Hi everybody,
I am trying to understand the use of sliders in seq play mode.

While in multi mode these can control all 16 parts in groups of 4 adiacent ones (e.g. parts 5-8 when one of parts 5 to 8 is selected with the PART and 1-16 buttons), in seq play mode they always seem to control parts 1-4, no matter which playing part is selected.
I somehow managed once to have them controlling other 4 adiacent parts (e.g. 9-12), and then I could not change this until the sequence was stopped, but I can’t figure out the rationale. Does it depend on the part which is selected when the sequence STARTS to play? Or on something else?

Thanks for your help.
Marco

How the sliders behave can depend on the settings on your S90 xx. Are you connected to any external device (computer, etc.), is local control ON or OFF. These things will affect what it sent and where it is sent, what is received and what responds.

In general, when you select a PART [1]-[16] you are selecting how the Control Sliders will behave.

And since none of the S-series have a recording sequencer, we have to ask what are you playing along with? A MIDI sequence? A Wave file? a Computer sequence?

All of these things can have bearing on the behavior of your keyboard. Also do not assume we know what model you have - let us know.

OK, so I have a S90XS and I am playing in MULTI/SEQ mode along with a MIDI file. In the first slot of the sequence I load a plain multi in which part X has as MIDI channel X as receive channel), then the MIDI file program changes set the voices for the parts.
One of the parts I mute and select as the one to be played from the keyboard (with MUTE and PART buttons).

Now, no matter which part I do select, it seems the four sliders always control the volume of parts 1-4 (I was thinking that if e.g. part 6 were selected then the sliders would act on parts 5-8, but apparently it does not work that way).

Any help is very appreciated, thank-you.
Marco

Sorry can you re describe the first paragraph with specifics, seems you are trying to tell us something, but keep falling short of the actual situation. We get that the X is you saying “some Part” but be specific, you only make reading what you are trying to do unnecessarily difficult. Be specific.

One of the parts I mute and select as the one to be played from the keyboard (with MUTE and PART buttons).

You also seem to think that MUTE and SELECT are some how linked, they are not.
SOLO and SELECT are linked, MUTE and SELECT are not. They are separate. Not sure if that helps you.

Let us know (exactly) what you are doing… As far as we know, actually Selecting a PART between 5-8 should move your CS to control PARTS 5-8. Selecting a PART 9-12 should move your CS to control PARTS 9-12, and so on.

I’m sorry if I am not being clear enough: I’ll try to explain better.

I have a standard MIDI file with data on, say, 10 different MIDI channels.
In SEQUENCE PLAY mode, I set as the first step of the chain a custom plain MULTI, in which each of the 16 parts receives on the corresponding MIDI channel, program changes are enabled etc.
The second step of the chain is my MIDI file from an USB memory.
I START the sequence, the MULTI is loaded then the MIDI sequence starts, each part receives the appropriate program change setting the desired voices, and plays.
Say I have a base piano track on MIDI channel 1, which plays as part 1; now I MUTE part 1 and set PART to 1 (what you call SELECT, which I think is what is labeled as PART on the S90XS), so that I can play the piano part from the keyboard myself instead of having it played by the MIDI file.
Slider 1 controls the volume of the part I am playing from the keyboard), and sliders 2-4 control the volume of parts 2-4 (played from the MIDI file).
So far so good.

Now - while the song is playing - I want to switch to playing a different part from the keyboard, say a guitar solo from part 7, instead of having it played from the MIDI file. Of course I also want the piano on part 1 to be played by the MIDI file as I am busy playing another part.
So I unMUTE part 1 (which starts playing again from the MIDI file), I MUTE part 7 and set PART to 7, and I play this part myself (instead of the MIDI file).
Still, the four sliders 1-4 control the volume of parts 1-4 (not of 5-8 as I was expecting), so that I cannot use slider 3 to tweak the volume of the part (7) I am now playing from the keyboard.
This is my issue.

I am not using the SOLO button at all (which I understand coresponds to MUTEing all other parts). Also I am not using the four PART SELECT buttons on the left part of the keyboard (which as far I understand are related to which of four parts the knobs affect).

Hope this is now clear and you can help me understand where’s the catch or what I am doing wrong.

Thanks
Marco

Again, when you MUTE a Part, this does not select it it for play.
That is what I see that you are missing.

If you are playing the piano in Part 1, when you activate the MUTE function you can mute any of the other Parts while continuing playing the piano in Part 1. Because the MUTE function is not linked to the PART SELECT function.

If you want to easily accomplish what you desire, the most elegant method would be to edit your MIDI file so that Muting Tracks would be completely unnecessary. In other words, erase the portions of Track 1’s piano where you will be playing it directly. And erase the portions of track 7’s guitar when you will be playing on that Part. This why you can leave the PART SELECT function active while you navigate transmitting via a PART 1 (piano) and PART 7 (guitar).

Here’s something that may help.
Below we discuss the difference in functions between [MULTI] mode and [SEQ PLAY] mode. This must be understood to successfully use both.
“Part” refers to an internal synth voice assigned to 1-16 of a Multi.
“Mute” can refer to muting a sound, or muting a track.
“Track” refers to data streaming from your file 1-16

When in MULTI mode and the [PART] button is lit: (no MIDI file playing)
The number buttons [1]-[16] will allow you select an internal PART for real time play.
You will notice as you select a PART using the buttons on the right front panel, one of the four corresponding selected PART lights will illuminate in the PART SELECT (Performance Control area). When you select PART 7 on the right side the third Performance Control button will illuminate as it represents the third Part in the 5-8 grouping. in this mode, the MUTE function acts as a PART ON/OFF for the corresponding Voice assigned to the PART.

In fact when the right side [PART] buttons are pressed one after the other, the left side Part Select buttons light to correspond. And likewise when [MUTE] is lit and you MUTE a number the correspond left side PART ON/OFF button lights and extinguishes in kind.

When in SEQ PLAY mode and the [PART] button is lit: MIDI file playing. This is a MULTI being accessed by a sequence.
The number button [1]-[16] still allow you to select internal PARTS for real time play, but the [MUTE] functions switches roles to become TRACK MUTES for the streaming MIDI file. They prevent the MIDI from the correspondingly numbered (file) Track from reaching the tone engine, but will allow you to play the assigned Part via the keyboard, should you choose to select it. The left side PART ON/OFF button silence both the Track and the Part. If you unlight the PART ON/OFF button, neither the keyboard nor the file’s track can trigger the sound assigned there.
But the act of muting does not change your transmit channel to match that Part or a Track. Only while the [PART] button is lit are you able to switch transmit channels… 1-16.

Solutions: you need to switch from piano to guitar…
To avoid having to first unmute track 1, so that it can again play piano from the file, then MUTE Part 7 to silence the guitar track, then press the [PART] button so you can press [7] to select it as your new transmit channel… (Whew!) Which is doable, but I can understand that it is a bit clumsy to execute quickly.

I would load the .mid into Cubase, (Dissolve Parts by Channel so you can edit the data on separate Tracks), ERASE the MIDI data where the piano and the guitar would be muted, so that you don’t have to do a button pushing dance while on stage.

I believe the design concept was to prepare your MIDI file so that when it streams from your file it is prepared to play exactly the way you require… You are attempting to use the MUTE Track function, and the internal Part Select functions while in SEQ PLAY and it is not optimized for what you are attempting. I can only recommend that you use your copy of Cubase (or your favorite DAW) to erase the unnecessary data, then Export it as your (totally prepared) new .Mid file.

I’ve worked extensively with an S90 XS/S70 XS with MIDI files ... And if they are not files that you created, feel free to edit the file so that it works for your needs. I have done the button danced described above but only in situations where I had time to make that switch… I realize this is not always possible. Mostly if the sequence I’m using started as a commercially available MIDI file, I remove all the musical parts and data I’m not going to use… The melody, if I’m going to be playing it, then I erase it, completely (I don’t need that coming up unexpectedly) and all system exclusive data that does not apply to the Instrument I’m playing - I delete it.

Anyway, I understand what you are attempting to do. I recommend if timing is tight in the transitions, then edit the file. If you’ve never done it before, it’s really not that difficult. This will allow you to relax on stage with no surprises (I’m sure you’re like me, I hate surprises… At least on stage)
:-)

Summary:
MULTI mode is for “live” performing
SEQ PLAY mode is for playing along with a (prepared) sequence.

Let us know if you need help editing that file.

Thank-you Bad_Mister for your detailed reply.

I think I understand what you write.
I appreciate your suggestion to avoid too much button-pressing live, which is what I do: [START] [MUTE] [1] ...play piano… [1] (unmute MIDI piano) [7] (mute MIDI guitar) [PART] [7] ...play guitar…
Of course this only works when changes are not too fast (I have a bar or two with nothing to play before switching).

The reason for doing it this way is in lounge playing, when it happens during a song I have to do some talking rather than playing, so during the song I decide on the fly not play any more and leave it all to the MIDI player for background music.
Of course I could prepare two MIDI files, one with the parts I usually play live being erased, as you suggest, and one not (the files were already heavily edited in Cubase), but I would lose the possibility of choosing on the fly during the song whether to play a part live or let the MIDI do it.

Indeed the starting question is: the switching of the four sliders to control volumes on parts 1-4, then 5-8, etc. depending on the PART being selected with the right-hand 1-16 buttons, only works in MULTI mode and not in SEQ PLAY mode? (Indeed while MIDI is playing the LEDs on the four left-hand side PART SELECT buttons do not cycle while I sequentially press the [1-16] buttons, as they do when the song is not playing).

It appears to me the machine works that way, and therefore in SEQ PLAY mode the sliders always control only 4 parts. I do not understand the rationale of it and just wanted to check whether there was a workaround.

Thank-you
Marco