Noob trying to manage multiple keyboards live

[mwdiehl]

Hey everyone! I recently made the move to 2 keyboards for playing live, and I have what is probably a really basic question, but keep in mind that I'm new to the software and MIDI world as it pertains to music.

 

What is the best way to control multiple keyboards while playing live? I've got custom setups for both keyboards and I'm trying to keep the time it takes for me to manually change setups between songs.

 

...Again, I'm sure it's something that all of you can do relatively easy, but any advice you all might have would be greatly appreciated!

 

 

Thanks!!!

 

Matt

[eric]

What keyboards do you have? Some keyboards have "master" type features in which you can take command of the second keyboard in various ways. Probably the most basic and easy thing for you to do would be to send program changes from keyboard to the next according to which song you are playing. Then you only worry about changing setups on one keyboard.

 

Regards,

Eric

[SilverDragonSoun]

Originally posted by eric:

What keyboards do you have? Some keyboards have "master" type features in which you can take command of the second keyboard in various ways. Probably the most basic and easy thing for you to do would be to send program changes from keyboard to the next according to which song you are playing. Then you only worry about changing setups on one keyboard.

 

Regards,

Eric

What Eric says it right on in terms of the easiest way to go about from a general position. Knowing what two keyboards you have may also bring different suggestions which you mayfind more useable.

[mwdiehl]

I've got a Kurzweil PC1x and a Roland Fantom. The Fantom is brand new, so I'm still getting acclimated to the basic features. Unfortunately, I haven't been impressed with Kurzweil's support...(nobody answers their phones - they will best reply by E-mail but it can take some time. I'll take a look again through all the docs I have, but I didn't come across anything that stood out to me as a solution within the unit itself.

 

Thanks for your time!

[Sven Golly]

Two things you'll need to do:

 

1) Learn more about MIDI. A good source is the 5-part series published by Sound on Sound magazine in the U.K. Click here to see the list of articles, to be read in series, 1 through 5.

 

2) Read your PC1X manual, p.4-24, about Using the PC1 to Control External Slaves.

[mwdiehl]

Thanks for your advice....I guess it's time for me to dive-in and make sense of the world of MIDI.

 

Much appreciated!!!!!

 

Matt

[Sven Golly]

You're very welcome. The basics of MIDI isn't all that difficult to grasp, once you've got then main concepts under your belt. At the very least, it'll help you answer the easy questions, and understand the terminology that you'll need to know when the big questions pop up.

 

Good luck, and let us know if this helped at all.

[Mr. Nightime]

Learning the basics of MIDI will also help you phrase the more complicated questions in a way that makes it easier for the forum members to help out.

 

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

[ITGITC]

Hmmmmmm, so at what point would someone need to consider adding a laptop to his rig in order to (quickly) control on-stage setups of multiple synths? How much of this could be done using a master controller before having to resort to a laptop?

 

And if someone does want to use a laptop to manage multiple synth setups live, is there a particular application that will do this better or easier than another? If so, what would an example be on a Mac... and on a PC?

[DanS]

Easy Gas, you're going to frighten him off.

[Tonysounds]

I still DON"T use a laptop in my rig. I use either a Roland A90 or an A70 (my controller of choice these days for weight issues) to run my Nord Stage 88, FantomXr, Motifrack, Roland Jd990 and Korg Wavestation SR. 8 zones, full control over everything. No sweat! One midi cable to my rack; one foot controller and two footswitches mounted on a 1/8" piece of plywood painted black, and set up is 10 minutes from case to noise.

 

Midi is your friend!

T

[mwdiehl]

Hmmm...Truth be told I was attempting to find a way to use a computer to manage this without having to go through the trouble of learning MIDI. However, now that I've gotten through a couple of the articles that Sven was kind enough to post, I'm not as scared off as I had been earlier this afternoon.

 

It's great you all are so willing to help new people out that have a similar passion!!!!!!!!

 

 

Matt

[Sven Golly]

Originally posted by mwdiehl:

Hmmm...Truth be told I was attempting to find a way to use a computer to manage this without having to go through the trouble of learning MIDI.

Trust me... far more trouble trying to insert a computer into the mix of this, because you won't eliminate the need to understand MIDI, and you've just added a third piece of gear, with it's own set of challenges and potential problems.

 

However, now that I've gotten through a couple of the articles that Sven was kind enough to post, I'm not as scared off as I had been earlier this afternoon.

See, told ya.

 

It's great you all are so willing to help new people out that have a similar passion!!!!!!!!

It's great to have someone come to the forum that isn't afraid to do a bit of learning, rather than continually post the same questions over and over until someone spoon-feeds them the solution. As a wise man once said, "better to teach a man to understand MIDI, and let him configure his rig on his own, than to tell him what buttons to push and have him ask for help every time he wants to change something."

 

Or maybe that quote had something to do with fishing... either way, glad to see you're making some progress!

[Corner Pocket]

Hey Sven!!!,

 

As a guitar player midi is somewhat foreign to me. Does anybody have some midi tabs for "Jump"???.

 

I've just printed the 5 part midi series you refer to earlier. I'll start to read it over lunch.

 

Has the midi standard changed or updated enough to matter in the 11 years since that article series was written?

[Prague]

Originally posted by mwdiehl:

I've got custom setups for both keyboards and I'm trying to keep the time it takes for me to manually change setups between songs.

Your Kurzweil can control synths better than any other keyboard out there.

 

Contained in each Setup you make on the Kurz, you can tell the other keyboard what changes you want it to do. These Setups on the Kurz can be selected with any button, slider, or footswitch. There's even a GoTo function that will let you Go To any Setup, not just the next higher (or lower) number.

 

You can also determine the settings (like Volume, Pan, etc.) of the external keyboard when these Setups are activated. Any MIDI command that the external keyboard can receive can be pre-determined by the Kurz.

 

It's way more powerful than many are aware of.

[Sven Golly]

Originally posted by rockincyanblues:

Hey Sven!!!,

 

As a guitar player midi is somewhat foreign to me. Does anybody have some midi tabs for "Jump"???.

LOL...

 

I've just printed the 5 part midi series you refer to earlier. I'll start to read it over lunch.

 

Has the midi standard changed or updated enough to matter in the 11 years since that article series was written?

No.

 

The only "fly in the ointment" is that a number of instruments now also/instead support USB (or, sometimes, Firewire) connections. Those are definitely non-standard animals, and there's lots of differences in how each of them uses USB.

 

Once ya understand the MIDI shtuff, tho, yer pretty much good ta go.

[wmp]

Originally posted by Is There Gas in the Car?:

And if someone does want to use a laptop to manage multiple synth setups live, is there a particular application that will do this better or easier than another? If so, what would an example be on a Mac... and on a PC?

If I were so inclined, I'd probably roll my own in perl, because I know the language and it'll run on anything. I'd rather write something that works exactly the way I want it than hunt for something that might do sort of what I want. If I decide I don't like my program, I can simply change it.

 

Of course, I'm way too lazy for that. I carry one board.

[Byrdman]

Keep it simple. I connect my bottom board to my top so I can use my bottom board as a second manual for the clonewheel, but when running two synths I prefer to change patches individually and keep my patch changes on the set list.

 

Gives more chance to recover when something messes up - you'll have at least one board on the right patch and you can dink with the other while you play.