Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

hi vern,

thanks for the help.  unfortunately, this keyboard is a very old, 
very basic one -- a Fatar TB49 (48 keys).  It has only a power 
switch, an AC jack, & a MIDI out jack -- no other buttons of any 
kind.  I did a google search to see what I could find out, but i 
couldnt find a single reference to that model -- but in any case, it 
is just a very basic no-frils MIDI controller keyboard, & there seems 
to be no way to 'change the channel' like you suggest.

all i was hoping for is to use it as a basic synth (with piano, 
organ, & other MIDI sounds) as a songwriting/recording tool.  i am 
primarily a drummer, but i also play some guitar & bass, & i'd like 
to get better at playing keyboards as well.  i am not (currently) 
looking to do anything with sequencers or pre-programmed loops, etc., 
or to use it live -- just to have a keyboard that i can play with in 
my home studio (i have the free version of ProTools & an analog 4-
track cassette recorder).  

so, when i saw that someone in my building was throwing away a 
perfectly functional MIDI controller, i grabbed it & plugged it in to 
the module, but that's pretty much the extent of my MIDI experience --
which is why i have no idea how to work this stuff.

however, after my last post, i played around a little further, 
thinking that since i at least had the piano sound, i would check out 
some of the preset songs & see if i could play along.  i discovered 
that selecting CERTAIN songs actually changed the sounds produced by 
the keyboard (even if the song wasn't playing).  examples included:  
#74 "shuffle 2" & #66 "funk 3" but there were several others.  these 
sounds were very cool, & definitely in line with what i was hoping to 
be able to do -- but only a few song settings did this, & the others 
all had the same piano sound.  also, i couldnt figure out how to 
alter or adjust the properties of the new sounds, which would have 
been useful & fun if possible.

basically, i'd really like to use this setup to mess around with all 
of the groovy-sounding sounds listed in the GM Keyboard Voice List on 
p. 72 of the manual.  it would also be fun to trigger drum (or other 
built-in) sounds from the keyboard controller, but that is less of a 
priority, as i am more interested in tone generation w/this thing.

sorry for the long post -- i hope this makes it easier for you (& 
anyone else in the group) to help me make noise!

thanks,
scott


--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Vernon Graner" <vern@t...> wrote:
> Scott:
> 
> MIDI can be a bit overwhelming at first, but if you continue to play
> around you'll find you can do some amazing stuff. In your 
situation, the
> way you would get more voices is to use the MIDI keyboard to switch
> "patches" on the module. Unfortunately, the process to do this will 
be
> specific to your keyboard.
> 
> In most cases, there will be some "patch" buttons on the front of 
the
> keyboard that will send an instruction tothe module to change the 
voice
> the module sounds when it receives MIDI data from your keyboard. If
> you're getting the piano sound, then that usually means you are
> ransmitting on MIDI channel 1, and the module is using voice #1 
(piano)
> to play those MIDI notes. If you can change MIDI transmit channels 
on the
> keyboard to Channel 10, you will hear drum sounds as you press the 
MIDI
> keys.
> 
> I would suggest you do some GOOGLE searches on the make and model of
> keyboard to see if you can find some online documentation that can 
help
> find ways to change midi voices.
> 
> Also, if you give us an idea of what it is exactly you're trying to
> accomplish (recording? live performance? playing MIDI sequences?), 
we
> might be able to give a more focussed response.. :)
> 
> Vern
> 
> --
> Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE     | "If the network is down, then you're
> Senior Systems Engineer     | obviously incompetent so why are we
> Texas Information Services  | paying you? Of course, if the network
> vern@t... www.txis.com  | is up, then we obviously don't need
> Cell 507-7851 Desk 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" VLG
> 
> 
> 
> sjr41 said:
> > hi all,
> >
> > can anyone help me with this?
> >
> > i found an old MIDI-controller keyboard in the basement of my
> > building, and i thought i could maybe use it to access all of the
> > cool "GM tone generator" sounds that are listed in the manual (p.
> > 72).  so, i went out & bought a MIDI cable, plugged the keyboard 
into
> > the back of my DTXpress module, switched the "host select" switch 
to
> > MIDI, & tried to play.
> >
> > i was pleased to hear a lovely piano sound coming through my
> > headphones, but i can't for the life of me figure out to use this 
set
> > up (keyboard + module) to produce any other sounds... what do i 
do?
> >
> > i have never worked with MIDI before, so any basic assistance 
would
> > be appreciated!
> >
> > thanks,
> > scott
> >
> >
> >
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