Hi,
recently bought a little Ketron SD2 soundmodule to use with my One Man Band software arranger, as an alternative, or addition to the soundfonts I normally use with this program.
Main reason for doing it was I wanted to access to the Ketron "Live Drums" that I have in my SD1+ keyboard, ( in a portable format) without going to to the expense of getting a Midjay ( I don't need the additional functions the midjay has to offer).

Anyway, even though the sd2 sounds are apparently based on the new SD5 keyboard,
( not the sd1 ) a lot of the " Live Drums " appear to be are available in both my sd1+ & sd2.

Ketron Italy http://www.ketron.it/prodotti/index.asp?idTipo=2

made available, a collection of style based , midi drum files for use with the SD2 ( latin, brush jazz, etc etc) for replacing drum tracks in midifiles ( ie the drum tracks are made up of a gm drum track , plus a " Live " drum track).

Any way I decided to try & take it a step further by using these midifiles to replace the drum tracks in some of my OMB styles.
ie build up a drum track style library.

Unfortunately there aren't enough of these SD2 midifiles to cover every genre, but I discovered that some of my sd1 drum styles may also be useable with a bit of tweaking etc.

My project is still in it's early stages,
but if there's any other new sd2/OMB users, I'm happy to share my results.

best wishes
Rikki

Hi Rikki,

As you have the SD2 I wonder if you can help me. I used to have an XD3 module and regularly played an SD1 so I really miss some of the Ketron sounds as I now just have a T2. For versatility I did have the T1 with the XD9 but it was a cumbersome arrangement for playing out with.

I have managed to "improve" the drum sounds to my preference on the T2 and long ago changed the amount or type of reberb/delay from styles and lead sounds to get a punchier "live" sound for gigging.

However, I still miss some of the Ketron sounds and certainly wouldn't mind using their "live" drums again. Can you please tell me how close the sounds are on the SD2 to your SD1 in your opinion.

It is probably going to be quite difficult to use this module without a PC or a dedicated midi controller keyboard - So using the T2 to change volumes, effects or sounds etc over midi is probably not a feasible option in a live environment - Have you thought about or tried to play this with your Clavinova?

I will be buying this module without trying it so if there is there anything else you have noticed about using the module - good or bad don't hesitate to mention it.

I haven't got a problem with this approach as it is a very inexpensive unit and I used to sell Solton/Ketron products and my experience of them is that they are well constructed and reliable

Thanks for any help you can give me

Regards - Keith

Hi Keith,
I'm only a hobbyist so I don't like recommending stuff to proffessionals.
Bernie has recently also purchased one of these modules, so maybe you could get his opinion as well. He uses a controller keyboard.
http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum43/HTML/000064.html

I personally don't think the quality of the sound is quite as good on the sd2 as on my sd1+.
( Comparison wise, it would probably be like comparing psr1500/3000 to the sounds on a Tyros 2)
but I think it's a great little unit.

One of the guys on solton group purchased one for his Tyros 2. (thomusic) http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/solton/

I think he may have had some hassles accessing the higher banks in realtime

Ketron uses
Controller 0 for bank changes
wheras

Yamaha
Controller 0
Controller 32 for bank changes

yesterday he was checking out this little
controller module.
http://www.behringer.com/BCN44/

best wishes
Rikki

Hi Keith ,
I decided to try the sd2 with my PSR1500.

I've been working on converting a sd1 style to OMB ( psr) .sty format, just to see how close I could get to the original sd1 style using the sd2 with OMB.

Anyway decided to try loading it into the psr instead & use the sd2 as soundsource.

Discovered the following.
On my PSR 1500 , I Can't use a mix of PSR & SD2 sounds for the "style parts"
ie sd2 drums, psr bass, sd guitar etc etc
as there appears to be no way of turning
local control to "Off" for individual style part instruments. ( maybe Tyros has better midi functions???)

I can turn local controll to "Off" for the style tracks as a whole & use my psr voices for melody & left hand , & the SD2 plays the style part instruments.

Not the most ideal setup if you only use
" Tyros " styles. They naturally wouldn't play back correctly because of the megavoices & the psr drum mapping.

If on the other hand you create your own styles , or use tweaked conversions it would be a case of tweaking to suit the sd2 soundsource instead of the Tyros.

Unfortunately my psr hasn't got the same flexibilty for using multiple soundsources as OMB has.

best wishes
Rikki

Rikki - many thanks for replying.

My old dad has got a programmable midi controller that would probably help me overcome some of the potential problems.

For example it can filter out any number of channels so you can just leave channel 10 thru for drums. It can be programmed to send any string of midi commands.

However - I may not need to, I will check out what can selectively be transmitted using the Tyros2 midi settings first when I am next with the keyboard (I have looked in the manual but you can't tell from that).

So it may be quite convoluted accessing some of the sounds but I think I will get one anyway even if it is just to play around with as the street price here is pretty good.

Thanks again

Regards - Keith

Hi Keith,
I just had a quick look at the T2 midi section of the manual. I think it works the same as on my psr1500 ie you can turn local control to "off" on all the style parts, but not individual style tracks.

Also if you do get it working, your styles would probably have to be altered because of the drum mapping & the controller & program change differences.

Not trying to talk you out of it because I think it's a great little module, just pointing out some of the possible pitfalls.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by KFingers:
[B]

By the way Keith,
thank you for asking the question. Decided to midi the sd2 to my PSR instead and only use the OMB/sd2 setup when I use my clavinova ( my Clav's a straight piano , no styles)
Wouldn't have investigated the psr option if you hadn't asked the question.
I'll probably use the psr's left & right hand voices for melody, & the SD2 for styles.

best wishes
Rikki