2 questions please -

[shykedmi]

Hello, my name is Shy Kedmi. I'm a 19 year old keyboardist from Israel. I have a Rock Band which mainly lies on the keyboard roles that i play. Usually, it is about 6-7 different patches for a song. I play with only one keyboard. I have the Roland XP-60, who is simply remarkable, and the use is quite easy. Yesterday my band watched the "Metropolis 2000" concert (on DVD), and even though it is not the first time i see it, it raised several questions with me.

Firstly, What keyboard does Rudess use? A Kurzweil K something i think, but i'm not sure. Moreover, that the K versions are not few.

Secondly, this dude plays in all of the concert with only this keyboard. He doesn't touch the panel at all in order to change sounds, and i would like to enquire how he does this. Does he have a special control pedal which transforms sounds? And if so, which one? Can you help on recommending a good pedal for the Roland XP-60?

What i search for the most is ti be able to press the keyboard, transform a sound. and to be certain that it doesn't change until i won't press the keyboard again. I want to have more time to breath - my work is hard enough as it is.
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And i will ask another question which doesn't involve gear.

The storage of sounds in the XP-60 is stationed under a category called: "Patch". That is one out of 3 categories, which in addition to "Patch", it offers "Perform" (Combining patches, for easier playing in situations like the ones i describe to you) and "Rhythm" (Perucssion and Drum Sets). Now, the Patch category is basically the bank of factory sounds. When you select a Patch to a Performance, it transforms it for some reason, and nothing i do can change it. By the way, this happens when i choose sounds for the Sequencer as well.

I read the manual over and over and it says nothing about it. I assume that its just a usual problem, and not a really bizzare one, that i only get mixed with because my lack of experience in Synthisizers. If you could help me with that, i'll be grateful.

It needs to be said, that when the same sound, when either on Patch or Performance, without the EFX, sounds just the same, and that the EFX change due to the Performance. But, i did try to match the definitions to be exactly the same, and it didn't made the sound exactly the same. It became closer, but not exactly the same. I matched the Chorus and Reverb definitions as well. I'm really lost with this one.

Hope you can help me. :)

Thanks in advance,

Shy Kedmi

[ImaX]

Hi,

Jordan uses a K2600XS, you can find more information at www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com . He controls two more K2600 (Rack units), two Korg Triton and some other racks (does he still use the Karma?). Perhaps you can find it at his FAQ at www.jordanrudess.com.

For Changing sounds he uses an unlatched footswitch, as far as I know he uses one of those: http://www.netzmarkt.de/thomann/artikel-102839.html
It has the same function as switching on top of your board, it has just assigned DataInc / DataDec, so the way how the sounds will be changed depends on your keyboard.

I can't help you with your sounds, but as you also mentioned I'd say it's about the effect. Perhaps just your program is transferred to the combination and you have to select the program's effect manualy..?

Greetz

[merijn]

Yes, that's right, a k2600XS, and he does use the Karma. He had it with him on the ToT tour. And the racks ofcourse. And you were exactly right about that footswitch, it's a Boss FS-5U.

[maJ estY]

You can read about all the stuff Jordan uses at www.jordanrudess.com/faq.html

[rtype]

If I may follow up on the "what does Jordan use live" question....

What does he do with all that? Two racks, I mean? It seems like he could condense down quite a bit.

[ImaX]

As far as I know it's about increasing the Kurzweils polyphony and memory. There are some intros and some sequenced stuff that has to be stored, then I guess he uses a lot of samples or sampled sounds that have to be stored anywhere... but I'm not sure.

[maJ estY]

Jordan told us what he needs the additional Kurz racks for on the clinic. Everyone's got its own task, but I can't remember what they're there for exactly, sorry...

One thing you should know: Instead of SOOO many other keboardists, Jordan does NOT use ANYTHING he would not use because he could do the same with less instruments!

[shykedmi]

Actually, it is MUCH more challenging. Doing dozens of roles on just one keyboard is just remarkable.

And, by the way, i went over to a music shop, and searched for the FS-5U. Appearantly what i need has not been created yet, or either i don't know about it, or it is simply useless. You see, i use a PERFORMANCE option on the XP-60, and it allows me to define 16 different sounds to one performance (there are 32 performances), when i can split them as well on the keyboard. So, sometimes i need sounds no. 2 and no. 5 together, 6 and 1 together, sometimes i need 3 patches simultaniously.

If i could've fuse the combinations into one arranged patch, and move between the arranged patches, that would've been a good solution. But now i need to be an octopus with 8 hands and insane logistic ability, with only 2 hands. :) That's going to be quite interesting i feel. :)

I wonder if there's a synthesizer who's able to do these kind of actions.

[Medusa]

The Kurzweil's have something called setups and these sound similar to your performance mode. A setup is basically a combination of many thing's. It can have upto 8 zones with each zone having a different sound, velocity, volume. There are also many buttons and sliders which can be configured to affect different characteristics, etc etc. The possibilities are massive.

I assume jordan is using the pedal to move through these setups, not sure if you could use the pedal for the same thing.

[ImaX]

shykedmi: I know your problem, but I don't think you'll be able to do that on an XP-60 with just one pedal (never played one, but I what you're planning is too complex I guess).

On the K2500 / 2600 you have zones as Medusa said, one zone for each sound / Midi channel. NOw you can do what Jordan does, just program one setup for every differnet soundset you use, and that what you should also be able to do on your board!

What you're planning is more effective I think, if I got you right. On the Kurzweil you can Mute single zones, and assign differnet functions to footswitches for each zone seperately. So I can assign MuteZone=on when I press the footswitch for zone 1. At the same time, in Zone 2 the footswitch can be assigned the other way round, MuteZone when I release the footswitch. So in the end I do nothing and play zone 2, and when I press the switch zone 2 will get Muted and I hear Zone 1.

So with one switch you can change between two combinations of zones, because your switch is either on or off. But if you use two switches, you have more possibilities like this. But that's the ways it generally can be done on a Kurzweil.

It's better to use the FS-5L for this, it the latched version and you don't have to hold it down all the time for playing the other sounds.