Saving Your Favorite Instruments in a Style

If you happen to have a style file from an older PSR or from another keyboard, you may want to tune that style so it works just as you want it to on your PSR-2000.  In the Balance Control and Mixing Console lessons, we explained how to adjust the balance of the sounds coming from the style accompaniment tracks.  We also showed how to change the instrument used in any track.  In the Variation Tuning lesson, we even explained how to adjust volume balance and instruments independently in each of the variations that accompany a style.  But to really tune this style for your keyboard, you will also want to take advantage of the PSR-2K feature that lets you create your very own one-touch settings (OTS) to accompany the style.  We will show you how to do that in this lesson.

Changing One Touch Settings

If you are working with a preset style that already has one-touch settings, the job of creating OTS is a bit easier than if you are starting with a style from another keyboard where there are no OTS available at all. The following section will give you some hints on how to create your own. But the current OTS may be fine except for a one or two instruments you want to change. Let's assume you select OTS1 for some style and start playing. The selection filled the MAIN/LAYER/LEFT voices. The LAYER and LEFT may or may not be turned on. If you have been reading these lessons from the beginning, you know how to change the MAIN voice to something else, how to turn LAYER and LEFT voices on or off and how to set them to what you want. Go ahead and do that.

You now have the style playing with the voices you want. To store these voices into the OTS1 button, press the [MEMORY] button located to the right of the 8 registration buttons and then press the OTS1 button. This stores your setting into OTS1.

To SAVE that setting, you need to save the entire style. If you were working with a style from the USER area or the Floppy Disk, just save the style back to the USER area or Floppy Disk. When you load it again, it will have your altered OTS setting in button 1. If you were working with a preset style, you can not save it to the preset area, you have to save it to the USER area or to a FLOPPY DISK.

This simple method of saving the style, will take care of changes in the OTS. But it will not handle changes to the default tempo or any adjustments to the accompaniment voices or volumes. For those changes, you need to go into digital recording to save your style as explained in the previous lesson. There are also some considerations you should be aware of about what is actually being stored in OTS memory. These are discussed in detail below..

Creating OTS 1: Steal the OTS

Suppose you are working with a country rock style from another keyboard and it does not have any OTS saved with the style but you want to add one-touch settings.  The PSR-2000 already has its own Country Rock style with four OTS just right for the country rock you are working with.  So, the simplest plan would be to take those OTSs associated with the internal Country Rock style and copy them to the new country rock style you are tuning.  What you need to do is load the internal Country Rock style, store each of the four OTS setups someplace, then load the new style you are working on, and copy the stored OTS setups into the OTS memory locations for the new file.  Sounds easy enough, but you have to follow a set of very specific steps to accomplish this.

Storing the Internal OTS

You are going to store the internal OTS into your registration memory area.  It is best to start with a BLANK registration memory.  That is exactly what your registration memory buttons have when you turn on your PSR-2000.  But if you have loaded up any registration file, they are no longer empty.  You could simply overwrite what is there, but if you aren't careful you might wind up saving the file under it's original name and thus mess up your original registration file.  Be safe.  Just start with a empty file.  In our registration lesson, we explained how to make a empty registration file.  You can review that lesson, or you can simply download the EMPTY.REG file that is provided here and on our download page.  In this discussion, I will assume you know how to load registration files.

Once your EMPTY registration file is loaded, load the internal style from which you want to copy the OTS.  Now, if you press OTS1, the style starts playing and you can see the voices that are used for the main, layer and left voice.  You can, in turn, press OTS2, OTS3, OTS4 and the PSR setup will change accordingly as you go from one OTS to another.  OK, let's save those four OTS setups in the first four registration memory locations.  Press OTS1 to call up the first setting.  Now, press the [MEMORY] button and then press the first Registration button (I'll call it R1 although it is only labeled "1" on your keyboard.)  You have now stored the first OTS in [R1].  But have you?  What exactly got stored when you pressed that [MEMORY] + [R1] combination? Before continuing with these steps, we need to pause and examine this question in some detail.

What Is Stored In Registration Memory Contents?

Press that [MEMORY] button again, but don't press anything else.  Just examine the REGISTRATION MEMORY CONTENTS screen shown below.  It instructs you to press either one of the 8 registration memory buttons or one of the 4 OTS buttons to store the current setting.  But the very first instruction is to mark the group(s) to be memorized to the Registration Memory. You can select what will be stored in the registration memory; you cannot select what will be stored in the OTS.  And when you store settings to the registration memory location, only parameters for the groups selected in the GROUP SELECT box at the bottom of the screen will be stored.  In the illustration shown here, only the VOICE and MULTI PAD groups would be stored.  A little later in this lesson, we will show you exactly what is included in many of those groups.  But for the moment, let me just assert that we will want to store the HARMONY and PEDAL groups as well.  To do that, we need to mark (by checking) those two groups so parameters for those groups will also be saved to the registration memory.

If you press any of the [2]-[7] buttons at the bottom of the screen, you will see the highlight move from GROUP to GROUP.  The upper buttons moves the selection upward by column  (from MIC to STYLE) and the bottom buttons move the selection downward (from STYLE to MIC).  Once you have HARMONY selected, press the [8-A] bottom to put a check mark in that box. Pressing button [8-B] removes a check mark. So, with the #8 buttons you can add or remove a check mark from any group.  Now move the selection to PEDAL and put a check in that box as well.

What about the STYLE group?  Do we need to check that?  After all, the OTSs are associated with a particular style file and are stored with that style file.  So, we know we do not plan on copying the internal style file into the OTS of some other file, but what else exactly is in the "STYLE" group?

What is Stored In OTS Memory?

The table below lists exactly what gets "saved" into an OTS memory location. This table is for the One-Touch Settings ONLY.  It does not show what gets saved into a registration memory location.  However, everything that gets saved into an OTS button can also be saved in a registration button.  The difference is that there are more things that can be saved in a registration memory location so the OTS table is really a subset of a larger registration table.  But since we are focusing on OTS here, I'm showing the OTS table here.

* Does not store the Octave setting, Natural Voice VibSustain, Natural Voice Piano (SR Depth, SS Depth), or Piano Tuning Curve.
** Includes PanPot, Brightness, Harmonic Content, Octave, Tune, Portament Time, Reverb Type, Chorus Type, DSP Depth, EQ Low Gain, EQ High Gain
*** The OTS automatically stores Accompaniment On/Off as ON (Registration memory can store this as on or off.) It also sets Synchro Start to ON; this setting can not be stored anywhere.

Main, Layer and Left Voices

So, what gets saved in OTS memory?  The first column of the table lists major keyboard sections.  Main refers to your Main window screen.  Everything in the first row represents parameters that you would set in the main screen.  The second row shows parameters that would be set from the MIXING CONSOLE in the DIGITAL STUDIO.  The columns indicate which "group" the saved parameters are associated with.  So, from the Main area, you see that whether the MAIN, LAYER, and LEFT voices are ON or OFF is saved in the OTS.  The Balance Control volume setting for each of these voices is also saved in the OTS.  But, the settings for the LEFT voice are associated with the STYLE group while the settings for the MAIN and LAYER voices are associated with the VOICE group.  This is universally true throughout the table.  If you modify the voice settings either through the Sound Creator module or the MIXING CONSOLE, all those modifications will be saved in the OTS.  But the LEFT voice modifications are saved in the STYLE group and the MAIN/LAYER voice modifications are stored in the VOICE group.  This helps answer whether or not we want to check the STYLE group when saving an internal style setup to registration memory.  Checking STYLE, will save not only the style file name, but also all the settings that have been applied to the LEFT voice.

So, to transfer the LEFT voice setup from an internal style to an OTS that you are creating for some new style, you would, indeed, want to check that STYLE group so those settings also get saved to the registration memory.  (Of course, that also saves the style file name to that memory location and we'll have to deal with that when we want to copy these settings to the OTS memory locations.)

Voice Effects

In the upper right-hand side of your keyboard, you see the VOICE EFFECT section.  We won't explain how to use all these effects here, but we will point out that all of these settings are saved to Registration Memory and all except TOUCH and SUSTAIN are saved in the OTS.  DSP, VARIATION, and MONO settings can be applied to MAIN, LAYER, or LEFT voices.  The settings for the LEFT voice are saved in the STYLE group.  The settings for the MAIN/LAYER voices are saved in the VOICE group.  Whether HARMONY/ECHO is on or off, as well as all of the parameter settings under HARMONY/ECHO are saved in the HARMONY group.  This is why you want to be sure that HARMONY is checked when you are saving the internal style OTS setups to a registration memory location.

Style

From the Style section, whether the Accompaniment is on or off can be saved to a registration memory location, but when saving to OTS, this parameter is automatically set to ON in all cases.  The AUTO FILL IN and the OTS LINK settings are saved in the System Setup and cannot be saved in OTS or in the Registration memory.  There are quite a few parameters that are saved in the System Setup and I will discuss them in a future lesson.   SYNC START is automatically set to ON in the OTS memory.  But this setting is not saved anywhere else.  It cannot be saved in the registration memory nor the current setting saved when you shut down your machine.  Similarly SYNC STOP is not saved anywhere.  Finally, START/STOP can be saved in a Song, but nowhere else.  By the way, the Intro/Ending setting is saved in the style file itself (and only there) while the selected style section (A-D) can be saved in a registration memory button.

Multi Pad & Pedal

The Multi Pad File and the Multi Pad volume from the Balance Control are saved in the OTS.  They are the only two components of the MULTI PAD group.  Generally, the internal styles have selected a multi pad that goes along with the style and you will probably want to copy this setting over to the registration memory so you can move it to your own OTS.  The PEDAL group contains the Pedal Type and the Pedal Settings.  Both pedals, if you have two, are saved to the Registration memory, but only the Left Pedal settings are saved in the OTS.

Back to Saving the Four OTS

OK, now you know what groups to check before saving to registration memory.  Make sure you have STYLE, VOICE, HARMONY, PEDAL, and MULTI PAD checked in the GROUP SELECT box.  These settings will remain that way until you explicitly change them.  Press [EXIT] to leave the REGISTRATION MEMORY CONTENTS screen and return to the MAIN screen.

Well, let's copy all four OTS settings form the internal style to the first four registration memory buttons.

1. Press [OTS1]; press the [Memory] button, then the [R1] button.
   
   
2. Now, press [OTS2], followed by [Memory] [R2].
   
   
3. Press [OTS3]; then {Memory] [R3].
   
   
4. Press [OTS4], then {Memory] [R4]. 

At this point, the four OTS settings from the internal style are stored in the first four registration memory locations.

Now load the style for which you want to create OTS.  Important!   Press the  [DIRECT ACCESS] button followed by [FREEZE].  This will bring up the FREEZE GROUP SETTING.  Make sure that STYLE is checked.  When you saved your internal settings to the registration memory, if STYLE was checked, you also saved the name of the style file.  If you were to press [R1], it would bring up that style file again.  We don't want it to do that.  We want the new style you've just loaded to stay there, that is, when you press the [R1] button, you want the current style to remain FROZEN in place.  That is why we freeze the STYLE group in the FREEZE GROUP SETTING.  Once you have seen that style is checked, press [EXIT] to return to the MAIN screen.  Double check that the [FREEZE] light is ON indicating that the freeze option is turned on .  If the light is not ON, just press [FREEZE] again.  Pressing that button repeatedly turns the option on then off then on etc.

Now you are ready to copy those settings from the registration memory area to the OTS memory area.  Just reverse the process you used earlier.  Press [R1] to bring up the first registration memory setting.  Now press [Memory] followed by [OTS1] to save this setting in the first OTS button.

As soon as you save a new setting to an OTS button, you will get a warning message from the PSR:

Your options are YES ([F] button), or NO ([G] button).  For the moment, choose NO.  You can put off saving the file until you get all four OTS memory buttons set.  Now set the remaining three buttons: [R2]; [Memory], [OTS2], (NO you don't want to save); [R3], [Memory], [OTS3], (NO you don't want to save); [R4], [Memory], [OTS4].  Now, you can select YES to save this style.  When you do, you are presented with the normal STYLE file screen and it is showing the USER area.  You can save this file you are working on, with its new OTS, to the USER area, but you do not have to.  Simply press [NEXT] to go to the FLOPPY DISK tab and then you can save it to the floppy disk instead if you prefer.  However, you do have to save the style file.  When you saved those settings to the OTS memory buttons, they were saved in what might be viewed as your performance clipboard.  Things come and go there all the time.  If you loaded a new style, as the warning suggested, all the OTS would be wiped out and replaced by those from the new style.  To save your own OTS with the style you are working on, you need to save the style file itself because the OTS is saved as an integral part of the style file.

Note that this is GOOD not BAD.  When you are making your own style files, perhaps to go along with a particular song, you can also make your own OTS and everything is saved internally in that style file.  When you load the style, you get your tuned style plus the particular solo instruments you want to use when playing that style.

If you'd like to put some OTS in another style file, load the BLANK registration file again.  You will be warned that the current registration file has changed and asked if you want to save it.  Don't save it.  That would only overwrite your BLANK file and replace it with one that has things stored in it.  Just say NO and discard your "working" registration file and load the BLANK file again to start the whole process over.

Method 2: Make Your Own OTS

In our discussion of Favorite Registration Files, we explained how you could make a registration file with 8 of your favorite instruments and have that file available no matter what style is loaded.  Well, you could certainly use that file to get started.  Let me illustrate by using my favorite registrations file called Jazz_JW.REG.  I load that registration file, which is designed so that the voices with it can be used with any style loaded.   The first registration button happens to have a NylonGuitar as the Main Voice and a GrandPiano as the Left Voice.  Strings are used as the Layer voice, but they are not initially turned on.

Next, I load a new style to which I want to add one touch settings.  In reality, if this is a style converted from another keyboard, some time may have already been taken in adjusting the accompaniment volume settings, and perhaps accompaniment instruments as well.  Once that is all adjusted, the DIGITAL RECORDING STUDIO is used to save these settings into the style.  The lesson on the MIXING CONSOLE explains how to do that kind of style tuning.  So, here, I will assume the accompaniment part of the style is, more or less, the way you want it and now you want to add OTS.

With the style loaded, I can start the style and try out any of the voice setups saved in my Jazz registration file.  Suppose I decide the first one is reasonably close for this style.  When playing through the four variations, I am likely to have the same left hand voice and the same Multi Pad file selected.  So, in testing out the sound in Main variation A, I find an appropriate left hand voice and an appropriate Multi Pad file.  I also adjust the volumes of the left hand voice, the multi pad, the style, and the main, layer, and left voices.  With all this set, I can then save the setting in the first OTS memory location by simply pressing [Memory] plus [OTS1].  I might also at this point, save the style with this single OTS setting.  The advantage of saving now is that by pressing [OTS1], it will automatically turn on accompaniment and Sync Start, which is convenient for further testing.

One trick I have found useful at this point is to save that very same setting that I used for OTS1, into OTS2, OTS3, and OTS4.  Why save the same thing?  Well, I am going to change the main voice and perhaps the layer voice as well as voice effects.  But I am not necessarily going to change the left hand or the multipad setting.  So by saving the basic setup to each of the 4 OTS buttons, as I modify the settings for buttons 2 through 4 as I see fit, I do not have to worry about whether I have the wrong multi pad in one of the variations or whether the left voice volume suddenly drops when I go from one variation to another.

Everyone will select their own favorite instruments to go with whatever style they are working with. But one thing you might consider is checking out the Intro to the style.  What instruments are playing there?  What instruments are used in the accompaniment?  You may want to select some solo instruments that match the instruments already in the band, so to speak.  If the introduction seems to feature a Soprano Sax, maybe you may want the first solo instrument to be a Soprano Sax so it seems the song naturally flows from the introduction into the song.  Or, if not in the first OTS, you might use that Soprano Sax as the main voice in one of the other OTS setups.

If the accompaniment features a GrandPiano in the various style variations, you might not want to use a Grand Piano in your Left voice, since that might be too many Grand Pianos. Perhaps you can use a NylonGuitar.  Maybe Strings might be appropriate.  If the accompaniment is primarily guitars, then a Piano or an ElectricPiano in the left voice could be a good complement to the voices used in the accompaniment.

Keep the OTS Link in mind when you are building your own OTS.  With OTS Link ON, moving from style variation A to B to C to D will automatically also switch from OTS1 to OTS2 to OTS3 to OTS4.  Since style variations usually build in intensity and/or complexity as you move from A to D, you would want to design your OTS similarly.  OTS1 might feature a Solo Trumpet, which is replaced with a Clarinet in OTS2, and then in OTS3, you bring back the Trumpet this time accompanied by a Brass section, and in OTS4, you have the Clarinet and a Woodwind Ensemble with Harmony Echo turned on.  You get the idea.

Favorite Voices Once More

From our earlier discussion of what to save in the Registration Memory when you wanted to copy an internal set of voices to your OTS in your own style file, we discussed the impact of saving the STYLE in the registration memory.  If you were not concerned with the Left voice, which is saved in those style parameters, but only the Main and Layer voices, you could save those to the Registration Memory and NOT save the style.  So what does that mean?  It means that no matter what style you load, you could activate any of the registration buttons, and therefore, the main and layer voices saved in that button, without impacting the current style.  No need to FREEZE anything.  The main difference between setting up your favorite voices in a registration file this way and the method described in the Registration Lesson, which used a dummy BLANK.STY, is that the left hand voice does not get saved.  But that may be fine for some people and so this is another way to make your own tailored registration files with your favorite voices, taken directly from the internal styles of the PSR.