KN6500 Teacher

[mike0liver]

I have just started to use a Technics KN6500 I bought on eBay. It's a superb instrument and I am fine with the basics and some of the simpler features but the more advanced stuff has got me stumped. I own Cakewalk Music Creator V2 (yes, but I bought it many years ago) and would like to use it on my PC (Windows 10). I have my KN6500 connected by a USB/Midi cable but have no idea how to get MC2 to recognise the keyboard.

I'd also like to try out the Sequencer on the keyboard but I find the manual seems to assume I know far more than I actually do. I realise all this makes my needs a little beyond an online forum and was wondering if anyone out there would be prepared to act as a guide and mentor (Skype might be a good method of communications). In case anyone would be willing to offer paid instruction, I live close to Chelmsford, Essex, UK.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Biggles]

Welcome Mike.

Whilst I cannot help you with Cakewalk, I can with the PC.

If you have a look at freeware called Team Viewer a tutor can then take control of your PC remotely and walk you through the settings better than a Skype call which would only show a poor view of your monitor if you have a moveable camera.

I use TV frequently to maintain my Brothers PC remotely, it saves me 75 mile round trip.

 

[mike0liver]

Thanks, Biggles, I'm hopeful that, if I can blaze a trail through the Midi aspects of the KN6500, the Cakewalk issue will become just that (a cakewalk).

I have to attend a family gathering this afternoon but I shall visit Team Viewer tomorrow and see what can be done. Your help is much appreciated.

Cheers,
Mike (alias Algy Lacy)

 

[Biggles]

You are welcome Mike.

Re-reading your original and I note your frustrations with the manual, fear not, they are all the same, the best cure for insomnia that I know.

Out there in the big wide world there must be a school for manual writers, there moto is .....
si id difficile est via nostra est.

I do hope the online translator got that right otherwise I could be banned from the forum.

 

[mike0liver]

My schoolboy Latin is several (6) decades old, so I'm probably less reliable than your online translator but I read the phrase as "If it is a difficult road, it is ours" or some rearrangement of those words - with a similar meaning. You're right - but I still managed to learn Visual Basic, Atari GFA Basic and ProFantasy's map making software from the manuals so maybe there's hope for me yet

 

[Biggles]

Yes Mike that is the translation more or less.

Its my dig at Korg, I am reading and watching their tutorials but when I go into the shop to have a play with the Korg Kross it does not work for me, it so slow and unfriendly.

 

[mike0liver]

The whole thing is a Catch 22. Obviously, the best people to provide a manual are those who know the instrument (or subject) the best. However, they are also the worst because they already know the instrument and therefore take it for granted that everyone else does too. Every manual needs to be written by someone who knows nothing about the instrument - but has an expert standing next to him.

I'm a board gamer and rule books suffer in exactly the same way.

I have the Technics double DVD tutorial set from Strawberry Music and the narrator is excellent - good musician too - I'm hoping he'll cover the bits I'm stuck over in a manner I can follow.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Biggles]

Nail on head there Mike.

It would be understandable if the manual is for expensive top of the range type keyboards where the user knows what they are doing to start off with.

In my case the Korg Kross 2 is at the other end, its a first rung on the Synth/workstation keyboard ladder and the manual should not assume that the new owwner knows all the techie stuff.

The Korg Video Manual tutorials for my PA700 are excellent, just deep enough whereas the same guy made the Kross 2 tutorials and they gloss over the details.

 

[happyrat1]

Let's face it. Most of these manuals are written in Chinese or Japanese or Korean or German or Italian and then translated later.

And engineers are great at designing hardware but generally suck at writing documentation.

My Kurzweil PC3K8 comes with literally over 2000 pages of manuals.

You can really tell that they made the effort of hiring proper technical writers to put this together, but that still doesn't change the fact that the operating system has more quirks than the space shuttle.

Gary

 

[RMepstead]

Mike O. Just to answer your question as I've lost your email address.
My demo material is all played live...no midis used at all, just very good style files collected over years and including many conversions from other keyboard manufacturers styles.

 

[mike0liver]

Mike O. Just to answer your question as I've lost your email address.
My demo material is all played live...no midis used at all, just very good style files collected over years and including many conversions from other keyboard manufacturers styles.

Hi Roger:
I've had to put the music project on the back burner for a week or so whilst attending to family matters. However, I'm now in a position to resume. I'll contact you by e-mail so you have my address again. I have purchased Forte 9, a German music notation application that also communicates with my keyboard via Midi. It allows me to apply music notation to score sheets and then play the result. Better still, I can print the score sheets. My wife also saw MuseScore and bought it form my birthday. I've just installed it to see what it's all about.

I'll get in touch by e-mail shortly.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[mike0liver]

I am revisiting my earlier efforts to work with a Midi Sequencer having found a version of Cakewalk that allows me to input notes via a music score sheet. The attached PDF file explains what I am trying to do and how my kit is set up. If anyone can help, I'd be very grateful. By the way, Biggles, I have Team View on my PC - but no volunteers

 

[happyrat1]

One problem with your diagram as you have laid it out.

Since you have daisy chained all the keyboards on a single MIDI loop you will have to specify which channel each one is operating on and set the voices accordingly.

A better way to set it up is to use a MULTI port MIDI Interface and access all 16 available channels on each device.

Personally I use one of these as one of my interfaces to enable just such a geometry.

https://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-MIDISPORT-4x4-Anniversary-Interface/dp/B001GXI53Y/

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=m-audio midisport 4x4&_sacat=0

I mainly use mine to connect to older MIDI devices which have no USB port otherwise I use the USB interface built into the keyboard directly.

The MIDI daisy chain is also not recommended since it introduces appreciable lag into the signals.

Here's a JPG of my hookup so you can see how this stuff should be connected for the easiest access.

This arrangement will allow you to assign a different track, channel and instrument to each device as needed without the limitations of daisy chaining.

Gary

 

[mike0liver]

One problem with your diagram as you have laid it out.

Since you have daisy chained all the keyboards on a single MIDI loop you will have to specify which channel each one is operating on and set the voices accordingly.

A better way to set it up is to use a MULTI port MIDI Interface and access all 16 available channels on each device.

Personally I use one of these as one of my interfaces to enable just such a geometry.

https://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-MIDISPORT-4x4-Anniversary-Interface/dp/B001GXI53Y/

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=m-audio midisport 4x4&_sacat=0

I mainly use mine to connect to older MIDI devices which have no USB port otherwise I use the USB interface built into the keyboard directly.

The MIDI daisy chain is also not recommended since it introduces appreciable lag into the signals.

Here's a JPG of my hookup so you can see how this stuff should be connected for the easiest access.


View attachment 1241

This arrangement will allow you to assign a different track, channel and instrument to each device as needed without the limitations of daisy chaining.

Gary

Wow!! Your setup is not something I'd ever have the courage to attempt (nor the money to invest in for that matter). However, your suggestion looks VERY interesting. I'm going to check out the MidiSport equipment to see if I can get hold of one on UK eBay. Shipping, duty and handling charges from the USA would pretty well double the cost but I'm sure there'll be one available from a UK source. Once I have looked at any tech info I can find to be sure what I'm doing I' shall probably invest.

After that, I'll need to check with the makers of Cakewalk (BandLab) and see how I get their software to work with the MidiSport set up. If I need to adjust the settings of any of the keyboards/sound modules in my setup, I'll study the manuals and then ask for help . Thanks very much for taking the trouble to respond especially with such useful info.

 

[Biggles]

I am revisiting my earlier efforts to work with a Midi Sequencer having found a version of Cakewalk that allows me to input notes via a music score sheet. The attached PDF file explains what I am trying to do and how my kit is set up. If anyone can help, I'd be very grateful. By the way, Biggles, I have Team View on my PC - but no volunteers

Glad you are sort if sorted. Sorry but my own skill level with Cakewalk and MIDI is very much at Beginner level.

Now if you wanted to be shown Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere, Resolve, Audacity, Pro Show Gold then that is another matter.

 

[mike0liver]

Glad you are sort if sorted. Sorry but my own skill level with Cakewalk and MIDI is very much at Beginner level.

Now if you wanted to be shown Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere, Resolve, Audacity, Pro Show Gold then that is another matter.

Hi Biggles:
The accent in your reply should be on "sort of". My investigations into the MidiSport equipment have yielded the usual garbled YouTube "reviews" which tell me nothing about the equipment but a lot about the "coolness" of the presenter - illustrated by the mumbled audio and lots of uses of the word "man". The M-Audio website seems to assume I already know all about the device and just gives me nice pictures and the story of how the device was launched to celebrate their anniversary.

Gary introduced me to the MidiSport 4 x 4 but that's a little expensive for me and I'm wondering if the 2 x 2 will be sufficient for my purposes. I'd hoped to find out by looking online but the data available is a little sparse. I'll persevere for a while and hope that maybe Gary will see this and advise. As far as Cakewalk is concerned, I'm quite impressed with their support and expect them to be able to guide me.

Good to hear from you again.

 

[happyrat1]

Since you have three MIDI devices hooked up you will require an interface with at least three ports.

Since nobody makes or ever made a 3 port unit, the MIDIsport 4x4 is your best option.

Your Cakewalk MIDI devices and Instruments Setups will see the device as 4 different MIDI devices and configure them accordingly, leaving the extra port unconfigured and saved for future expansion.

Gary

 

[mike0liver]

Since you have three MIDI devices hooked up you will require an interface with at least three ports.

Since nobody makes or ever made a 3 port unit, the MIDIsport 4x4 is your best option.

Your Cakewalk MIDI devices and Instruments Setups will see the device as 4 different MIDI devices and configure them accordingly, leaving the extra port unconfigured and saved for future expansion.

Gary

Thanks for setting me straight on that, Gary. I had wondered if maybe the master keyboard didn't require to be identified as one of the devices. OK, I shall now just have to search until I find a 4 x 4 that I can afford or wait until I've put the cash together. Pity my Christmas list closed a week or so ago