Hi,
I've had use for the merge function for pad creation. I normally create pads ( & styles) from midifiles and so I use the kn sequencer. As pads 5 & 6 only have 1 instrument track & 1 chord track,
I've had to mix 2 tracks together to create 1.

Possibly another use might be if creating a complicated drum track ( from scratch) if doing multi track recording in the kn.

A question was asked on the KN7 about Punch In recording ( we weren't sure if the kn had it, but susequently I noticed it does.)
From what I understood the member wanted to add extra drums to a drum track using Punch In facilities, but I wasn't sure if the kn did it.
Anyway I thought this alternative might be of some help to him.

Possibly another way of using merge function.
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Record your basic track drums ie bass & snare.(ie track 9 )
Then track 8 record your hhats, if it all sounds okay, merge the 2 tracks together to track (track 7), if not just rerecord the hhat track, at least you haven't disturbed your original Bass & Snare track.
Now that track 8&9 have been merged into( track 7),
record your cymbals on track 8
if all is okay merge track 7&8 to
track 9 if you're going to add more drums,
OR to track 10 if you've completed your drum recording.

You could virtually build up quite a complicated drum track, by merging drum tracks together.
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I also convert the odd style using sequencer to style function. The thing that gives me the most grief with a converted style is usually the drum track. Velocities of the drums can be a problem. A drum track played on a psr may not sound right on a kn because the bass drum might end up being drowned out by a hihat etc etc.
I recently came across a utility program that separates a drum track ( from a midifile) into separate tracks ie bass drum track 1, snare track 2 etc etc what this allows me now to do is give each of these drum instruments their own midi channel. I save it as a midifile, load it into the kn7 sequencer, adjust the velocities
Sequencer
Range Edit
Velocity Change
till I get the the drums sounding right, then I can merge them all back to track 10.
I have to do it via Velocity Change Not Via Volume on each of the tracks, because once they're merged back together into track 10 they take on a global volume for the track.

best wishes
Rikki

if you merge 2 tracks the destination track contains the contents of the 2 tracks. Whether the destination track is R1, R2 or Tr14 is immaterial since you can assign it to whatever part you wish, move it where you want, and use whatever voices you like.

The perfect answer for this question Larry was written years ago in the KN6000 book in one of the Programming Performance Pads exercises where 3 accompaniment tracks were merged into 2 tracks so they could be put in the pads where the limit is 2 tracks. Thus you gained a 2 track pad with all the information that had previously been in 3 tracks.

Great Answers...I never got that book (my mistake). My last question on this topic. Acoording to the Technics Manual:

If the part assigned to the upper source track (upper meaning its position on the Track merge dispay) is different from the part assigned to the lower source track, when the parts are merged in the destination track, the new track is assigned the same part as the upper track

So if I understand this, both sounds, right one and right two, are merged into the destination track, then track 2 can be used to add another sound?

I gotta get that book...



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Larry Hawk
Technics For All

Hi All,

The responses to my question have been super. I thank all of you.

I want to clarify one thing. When I recorded trumpet on Rt1 and sax on Rt2, I played an ascending C scale with the trumpet and a descending C scale with the sax as a test in order to differentiate the tracks/voices. BOTH tracks transferred (merged) to Track 9. The only problem was the sax voice was changed to a trumpet. So I ended up with a trumpet playing ascending and descending C scales. Therefore, the scale note information remained intact and transferred faithfully. For some reason the instrument (KN) changes the voice of Rt2 to that of Rt1. I see no reason, electronically (or digitally) speaking, why the voice information on Rt2 cannot be transferred as well since the voice information on Rt1 was transferred with no problem. It appears to me to be a function of design and programming, not that it cannot be done.

Thanks again to all of you.

Chuck

I frequently use the merge facility to build up a Drum track. Being a drummer, if I am creating a drum track in real time using the Composer, I like to get it as near as possible, to how I would play the rhythm on my real kit. Now this involves two feet as well as two hands, and it's a bit difficult getting all four extremities on the KN7000 keyboard, at the same time
So, I generally start off by laying down the Bass drum pattern and maybe the Hi-Hat on a single track. (Left and Right foot parts by hand) I will then play this back and add Left and Right hand parts using say Snare drum and Ride Cymbals, then merge the two tracks to a single track. I sometimes add in further drum sounds on another track and then merge again, to build up the finished single drum track.

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Willum

yes Larry, that's it, and the actual part (or even voice) assigned is immaterial because you can now reassign it to whatever you like after the merge anyway.

all sequencers are designed for one instrument per track Chuck unless you go in and change instruments within the timeline of that track, thus what you describe is normal for any sequencer, keyboard or pc. But if you have too many instrument changes within many tracks you will end up with timing and/or polyphony issues on cheaper equipment so it is not a good idea anyway.

Hi Chuck,

I think the reason that you are only hearing one instrument is that at any one time, you can only assign a single sound to a particular track. You cannot have a track assigned to both Sax and Trumpet sounds at the same time If you have a look at the Mixer page in the sequencer, you will see that each track has a particular single sound assigned to it. If you reverse the assignment of your sounds, ie Sax in RT1 and Trumpet in RT2 and then repeat the operation, you will probably find that both voices are then Sax If this is the case, and I haven't tried it, then it would seem that when you merge the two sounds, the RT1 voice takes precedence.
Basically, if you want the two different voices to play together, the simple way to achieve this is to just leave them un-merged.


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Willum

[This message has been edited by Bill Norrie (edited 01-08-2004).]

Looks like Alec and I were typing at the same time.....

I have actually had to do this on the KN1000 in the days when the sequencer only had 8 tracks, but merging the played 2 tracks and just assigning alternate instruments into the single merged track... today it's pointless

Thanks Alec and Willum for your additional comments. If I read you correctly, Alec, you are saying what I said in my last sentence above, namely that the one voice per track limitation is a function of design - not that merging two voices cannot be done with digital technology. I'm sure 16 tracks will give me enough latitude when recording in normal circumstances. My thanks again to both of you for your responses. Take care.

Best Wishes, Chuck