Analogue-sequencer

No, not that bank!

I'm using my P3 for solo work, band work, and live work and have
gotten to the point where I'm having to regularly shuttle my banks off
and on to memory from sysex files on my Mac computer in order to work
with the applicable banks.

I'm wondering what others do in order to manage a number of banks
larger than the internal memory will allow? 

I wish there was something like a MIDI memory stick that could plug
into a MIDI port for bank dumps or a Flash ram card that could be used
for expanding available banks.

Not expecting the above, what techniques do you use?

-Jim
www.touchxtone.com

jimcombsus wrote:

>No, not that bank!
>
>I'm using my P3 for solo work, band work, and live work and have
>gotten to the point where I'm having to regularly shuttle my banks off
>and on to memory from sysex files on my Mac computer in order to work
>with the applicable banks.
>
>I'm wondering what others do in order to manage a number of banks
>larger than the internal memory will allow? 
>  
>
I tend to use the 12 bank mode which gives me 12 "songs"; each could 
typically last 20 mins or even longer if I'm in the mood. I have a 
second P3 which can be used for 12 more songs or as additional parts - 
and given the amount of time I can noodle with a single bassline and 
kick pattern, you can imagne I rarely run out of things to play.
Another trick I use is that the second P3 contains 12 songs in tracks 
1-4 and 12 more, quite different ones in tracks 5-8. I ensure these 
parts have different playlists selecting different patterns and 
different keys etc. I also have a different set of drum patterns in my 
electribes. Recently the JIC played a gig of over 7 hours duration - and 
I used approximately half of the material I had "prepared". I also 
reprogram the P3 from scratch as we go, initialising a bank then just 
hitting record and using it like a MIDI looper.

>I wish there was something like a MIDI memory stick that could plug
>into a MIDI port for bank dumps or a Flash ram card that could be used
>for expanding available banks.
>  
>
Yeah, a little compact flash reader with enough native intelligence to 
transmit sysex dumps would be pretty ace. Or one built into the P3 and 
accessed via some cunning additional page from the receive option maybe...

Paul

---
Paul Nagle / Soft Room Music / Bogus Focus Records / Binar / Headshock / The Joint Intelligence Committee
        www.softroom.co.uk / www.BogusFocus.com / www.JointIntelligenceCommittee.com

>> >I wish there was something like a MIDI memory stick that could
plug into a MIDI port for bank dumps or a Flash ram card that could be
used for expanding available banks.
> Yeah, a little compact flash reader with enough native intelligence to 
> transmit sysex dumps would be pretty ace. Or one built into the P3 and 
> accessed via some cunning additional page from the receive option
maybe..<<

I have been having exactly the same thoughts. how hard can it be? I am
using the very last yamaha datafiler sold by studiospares. it seems a
bit retro, almost, carting around this weird little box with a floppy
drive in it. it doesn't support long filenames, so I have just enough
room to write "p3_nov05" or somesuch. if I needed to, doubtless I
could arrive at a suitable nomenclature for the multiple bank scenario.
anyway, it loads as quick as it loads, & there have been no problems
so far. it also records & plays back sysex files for updating software
in various boxes (I use the ox to play these out from the pc first) so
I don't have to worry about carting a laptop to the rehearsal room.

why isn't there a flash-ram device for sysex files? because everyone's
supposed to be using computers to do this kind of stuff. pah.

p3 with usb socket? coming soon, surely.....


duncan.

> > Yeah, a little compact flash reader with enough native 
> intelligence to 
> > transmit sysex dumps would be pretty ace. Or one built into 
> the P3 and 
> > accessed via some cunning additional page from the receive option
> maybe..<<
> 
> I have been having exactly the same thoughts. how hard can it be?

Not that hard at all. There's plenty documentation around for the CF
interface, and a lowly PIC can do the job.
It can be a bit more tricky if you want a full FAT file system, with
folders, long filenames etc, but there is source out there to do it.
If time were no object, I'd have done one by now...

> p3 with usb socket? coming soon, surely.....

Alas, to do anything properly with USB you have to pay a chunk of money to
be an official USB manufacturer, otherwise you can only use another makers
generic device that appears as a COM port or something.

Best regards,
Colin Fraser
Sequentix Music Systems Ltd
http://www.sequentix.com

sys ex from a palm handheld ?

http://www.ittymidi.com/product_a0006.asp

Claude




--- In analogue-sequencer@yahoogroups.com, "jimcombsus" 
<jwcombs@b...> wrote:
>
> No, not that bank!
> 
> I'm using my P3 for solo work, band work, and live work and have
> gotten to the point where I'm having to regularly shuttle my banks 
off
> and on to memory from sysex files on my Mac computer in order to 
work
> with the applicable banks.
> 
> I'm wondering what others do in order to manage a number of banks
> larger than the internal memory will allow? 
> 
> I wish there was something like a MIDI memory stick that could plug
> into a MIDI port for bank dumps or a Flash ram card that could be 
used

> for expanding available banks.
> 
> Not expecting the above, what techniques do you use?
> 
> -Jim
> www.touchxtone.com
>

>> Alas, to do anything properly with USB you have to pay a chunk of 
money to be an official USB manufacturer....<<

I should've guessed there'd be some sort of committee behind what has 
to be one of the worst new hardware interfaces in years. is this why 
you can't buy the connectors? I'm going to have to remove the sockets 
from a couple of dead evolution controllers to fix my laptop....
d.