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Casio XW-P1 Performance Synthesizer


Anderton

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Quote Originally Posted by muf

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I think you can use phrase sequencer.

 

I have played around with the phrase sequencer, but I have never tried including a phrase as part of a chain of patterns. Do I just devote one part in the sequence to triggering different phrases?



 

Quote Originally Posted by muf

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You can chain few patterns into a simple loop, but maybe you should consider to use some DAW instead. That is what I was told :-)

 

Yes, I am very happy that I finally got my DAW to work. That seems to be easier than building pattens in the on-board step sequencer. However, the power to switch patterns at the press of a button is very tempting. My DAW doesn't let me do that!
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Quote Originally Posted by kbeaumont

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You could use Ableton Live, give the free trial a spin! You could build up several patterns and switch them at will.

 

And you can not only switch patterns at the press of a key on your keyboard, you can switch scenes that contain multiple patterns. Ableton Live is a totally brilliant program and a good companion for the XW-P1.
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Well, I just got through identifying all of the GM locations for the drum kits in both my XWG1 and my XWP1. In the following list, the kits are identified in a farily self-explanatory manner. The ones which are only supported by either the P1 or the G1 are identified as such. All the rest are supported by both, including the ones which do not say XW at all, (i.e., standard GM kits):


[General MIDI Drums]

0=Standard 1

1=XW Standard 2

2=XWP1 Standard 3

3=XWP1 Standard 4

8=Room

9=XW Hip-Hop

16=Power

17=XWP1 Rock

24=Electronic

25=Synth 1

27=XWP1 Dance 3

28=XW Dance 2

29=XW Dance 1

30=XW Synth 2

31=XW Trance

32=XW Jazz

40=Brush

48=Orchestral

49=XW Ethnic

50=XW Ethnic 2

51=XWG1 Kicks

52=XWG1 Snares

53=XWG1 Hats & toms

54=XWG1 Groove 1

55=XWG1 Groove 2

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I have a Yamaha damper pedal, and when I connect it to the Casio it gives me the reverse effect. That is, the piano sustains when the pedal is in the up position, and stops sustaining when the pedal is in the down position.


Apparently the switch for the Yamaha pedal is "normally closed," wheras Casio is expecting a "normally open" circuit. Does anyone know if there is a setting some place in the Casio for this?

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Quote Originally Posted by kbeaumont

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nope, but you can get a new M-Audio or On stage pedal for about $25.

 

Thanks, I thought so. I even tried the trick where you hold the sustain pedal down while turning on the keyboard. That switches the polarity of the switch on some keyboards, but it made no difference here.
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Here is something really interesting I found while playing the XWG1 as a GM sound bank. On channel 14 only, the GM patch called "Lead 1 (square)" acts like a real Casio synth patch, not just the boring old GM sound. Also on channel 14 only, the GM patch called "Lead 2 (sawtooth)" acts like a real Casio synth bass. All the other patches on channel 14 are just regular GM sounds, and no other channels appear to have this feature. It's very strange, but I'm glad to have these extra sounds.

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I found a few more hidden "bonus" sounds, like the ones I described in my previous post (above this one). Apparantly channel 15 is in on the deal too, where Lead1 and Lead2 act like they have very short sustain. And on channel 13, Synth Bass 1 is a different type of synth bass.

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Sir,

I have a Roland VG-8EX and wonder what the audio/sonic possibilities are with the External Input on the Casio XW-P1.

I love the VIO Guitar and HRM that are still unique to VG-8EX.  If I play my VG-8EX through the External Input along with the XW-P1 preprogrammed synth patterns, how is the VG-8EX sound affected, or could it be unaffected at all?


Thanks in advance for the advice! :smiley-nicethread:


Anderton wrote:

I was going to turn my attention to the XW-P1's "king of the engines" (well, at least in my opinion): The Solo Synth. I really was. Honest. But then I got curious about the Solo Synth's External Input option. And the Variax was sitting only a few feet away...well...


My first surprise was an "Osc On" button for the external input. Now, how could there be an Osc On for an External input? Well, I turned it on, and as I played the guitar, I could transpose it in real time from the keyboard. The fidelity wasn't exactly killer, but it had a sort of uniquely strange personality.


In the audio example, the guitar did a lot of tonic/flattened 7th in the beginning.
Except it didn't.
The guitar was playing the tonic the whole time, and I loaded a phrase into the XW-P1 that transposed the guitar down to the flatted 7th.


Hey Mike - are you proud of me for finding another use for phrases? Triggering guitar patterns!
smile.gif


It's really late, and I need to get up early tomorrow. So, I'm not going to explain exactly what I did in this audio example, but I'll tell you it involved varying amounts of triggered envelopes, DSP ring modulator processing, delay, reverb, and some drum sequence I kicked in so I could do tempo sync triggering on the envelope and delay.


Fun stuff!! Normally I wouldn't post something this raw, and I'm not even scratching the surface (just touching it lightly) but hey, I figure by the time we've hit post #327 I'm among friends. This is some pretty wild stuff...and I imagine it will be a lot wilder once I figure out how to tame it.



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Hey Craig,
Thanks for posting this great review. I'm just about to buy an XW-P1, in part because of what you've written (with help from Mike Martin).

One problem: I can't see any links to any of the sound files that you mention in the review. It looks like you posted some piano samples, EP, Harpsichord, etc., but I can't find any links. I know this review was done 18 months ago, have you since removed them?
Thanks,
Bill

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I am most likely to purchase the P1 within the next few days. The seemingly fantastic feature set, great reviews and low cost have swayed me from purchasing a much more expensive synth ie Kurz PC3 LE, MOX6, Krome. This will be my second synth ever (I bought M-Audio Venom two years ago). I need more acoustic sounds (Venom has almost none) and hope the sequencer will help me as well.

I have been reading reviews of the P1 for couple of and then found this one. Wow so much good info, tips, and excitement. I love my Venom but have joined a band and need more sounds. I was quite surprised to see so many mentions of the Venom in these pages! I can't wait to route the venom through the P1 as a sound input and to see what the P1's sequencer can do with it.

I recently came into a good chunk of money and am also getting MacBook Pro and Ableton Push with full suite. As this will be my first DAW, controller, and hardware sequencer, am I biting off more than I can chew? Any comments on how the Ableton stuff and the P1 will compliment each other? Thanks, Jon

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Hi wish.. I don't think you're biting off too much.. The P1 plays very nice with other synths and DAWs...  You just need to tackle the features one step at a time.. plenty of help in the users groups and on YouTube. And your new gear will keep you out of trouble! :smileyhappy:

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For what it's worth - I have been playing the XW-P1 into a Zoom G5 amp simulation/multi-effects unit that has a rotary speaker emulation and the stereo results are quite nice for the drawbar simulation mode with the XW-P1.

I'm currently using a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp/cab simulation in front of the rotary simulator for the Zoom G5, and using the gain setting on the amp/cab for dirt.

Way better overdrive sound than the in-built overdrive in the P1.

I qualify that with 'stereo results', because the mono output from the G5 for it's leslie simulator leaves quite a bit to be desired, though it's better than the leslie sim on the P1 as a mono output.  Headphone output and stereo L/R output from the G5 after the P1 however, MUCH more usable than the P1 by itself

I will try to make and post some recordings.

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Just adding a note for anyone finding this excellent, comprehensive review from an Internet search or directly via Harmony Central. There are now a number of great, free resources for the XW-P1 on the Casio Music Forums (http://www.casiomusicforums.com) including many sounds, a FAQ and a document written by yours truly called "The XW-P1 Companion". Check it out.

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This whole thing was a great presentation.  I will refer to it often.  In thirty years of all kinds of net.action, I have only rarely found such post-for-post value as I have here in this thread.  Thank you, all.

I'm a guitarist for fifty years, began with keys only a year ago on a used DX-7.  My P1 is due by Thursday.  Really looking forward to getting to work.

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This whole thing was a great presentation.  I will refer to it often.  In thirty years of all kinds of net.action, I have only rarely found such post-for-post value as I have here in this thread.  Thank you, all.

I'm a guitarist for fifty years, began with keys only a year ago on a used DX-7.  My P1 is due by Thursday.  Really looking forward to getting to work.

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