I'm not a good player, therefore, I try to utilize all the tools the PSR-3000 offers to provide seamless entertainment to my audiences. Essentially, I've set up several Music Finder Diretories for the various venues, drawing from a master list of songs and placing those for a particular venue in the Favorites area. This allows me to scroll through just 55 to 75 songs for the next song instead of scrolling through several hundred. The MFDs are made using Michael Bedesem's Music Finder View, which is an outstanding program with lots of options that makes this job a piece of cake.

Next, when I set up registrations they are set up with a single song title for each button, thus providing me with 8 songs per bank. The banks are labled approriately such as Slow Rock, Slow 50s, Rock1, Rock2, etc. You can view them on the fly, and when one song is ending, the next song can be started with a single button push.

In my case, midi files are stored in my laptop and Vanbasco's Midi/Karaoke Player is utilized for playback. This is another free program that has lots of great options, including large lyrics display in vivid colors. This is interfaced with the keyboard via the USB/Host connection on the PSR-3000.

The laptop is also used to store lyrics of thousands of songs. Each page also has the keyboard settings as well. They are stored by song title, which makes access instantaneous using Notepad. I use a white background, large black letters, and everything is in bold font with full screen width display. If you use a chordless, scrolling mouse, which is the easiest way to select the song, once the song is displayed, merely press the scrolling wheel down until you see a double arrow appear. Then release the wheel and by moving the mouse pointer slightly below the double arrow the screen will slowly scroll up the page. It's a neat tool.

The bottom line is between live playing using the MFD and registrations, midi files and MP3s, which are also stored on the laptop, you can quickly and easily move from song to song with zero dead time. This keeps the dancefloor packed, keeps the audiences happy, makes the time pass quickly, and keeps the paychecks growing.

Good thread Fran,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy