Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

Thanks a lot Steve, that's very helpful advice!

Cheers

James

On Thu, 14 Nov 2002 10:29:45 -0600, "Steve Wahl" <steve@...> said:
> This message only has an HTML part -- this is a text generated
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> 
>    >
>    ______________________________________________________________________
>    __
>    >    Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 21:01:56 -0000
>    >    From: "gowman9" <gowman9@...>
>    >
>    >  Sorry  I'm  no  MIDI  expert  - can you do more than change program
>    number
>    > and volume when you control a sound module from the SD-1?
>    >
>    > I specifically want to select a patch bank on a JV1010 (it has six
>    > banks of 128 patches).
>    I've been controlling a JV-1080 as an external module for a few years
>    now, which I belive should be exactly the same from the midi cable
>    point of view as a JV-1010.  I'm using a VFX or a VFX-SD (I have one
>    of each), not an SD-1.
>    More below.
>    >
>    ______________________________________________________________________
>    __
>    >    Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 16:40:10 EST
>    >    From: ffort2@...
>    >
>    >  Greetings.   From  my  limited knowledge of the SD1 I believe it is
>    limited in
>    >  that it does not have the ability to select banks. That was part of
>    the
>    > upgrade to the TS.
>    >
>    > On programmable modules your best bet is to customize your best
>    > sounds into the first 60 slots of the user bank.  The SD1 can access
>    > the first 60 sounds of a midi module easily.  The manual has
>    > workarounds for higher numbers up to 120, I believe, but I've not
>    > had personal success learning the commands on that.
>    The work arounds you're referring to are for controlling the SD-1
>    through it's MIDI in port -- it has 180 internal sounds, but there are
>    only 128 program change numbers, and patch bank select did not exist
>    at the time -- and have little to do with controlling an external
>    module from the SD-1.  You can send any program change (1-128) from
>    the VFX to an external module just fine.
>    However, the recommendation about gathering the sounds you want into
>    the user bank is a good one; this is the way I operate.  (although
>    it's much easier when you can copy from one of the ROM banks to the
>    user bank via the front pannel, which I'm not sure can be done with
>    the JV-1010).
>    It is true that without external hardware of some sort, you can't get
>    a bank change message out of the VFX.
>    You can get all 128 program change messages out, though, and on any of
>    the 16 channels.  I've been using the 3-voice "presets" for this sort
>    of control, because they exist in both the VFX-SD and the Vanilla
>    VFX.  Presumably, you could do the same thing with a song or sequence,
>    using it as an "uber preset."  With the added advantage that you can
>    give it a name on the VFX display, rather than "*EXT MIDI CH 1*" or
>    whatever it is I see in my display -- which could be important with
>    the JV-1010, as the sound names aren't listed on the front pannel like
>    they are on my JV-1080.
>    Using the presets, I have found that when you select a preset, the
>    program changes listed in the preset are sent in order from left to
>    right, regardless of whether the part is "active" or not (I.e. it's
>    the same whether there's a solid underline, blinking underline, or no
>    underline).  At least, that's the way I remember it working.  If you
>    then select one of the 3 sounds, it's program change is sent again.
>    Some presets I use have program changes for 3 similar or related
>    sounds, on the same midi channel; the rightmost one is the one that
>    comes up selected; then I can choose either of the other two sounds by
>    pressing its soft button.
>    So, knowing that, return to the JV and what it can do given a program
>    change.  There are, more or less, two modes that the JV can be in,
>    patch mode and performance mode.
>    Patch mode receives on one channel, and program changes select a sound
>    within the current bank, and all the effects parameters from the sound
>    load into the effects.  Loading all your desired patches into the user
>    bank and using patch mode is one way to go, and the one I use mostly,
>    because I mostly play live, single sounds or layers, and rarely use
>    multi-timbral sequences.
>    Performace mode is multi-timbral, up to 16 parts, one of which (part
>    10) must be drums.  Each part's receive channel can be set
>    independently.  You can have each part on its own channel, or you can
>    have more than one part on a single channel for splits and layers.
>    Assuming you leave each part on its own channel, you can send program
>    change messages to a part and it will select a new program -- from the
>    CURRENT bank for that program.
>    If you're catching my drift, you could set up a performance where part
>    1 is on midi channel 1 and has a patch from the user bank, part 2 on
>    midi channel 2 has a patch from preset bank A, part 3 on midi 3 has a
>    patch from preset bank B, and so on; then you can select any patch
>    from 15 banks of the JV by altering both the midi channel and program
>    change number you send.
>    However, like the VFX, the JV's multitimbral mode only has one effects
>    unit, and you won't usually get the effects stored with the patch.
>    There are ways to partially get around this also, but I fear I'm
>    already quite off-topic, and also long winded.  If you understand what
>    I've said so far, and read up on what the JV can do, you'll probably
>    figure out the rest (hint: one program change to change the
>    performance, followed by another to change the patch).
>    One last note:  It's my guess that the velocity curve that Roland
>    keyboards send doesn't match the VFX or SD-1 very well.  I find that I
>    often want to edit the velocity curve of the Roland patches;
>    therefore, they end up in the User patch bank anyway.  (The User bank
>    on the Roland is like the RAM bank on the Ensoniq -- the only place
>    you can store your own changes).
>    --> Steve
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