OT: keyboard music paging, patch switching (was: Re: I'm going to write an Anziowin/scanning interface for filePro...)

[Bob Rasmussen]

On Sat, 18 Sep 2010, Fairlight wrote:

> So what keyboard(s) do you use?  :)

I have a Korg Triton Extreme.

> 
> I've seen setups where you switch whole patch sets and layouts based on
> foot pedals.  I really, -really- prefer not to, specifically for the reason
> you cite...if you accidentally cycle past the one you want, you have to
> cycle straight around the whole group of them to get back to the desired
> one--unless you have a second "back" pedal, which I think is kind of a
> waste of a pedal slot, even though my synth supports four.  

When I play in the pit band for a show, I usually play the "specials" - 
all the instruments that aren't there. Accordion, glockenspiel, steel 
drums, strings, chimes, and so forth. I preset these into sequential 
combination numbers. Within one song I might have a dozen presets. If I 
repeat a sound, I will do a new preset, and never go backwards. A whole 
show might have 120 presets. It takes a long time to set up - I want to 
see if I can use a laptop to build my setups.

When I play, I have three pedals: a damper pedal, an expression (volume) 
pedal, and a switch pedal that I assigned to advance to the next preset.
If I accidentally advance too far with my foot, I can correct that on the 
console, but that takes time! I play with headphones, but leaving one ear 
exposed.

In this synth, each combination can have up to 8 sounds (programs). Each 
sound can trigger over the entire 88 keys, or on any range of keys (a 
split), optionally with a taper or ramp at the edges. So I can program a 
string quartet, for instance, with the string bass sound fading out as I 
move up the scale, gradually replaced by a cello, etc. A sound can also 
have a velocity range also, so it only triggers when I hit the keys hard. 
One of the preset combinations, called "film score", triggers the timpani 
if I play hard in the left hand.

I bought this unit about 7 years ago when I was playing second keyboard in 
"Little Shop of Horrors". The part was written for one person with three 
stacked keyboards. I did a lot of setup work and played it on one. Where 
there were split hands, I would split the keyboard, and often shift 
octaves - play one hand in a different octave than written, and have the 
keyboard correct it. Then, for the mad dentist's drill, I sampled 
(recorded audio) for an old drill with worn out bearings, from my dad's 
workshop, and played it with wild pitch variation.

As you can tell, this takes a lot of setup, and a lot of concentration. I 
also have to learn the music. As with a lot of performance work, when it 
all works well, people are not nearly impressed enough. When I goof, it 
can be comical.

Regards,
....Bob Rasmussen,   President,   Rasmussen Software, Inc.

personal e-mail: ras at anzio.com
 company e-mail: rsi at anzio.com
          voice: (US) 503-624-0360 (9:00-6:00 Pacific Time)
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 street address: Rasmussen Software, Inc.
                 10240 SW Nimbus, Suite L9
                 Portland, OR  97223  USA