Mark Schmieder Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 Rather than edit that message, I've decided to post a new one to clarify, in case anyone else gets confused when they buy their first Hammond clonewheel. On p. 80 of the user manual, they describe how to use the XK-1 for playback of a MIDI part from a computer DAW or other source, and it is able to access all three manuals at once, which is way superior to the Roland VK-7 (which I owned many years ago). You have to enter a specific mode on the XK-1 for it to properly interpret received MIDI as for playback vs. as a combination of note input and Hammond MIDI messages from an external keyboard or pedalbar. I understand why they did it this way though, as the MIDI possibilities of the XK-1 for expansion into a larger Hammond system are quite extensive, and they would have had to put additional MIDI connectors on the back if they hadn't done it this way to distinguish MIDI playback from live play. To clarify, one enters Seq Play Mode via a MIDI Template (this is also the approach used for Seq Record Mode and quite a few other modes), as described on p. 84. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcS Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 The XK-1 can be played by a sequencer/computer etc. (see pg. 80). Set the MIDI Mode to In1/In2 (see pg. 84 #2). Also, select the proper Template (pg. 84 #1 and pg. 91). Make sure you are sending on the same channels you have selected for the manuals and pedals (pg. 84 #'s 11 - 13). The XK-3c can do the same. It also has much greater capabilities as a controller. Good Luck. Edit: You figured it out, but is there something you are still trying to get it to do? Also, The Lower\pedal mode basically makes the XK-1/3c etc. plug and play in that whatever is connected to in1 is the pedals and whatever is connected to In2 is the lower manual no matter what MIDI channel they send on. In In1/In2 mode the channel matters whether it is a sequencer/computer playing the whole thing or a controller or 2 used to play the lower manual or pedals. This can also be useful when using a multi keyboard setup in that you can have more than one upper or lower manual if that is more convenient than playing at 90 or 180 degree angles. Separate keyboards can be split or stacked and used to play the XK-1/3c etc. rather than reaching to the side or behind for it. (Although that can impress the crowd.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 Thanks -- we were posting and editing at the same time. :-) I think I have it figured out now -- it's just a bit different than what I'm used to with most keyboards, but as I delve deeper into the manual, my feeling is that Hammond really put a lot of thought into every detail of this keyboard. I am very impressed. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcS Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 They really did put a lot of effort into it. The XK-3c/System has more advanced controller capabilities and could probably serve as the command center for a pretty large module/computer setup. In addition to just being a great B3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 It does look like any custom presets overwrite the factory ones, but I'm tired of staring at the manual so I'm going to go ahead and risk losing them now. I doubt I would use them anyway, and they can certainly be recalled via Factory Reset. I'll just make a few small adjustments first, to make sure doing a SysEx dump actually does save all of the presets and restore them. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 Easy as pie. I do wish individual presets could be saved/recalled, but I'm less likely to need to be swapping a bunch of patch banks around for organ as for synth, and there are 120 preset locations. I have verified the Factory Reset function, and several round trips of the Factory Presets and a couple of quickie Custom Presets via SysEx Librarian and saving/naming to SysEx files on my computer. Sometimes the wording in the manual is a little funny, and sometimes there isn't follow-through, but all of the menu navigation is intuitive and straightforward, and I haven't been "surprised" by anything yet -- unlike certain other manufacturers. I notice the vendor name that is sent with the SysEx bulk memory dump is Suzuki and not Hammond. That was a bit of a surprise. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcS Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 The one thing that can be a little tricky to keep track of is the Bank parameters. It can be easy to set one one way in one preset and then change it in another preset in that bank at a different time and wonder why the older saved preset is different. The Bank Parameters are listed on pg. 56 and mainly control what parts of a preset are loaded when a new one is selected. If you haven't found this already, a feature that adds authenticity to the instrument is to set the Pitch Bend mode to "Motor" and have the Amp turn off (IIRC, you have to turn the amp turning off parameter to on) (Pg. 58 #'s 5 - 7). Also set the pitch bend range to a large number like -24. Pushing the wheel forward causes it to sound like the motor speeds up which is a capability the original didn't have. The XK-3c has a CF card socket and setups can be saved there as well as via SysEx dumps. Suzuki did save the Hammond name and resurrect the company so I guess they deserve to have their name in there somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 Awesome -- thanks for the info! I hadn't noticed that yet, but did notice there are some other features not present in B4 II that I need to be aware of while transferring my patches. I feel so relieved to be able to put B4 II to bed. It sounds good soloed, but never sat well in a mix, without a LOT of work. After VB3 came along, I can see why NI gave up the ghost on it. I couldn't use VB3 as it isn't compatible with Digital Performer, and I couldn't get the free version of Cubase AI 4 to pass MIDI (it was fine for everything else though), so that accelerated my decision on getting an XK-1, which was my longer-term goal anyway. I am very pleased with this purchase. FWIW, my SysEx dumps of my custom patches from the Prophet '08 and Evolver list the vendor name as Sequential Circuits. :-) Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I never liked the NI B4. It always sounded closed-in to me. Keep it greazy! B3tles - Soul Jazz THEO - Prog Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I never liked the NI B4. It always sounded closed-in to me. Especially in the high registers. "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_3guy Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I never liked the NI B4. It always sounded closed-in to me. There's something squirrelly about the Leslie on fast speed. Never liked the B4. Steve www.seagullphotodesign.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Well, I lost about three hours tonight trying to figure out why so many settings weren't being preserved in the SysEx dump up on playback, but then gave up and decided to accept that I may have to reset all the Preset parameters to On after each bulk receive (they are defaulting to Off, which I don't think was happening last night). It's not like I'll be doing SysEx dumps often, but I like to thoroughly debug a new piece of equipment (or software) and set up Best Practices and workflow right from the start, before becoming dependent on the gear or software and/or developing bad practices that are hard to break. I tried the Extra Voices tonight but don't like any of them. No problem as they're "free" and aren't even in the XK-3c. I also don't find the Farfisa or Vox tonewheel sets (weird concept for those organs anyway) sound anything like a Farfisa or Vox, but neither did the ones in B4 II, nor was I expecting the XK-1 to serve as my "cheesy organ" sound source or as an e-piano. I blew this evening, that's for sure, and don't have the energy to record at this point. But at least I can feel confident that I'm over a few of the main humps in understanding some of the quirks of this keyboard and some of the bad assumptions one can make if relying on intuition vs. observation. :-) Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcS Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Do you mean the Preset Load Parameters are defaulting to off? I tried changing those settings in my XM-2 to off, saving the preset, sending a dump, changing them back, saving the preset and uploading the dumped file and the settings changed to the dumped (off) settings. I then repeated the process but started with the PSL settings all on. The settings ended up on. If different from above, what settings are not making the round trip? I can try to duplicate what is happening with my XM-2. I use SoundQuest MIDItools for routing signals into and through my computer and receiving/transmitting SysEx data. After changing settings in a preset make sure you save the preset. (I think others have had similar issues and this turned out to be the cause.) The XK-3 and '3c actually do have the Extra Voices built in and can be activated via pressing a specific combination of buttons at power on. They just were never mentioned, primarily because Hammond wanted the XK-Series to be known solely for its B3 emulation but also because they knew they were not the greatest representations of those instruments. The XK-1 was intended to be a smaller lighter great sounding B3 that also had some extra sounds for when one didn't feel like carrying more stuff. The XK-3c has newer tonewheel sets and there are now sets of sawtooth waves for the Farfisa type sounds in addition to the sine waves used for the Vox and X-5 type sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Basically, none of the Preset Load Parameters are making the round trip. Literally NONE of them. But all of the preset data is being saved and restored. It's just that I have to go into the Preset Menu and re-enable each attribute for them to kick in when I change presets. Oh, another "hint" is that the "1" button's light is blinking after the SysEx load is completed. It stays blinking until I switch to a bank other than the first bank (changing presets within the first bank, or reselecting the first bank, doesn't make the blinking light go away). I initially thought I had corrupted something, because I forgot that I had Digital Performer running in idle mode in the background (that is, the application was on the desktop, but didn't have any tracks enabled or its sequencer in play mode). I did several computer reboots, RME Fireface 800 reboots, XK-1 reboots and Factory Resets, all to no avail. I read through the manual thoroughly, including the SysEx spec, but found no clues. I even thought I might have used the wrong menu mode to do the SysEx Load, so tried Seq Play vs. Seq Record, but the latter is clearly the correct one (even though the manual is not explicit about this, it can be inferred by the state of Local=on/off vs. the other two Seq modes). As I said, the strange thing is I don't think I experienced this behaviour the previous night, and I thought a Factory Reset (including doing it from the menus vs. exclusively via the special power-up mode), as well as using the MIDI Panic feature, would clear up any quirks. That's why I re-read the SysEx spec, to see if I could figure out if there is some subset of parameters that simply don't get saved or restored. But that doesn't seem to be the case. I think there's just a slight logical disconnect for me at the moment, regarding typical keyboard SysEx save/load behaviour vs. the Hammond approach, which is modified by mode settings that supersede the SyEx memory dump (that is, the SysEx is 100% complete, and gets stored SOMEWHERE, but doesn't automatically kick in at every level based on "real-time preferences" if you want to call them that, via the Preset Menu choices and other customizations in the menu system). Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 I probably should go to the Hammond site to look for firmware updates as well, since almost all of the system global ID's are at v1.0 (a couple are non-1.0 but are only distinguished at the second or third decimal place, so it's likely that there are plenty of updates available for this board by now). Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcS Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 There is no update for the XK-1 on their site and as far as I know no one has had to send their XK-1 back to Hammond for them to install one. Hammond tends to finish a product and move on to the next. Changes would only happen if needed to resolve a problem. They don't spend a lot of time tweaking finished products. The XK-3 had its last software change (v.1.2) about 4 months after production started and remained the same for the next 4 years. There has been an update for the XK-3c (v1.015) to take care of an issue but that has been it so far. Since the Preset Load parameters are Bank parameters it may only take forgetting to save one preset to cause the issue. I believe the default status for all the preset load parameters is on. So something probably got saved as off and it is over-ruling the others. The SysEx file for the XM-2 is 47260 bites, the XK-1 is probably a little larger due to the EV's. Every time I have saved the SysEx file it has been the same size. If yours changes size that might indicate some data getting lost. The first 4 digits of the serial number are the year and month of production. What are your numbers? If it is a couple/few of years old (although new out of box) you might try replacing the battery. There used to be a PDF of the XK-1's parameter settings for all presets on the Hammond website. They re-did that page recently and the PDF is no longer there. There is a copy of it in the XK-3 group files section. The only thing I know of that causes a preset LED to blink is when Link Lower/Pedal is off and the upper and lower manuals have different presets selected the lower manual preset LED blinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Ah, right, and the blinking would be because those values have re-defaulted to off. Yep, I think one of the presets may have not gotten saved at a critical juncture, as I remember not feeling cool about the MIDI cables still being hooked up at that point, and might have lost my place in what I was doing. I'll re-check tonight and see if I did a reset in the middle of editing and saving a preset by mistake. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 Awesome. Just as I suspected, the XK-1 sits in a mix with no effort whatsoever. I was always fighting B4 and thinking it was my skills as a mixer at issue. It never had clarity and muddied up the mix as well. No big deal that I may have to reset the preset parameters to all get used vs. none get used, whenever I do a bulk load of SysEx. I won't be doing that very often (if at all -- only if I have to do a factory reset for some reason and need my custom presets back). I also found that you can recall individual factory presets. Not quite as good as a patch librarian feature, but you can always copy one of your own custom presets to a "safe" location that you don't mind overwriting first, before recalling a factory preset that you later found that you want to use. So it really is a very flexible system, it's just that they don't detail all of the steps for each task. I think they simply didn't try to anticipate everything people would want/need to do, but made sure anything was possible to accomplish. I've only created two custom presets so far, for the song I needed to re-track B4 organ parts on for a deadline. One part was a comp part, and the other was a solo at the bridge. Huge contrast between them as well. Both parts are much warmer and thinner sounding than B4, which is a huge boon, meaning it will also work great on stage. B4 is so thick and muddy that it covers up everything else at ANY volume, without really providing distinct notes of its own. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Well I have joined the Hammond club as well. I road-tripped to Kalamazoo to meet up with the awesome Paul (wd8dky ) so that I could buy his spare Hammond XK-3c with expression pedal. Cool cat that Paul! So I got the board home, opened the box, saw all of that wood, gotz me a huge woodie. Plugged that baby in and wow. Just wow. I mean my Motif ES 6 has some pretty good Hammond sounds, and I had a Nord Electro 2 for awhile (very good Hammond sounds) but.... I MIDIed my Motif ES6 as lower manual and wow... Wow. Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_3guy Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Well I have joined the Hammond club as well. CONGRATS!! Steve www.seagullphotodesign.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcS Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Well I have joined the Hammond club as well. CONGRATS!! +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Playing this Hammond reminds me of playing my vintage fender bass or my vintage upright, or shredding through my vintage Fender Super Twin Reverb guitar amp.. Meaning, it feels like the "Real Deal"... Yes, I have "Drank the Kool Aid" and it tastes---good. Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meisenhower Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Enjoy your Hammond and welcome to the club!!! Yamaha C7 Grand, My Hammonds: '57 B3, '54 C2, '42 BC, '40 D, '05 XK3 Pro System, Kawai MP9000, Fender Rhodes Mk I 73, Yamaha CP33, Motif ES6, Nord Electro 2, Minimoog Voyager & Model D, Korg MS10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhodaway10 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Congrats! I know several people that have told me that even the new XK3c's are back ordered. Welcome to the club! www.brianho.net http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/brianho www.youtube.com/brianhojazz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darcity Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Welcome to the family Mark!! Yamaha MODX8, Korg Kronos 2 61, Hammond B3, Novation 61SL MKII, Impulse 61, Roland D-550, Proteus 2000, etc......to name a few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYKeys Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Congratulations MY Toys - Kurzweil PC1X, Roland A-90, Yamaha KX88, Yamaha CS1x, Novation 49SL MkII, Presonus Studiolive 16.4.2, JBL PRX615M My Music Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 Steve, congratulations. And you know you're not done yet -- the Leslie will be next. :-) Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Steve, congratulations. And you know you're not done yet -- the Leslie will be next. :-) Lower Manual is next. Not interested in a Leslie--perhaps a Ventilator tho..... Dude, you will upgrade to this board--I'll bet every penny dB makes as a mod here that you do! Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 Ah, yes, just a matter of time. XK-1 is a good choice as Hammonds retain their value, so there's little loss once one upgrades to XK-3c. Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 The XLK-3 lower manual is essential. Mine arrived last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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