.

I am having a hell of a time with trying to get things set up.

I also tried to create a sequencer preset on the Kross that has only a drum kit on it but I cannot use the factory drum kits on the Kross because the PA700 is sending everything as though it is GM. That means that the drum kits I can use on Channel 10 are the GM kits in the Kross. Unless I go and map a whole new drum kit on the Kross with factory sounds (instead of GM sounds), I am stuck with the GM kits for layering with the PA700 drum kits (even though I programmed Track 10 (the drum track) with a factory resource on the PA700.

I am thinking of just buying a drum machine, likely an Alesis SR-16) and create some drum kits on that so the PA700 can trigger those instead.

The PA700 is sending too much data over to the Kross, even though I have wiped out all of the program change info and other settings from each track on each song. Basically, the volume change and note data are what are in each track in the PA700 sequencer.

Is this confusing to anyone? Does anyone have any ideas or tip on how I can make things run a bit better? I would hate to have a GM drum kit as the layered kit for the PA700 when the factory stuff, even on the Kross, is much better?

Like I said, the PA700 is GREAT but I am having a hard time really getting it to talk to anything else.

Since this group is largely going to be electronic, I wanted to boost different sounds through layering so they sound a bit fuller and more realistic...

Grace,
Harry
_________________
Alesis Vortex Keytar, Alesis QS6.2, Alesis QSR, Alesis SR-16, Behringer Deepmind-12, Ensoniq Avista 7600, Ensoniq VFX, Ensoniq VFX-SD, Ensoniq SQ1+, (2) Ensoniq SQ-R+/32, Korg i3 (2020 Version), (2) Korg Kross 1-61, (2) Korg Kross 1-88, Korg Minilogue XD, Korg Minilogue XD Module, Korg M50-61, Korg PA700, Korg X5DR, Korg Z3, Kurzweil SP1, Lowrey EZP3 (bascially a Kawai), Roland D-05, Roland E-09, Waldorf Streichfett, Yamaha Reface CP, Yamaha Reface CS, Yamaha Reface DX, Yamaha Reface YC

[karmathanever]

Hi Harry

I completely empathise with your frustration.
Have tried this kind of setup too many times with too many failures.
It is a total nightmare getting arranger parts and sequences to sync and layer externally and yes, I too have experienced the weird resets like FX etc...

I have reasonably successfully played my PA4X MIDI's to the Roland Integra-7 module (since sold it) - and that was quite impressive - even had an entire style (all sounds) playing externally.

None of this probably helps you in any way, however "filters" become critical - I am not sure how flexible the PA700 is with filter management/options but it is worth trying out filters on both keyboards.

I play my PA4X MIDI'd to my Kronos with careful filter settings and it is very nice - not quite what you are doing though.

Good luck with it - keep experimenting and avoiding the excessive alcohol if possible

Pete
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PA4X-76, Karma, WaveDrum GE, Fantom 8 EX
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[Musicwithharry]

[Musicwithharry]

I have an update on this situation...

I did indeed buy the Alesis SR-16 drum machine. I created a kit on the SR-16 that works with the drum map on the PA700. The drums are definitely bigger and have more presence.

I am not complaining about the PA700 drums at all, it is just they get lost in the mix with all of the dense parts playing at the same time. The SR-16 fills in that gap. I am hooking up the SR-16 via MIDI to the PA700 and everything works like it should on that part.

I bought a Tapco 10-channel mixer and the SR-16 is plugged into it and the output of the Tapco is going into the Stereo Line Input jacks on the PA700. It sounds great and is exactly what I was looking for.

I also have been using the Korg M50 for my lead guitar sounds for solos and that too is plugged into the Tapco mixer. The M50, SR-16 and PA700 are what I plan to bring to the gigs with this new trio I am putting together. It will go into another mixer so I can mix our three vocals over the music. One of the singers also plays keys (my extra M50 that I sold to her), and she too will be in the main mixer (not the Tapco). I will also likely employ the tc helicon Perform VK into it all, but have yet to implement it into the system.

I am STILL having an issue with the PA700 as explained in my last entry. I have to mute the drum track and then unmute it again before playing the MIDI sequence in order for the Alesis SR-16 to be triggered.

I have the track controls in the sequence sent to BOTH so that the track(s) will trigger both the Internal sounds AND send MIDI to the SR-16. I also have the MIDI set up in the Global MIDI page for Sequencer. I actually created another entry in that page that stopped EFX changes and program changes. This took care of my EFX control problem in my previous post.

I also tried to use the M50 as an additional sound source this afternoon for the sequences I made on the PA700 and it too is having the same issue that I am having with the SR-16. With the M50, I would have to Mute and Unmute each track on the PA700 that is sending MIDI data before starting a sequence to play live. This will NOT work when playing these sequences live in front of an audience.

Is there something I am missing in my PA700 that would cause this problem? I have carefully gone over my MIDI settings and such and there are no issues at all that I can see. Once I Mute/Unmute the drum track, the SR-16 plays fine and follows the PA700 drum track (channel 10) just like it is supposed to. It seems like the PA700 is not sending a 'track on' message, a 'note on' message, or an 'Unmute' message or something. I am just not sure now, but Muting and Unmuting the track(s) takes care of it.

I would welcome any assistance or advice that anyone has to offer. I will also likely send Korg a message and explain my issue as I have explained it here and see what they come up with.


Grace,
Harry
_________________
Alesis Vortex Keytar, Alesis QS6.2, Alesis QSR, Alesis SR-16, Behringer Deepmind-12, Ensoniq Avista 7600, Ensoniq VFX, Ensoniq VFX-SD, Ensoniq SQ1+, (2) Ensoniq SQ-R+/32, Korg i3 (2020 Version), (2) Korg Kross 1-61, (2) Korg Kross 1-88, Korg Minilogue XD, Korg Minilogue XD Module, Korg M50-61, Korg PA700, Korg X5DR, Korg Z3, Kurzweil SP1, Lowrey EZP3 (bascially a Kawai), Roland D-05, Roland E-09, Waldorf Streichfett, Yamaha Reface CP, Yamaha Reface CS, Yamaha Reface DX, Yamaha Reface YC

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