PC2 Tutorial 1 - Creating PC2 Manager files for Orchestral & VintageKeys ROMs

[K K]

A little while ago, some people here wished they had more tutorials about Kurzweil intruments. Maybe some of them wanted to have the .PC2 files for the additional ROMs that fit in the PC2 synths in order to use them in the great PC2 Manager software.

 

Well, I finally created the .PC2 files not only for the Orchestral ROM (Bank 2), but also for the additional programs that comes with it (Bank 6), the General MIDI Drums (Bank 7) and also for the Classic Keys (Bank 3). I could even create the .PC2 file for the 128 General MIDI programs as well.

 

I had the answer right in front of my face since I bought my PC2XL in July, but it just occurred to me this week. DOH!

 

It's quite easy, although one has to first back up everything in order not to lose current programs, set-ups and KB3 stuff. In my case, it's no big deal, as I still haven't got much time to work on programming it yet. So for those who want to follow my little tutorial, don't blame me if you lose something, because I warned you. So rule of thumb #1 back-up your work (programs, set-ups, everything) first, using the PC2 software and paper/pencil for the Set-Ups and KB-3 programs (because the PC2 manager doesn't record that data).

 

1 - We'll start with Bank 2 (Orchestra). You first have to load all the Orchestral ROM programs into the user bank (Bank 1). You can either send the ORCHRAM.mid file that's on the PC2 CD-ROM (under the X:\ram\pcr1_orc directory) via MIDI/SYSEX with your computer into the PC2 or manually place them in the user bank using the PC2 interface. Takes about 15 minutes at a moderate speed. Simply chose Program 000 in Bank 2, press Timbre, then press Store, then make sure you are replacing Voice 0 in Bank 1 before pressing Enter. Repeat this process now choosing Program 001 in Bank 2 and replacing Voice 1 in Bank 1. Continue ad nauseam until you replace Voice 127 with Program 127 of Bank 2.

 

2 - Now, you can verify if all programs in the user bank (Bank 1) have identical names as the orchestral bank ones (Bank 2). It's easy to make a mistake or two with such a repetitive manual process.

 

3 - In the wonderful PC2 Manager, click New Bank under the File menu. This is simply to make sure you won't destroy one of your existing .PC2 files. Then click Receive under the same File menu. Leave the text box opened as it is on the screen.

 

4 - Now on the PC2 synth : press Timbre, then Store and then press three times on the right arrow (under the synth display) to scroll up to the "Dump all objects" option. Press Enter to start the dump process.

 

5 - This is the part where you can get yourself a glass of Coke or a coffee, and then go back to your computer. Remember the little text box we've seen earlier? Make sure it shows you had received 128 messages (in the case of the Orchestral ROM). If the synth is still transmitting, wait until it stops. Press OK in the text box. Now, continue clicking Select All, then click OK. In the Fill Mode box, click on Fill.

 

6 - Voilà ! You should now see the 128 Orchestral ROM (Bank 2) program names on the screen. All that's left now is to click on Save As under the File menu and name it Orchestral_ROM.PC2 or whatever else you like. Make sure to keep an additional copy of this file somewhere, before you start screwing the programs up, just in case.

 

7 - If needed, repeat this process (steps 1 to 6) with the additional programs that comes with the Orchestral ROM (Bank 6), the General MIDI Drums (Bank 7, although there are only 8 programs) and also for the Classic Keys (Bank 3).

 

If you're curious, you can even see what's going on in the 128 General MIDI programs by loading the GMRAM.mid file that's on the PC2 CD-ROM (under the X:\ram\pcr1_gm directory) via MIDI/SYSEX into the PC2 synth. If you don't have the PC2 synth CD-ROM, you can get this file on the Kurzweil site, in the download section for PC2 series instruments.

 

Aspirins are not included in my tutorial.

 

Enjoy !

[Prague]

I guess that makes sense to copy expansion ROM's to the User bank.

 

When you open up a Program in the Editor, does it show you the new waveforms for the Expansion ROM's? With the Vintage expansion I would expect to see a Mellotron waveform or something like it.

 

I recall doing a similar thing with just one Program. When I opened it up in the Editor I still saw the names of the Internal ROM's keymaps (waveforms).

[K K]

Prague, excellent remark.

 

You are totally right. Unfortunately, I'm no computer science programmer, so that's one little problem. But what's interesting is, if using the software you don't change a keymap but modify any other parameter, the PC2 will respond exactly to your requests after a program send to the synth, without changing the actual keymaps for something wrong.

 

The solution for this problem is that you can only change the keymaps from the synth, because the software don't have that data in the code.

 

But other than this, it seems everything else works. Thanks again for your comments. I would definitely hire you in my test lab.

[Prague]

Ah, I see. That's a good workaround.

 

-Change program in Editor

-send edit back to PC2

-Change Keymap on PC2 back to original.

[K K]

In the case of a program that uses keymaps from the expansion ROMS, you'll need to edit keymaps from the synth only if you want to change them.

 

For example, if you edit the envelopes, FUNs or whatever parameter except the keymaps in the Vintage Keys program 065 "Yesesis Tron Str", and then send the modified data in the synth, you'll hear the right Mellotron sounds with every single modification you wanted. So again, in this case, no need to restore the keymaps : they will remain correct in the synth, even though the PC2 Manager showed the mistaken "Kit Layers 1" keymap.