I added the XV-5050 to my PSR-9000 a couple weeks ago. The folks at Roland have put some really nice patches into this baby and I'm very happy with the puchase. The one thing that bothers me is that setting up the keyboard for different songs is not quite as quick as pressing a button for the registrations or the music database anymore.

Since I'm new to sound modules I was wondering how yall use them in day-to-day life (I don't mean in a sequencer but in real-time). Do you write song names and patch numbers on a piece of paper? That's a bit cumbersome but maybe not avoidable. Or is there a way to trigger the correct patches from the registrations or from the MDB that I haven't figured out how to do yet?
Thanks for any pointers!
ev

Ev,
I have an XV3080 and have saved my favorite patches to the user bank; this enables me to trigger them sending midi program change messages (1-128 or 0-127) from my keyboard, should the need arise. However, such units have so many sounds and patches (especially when you add the expansion cards) that 128 programs are simply not enough. On the other hand only a sequencer can send bank and program changes (at least I think...)
Final consideration: it's not easy to blend together sounds coming from different keyboards and modules; this usually takes also a lot of work to tweak the volume of all the patches to match the sounds in your keyboard.
More than in a live situation, I have found my XV 3080 extremely useful when I need a "special" sound to record a digital track.

Thank you Andrea!

So what I want to do can't be done I guess. But maybe it's possible for the tail to wag the dog instead and somehow suck my favorite sounds out of the XV-5050 and save them as user sounds in my PSR so they can be used directly without even talking to the module while playing. Can this be done?

The more I think about it the more I belive this option to be even better because when you change patches on the XV-5050, the previous sound stops, even when you keep your fingers on the keys and that's kinda annoying (unlike when you change sounds on the PSR where it continues using the previous sound until you hit another key).

So I guess my follow-up question is, does anyone know how to transfer patches from a module to the PSR's user sounds (if it's actually possible)?

Ev,
I am afraid that what you ask is definitely not possibile, because the PSR and the XV have completely different sound engines, internal waveforms and so on; unfortunately there is no way the PSR can aknowledge the XV sounds; even if there was a theoretical possibility, the XV patches point to internal sounds (waveforms) which are completely different compared with the PSR.
On my 9000 pro (and I think also on your PSR 9000) the user sound area has the purpose to save internal sounds edited/tweaked, modifying parameters like DSP, filters and so on and the memory available for storage is very limited anyway.
Maybe the best thing you could do is select a few patches you really like on your XV and use them together with the PSR. Example: you could layer a solo sound from the PSR with a pad from the XV (or viceversa); however, for ease of use, I would advice you to limit the choice to maybe 10-15 patches, so you can easily select them with the "value" knob.

Ev, you've hit a long-standing omission from many "normal" keyboards, namely it isn't possible to store "external" patch selections easily with "Internal" ones.

This type of facility is normally associated with "master" keyboards, in that a single patch on a master keyboard usually configures keyboard splits, layers, midi channels and external sound modules all in one go. Having this capability as part of the "registration" system on my PSR2k would be marvellous! I have this on my older Ensoniq SD1 but it is seriously limited because it doesn't understand Bank Changes in the modern sense.

Another method (and I don't know much about this so I might be talking rubbish) could be to use a midi controller box (Peavey 1600?) and storing patch changes in presets against the control buttons?

MacAllcock,
yes, a (programmable) midi patch bay could do this kind of job, but still could send only program changes and no bank changes.
I am afraid that a module like the 5050 is really too complex to be handled this way.

It might be possible to store the patch and bank change in a multipad. You could name it suitably to remember what patch it recalls. By pressing the multipad button you could then select (in real time) the desired patch on the external module.

This way you could handle at least your favourite settings. You could also store several banks on disk and load the one which has the settings you need.

Just a suggestion. I would be interested to hear whether it really works.

Kari