walking bass

[marc1956]

I wondering if it is possible to set a walking bass at the PSR E 403 with playing only the chords.

If so, how I should do that

Marc

[DerekA]

I don't think this model supports walking bass.

This feature starts in the PSR-S ranges as 'fingered on bass' or 'ai' chord mode.

[Robert van Weersch]

A walking bass is defined by the style. "Fingered on bass" enables you to play slash chords, e.g. C/G by playing G-C-E with your left hand.

[marc1956]

Thanks all.

Marc

[SciNote]

Does the E403 have the ability to selectively turn on or off the individual components of a style, like my E433 does?  If so, you may be able to use that feature to get a type of walking bass effect.  Try one of the swing styles with auto-accompaniment switched on, and then turn off all parts of the style except the bass (and the drums, if you want the drum accompaniment).  Then, as you play left-hand chords, you'll get just the bass line.

[marc1956]

Thanks Bob.

I don't believe it is possible.

Marc

[SciNote]

Yeah, I took a quick look at the manual online, and it looks like you're correct.  Unless it's a feature buried in a submenu somewhere, it doesn't look like you can individually turn off parts of the style on the E403.  But again, I just took a quick look at the manual.  You may want to take a closer look to see if there is anything equivalent in the E403.

[SeaGtGruff]

You could always create your own walking bass style file.

[vbdx66]

Hi guys,

Actually the first E4xx with buttons to mute/unmute tracks of the auto-accompaniment is the E433.
I remember that there is a way to play auto-accompaniment on the E series so as to get only the drums and the bass but it is not documented. It involves playing four adjacent keys at the same time or something similar. Does this ring a bell for someone?

Regards

Vinciane

[SciNote]

Oh, yeah, I kind of remember hearing that, as well.  If I had to guess, you could try playing C, D, E, and F all together with the auto-accompaniment on to see if that works to get a walking bass modeled on C.  If that doesn't work, then try C, C#, D, and D#.  The idea is that it confuses the auto-accompaniment because it cannot relate those notes to a chord, so it plays no chord accompaniment.  I don't know if that would also shut out the bass or not, but it's worth a try.  If it does work, then the only drawback I can initially see is that the bass would not necessarily match the type of chord you want, because the keyboard cannot determine a chord and would likely only play bass notes (if it does it at all) based on a major chord.

So, for C, it might play something like C, then E, the G, the Bb, then back down again, or something similar.  But if you are playing a melody based on C-minor, then it E would clash with your melody, as the C-minor chord has an Eb, instead.

[SeaGtGruff]

Yes, it's called "NC" or "No Chord," and I think you need to play 3 keys to trigger it-- the 1st, minor 2nd, and major 2nd. However, if you play 3 consecutive keys you'll usually get one of the minor 7th "easy chords":

Black-White-Black:
C#-D-D# = D# minor 7th, or Eb minor 7th
F#-G-G# = G# minor 7th, or Ab minor 7th
G#-A-A# = A# minor 7th, or Bb minor 7th

Black-White-White:
D#-E-F = F minor 7th
A#-B-C = C minor 7th

White-Black-White:
C-C#-D = D minor 7th
D-D#-E = E minor 7th
F-F#-G = G minor 7th
G-G#-A = A minor 7th
A-A#-B = B minor 7th

White-White-Black:
E-F-F# = ?
B-C-C# = ?

However, the keys don't need to be in the same octave, so you can trigger the NC accompaniment by playing C# with your left pinkie finger and playing B-C an octave above with your thumb.

[SciNote]

Well, I tried this with my PSR-E433, and if the E403 works in a similar manner, this won't do it, either.  First of all, to induce a no-chord situation, I had to play 4 chromatic notes together -- like C, C#, D, and D#.  If I just played 4 scale notes together (C, D, E, and F), the keyboard style still did something with it (C11?  Dm9?  Not sure...).

However, since the 4 chromatic notes played together induced a no-chord situation, the only bass notes I got were the root note -- in this case, C -- played over and over or in octaves, instead of any kind of walking bass.

So, it looks like Michael so far has the best solution... If the E403 can accept an external style, then create a style that includes just drums and bass.  Maybe take an existing swing style with walking bass, and just edit out everything except the drums and bass -- essentially, what I originally suggested, but to remove the unneeded tracks directly from the style itself, instead of muting them on the keyboard.

Now, in more recent years, I learned that on my E433, I can have auto-accompaniment engaged AND split-keyboard engaged at the same time, and if I do this and play an actual chord with my left hand, then I get both the style's auto-accompaniment as well as the chord I'm playing using the split voice.  If the E403 has this same capability, then that gives added flexibility with this option to create a style with nothing but drums and bass.  For example, after creating and loading such a style, you could set up, say, a piano sound as the split voice (you may want to raise it an octave or two so it is not "muddy" sounding).  If you just want to hear drums and walking bass, turn split voice off (but of course, keep auto-accompaniment on).  But if you want to add the piano to your background, turn split voice on, and then play chords in rhythm with your left hand, and you should hear the drums, bass, and your piano playing.

This may even work with easy-play chords, as well.  In other words, if you have the style and auto-accompaniment on, as well as the split-voice turned on, and you just play a single C note with your left hand in the lower part of the keyboard, the keyboard may actually play a full C major chord using the split voice.  I'd have to double check this on my keyboard to see if that works.

[SeaGtGruff]

Another possibility might be to use an Arpeggio. The later models in the series have some preset voices that turn on the Arpeggio function for the Split Voice rather than for the Main Voice, but the PSR-E403 has no such preset voices. But it might be worth experimenting with the Arpeggio feature to see what's possible.

And another possibility might be to record your own walking bass track in a User Song, then play it back and play along with it. This has the advantage of being able to play the exact notes you want the walking bass to have, instead of having to settle for a style that comes close but isn't perfect.

And finally, you could send the keyboard's MIDI output to a computer or tablet and use an app or MIDI plugin to play a walking bass arpeggio based on the chord being played on the Split Voice's channel (channel 3).

[Janus]

Why don't play the bass yourself
Play with 2 hands is in the beginning difficult
After that you get more grip on the music and make it more you're own creation

[marc1956]

alot of good suggestions that make me fill in the weekend.
Gonna try something.

Marc

[marc1956]

Why don't play the bass yourself
Play with 2 hands is in the beginning difficult
After that you get more grip on the music and make it more you're own creation

I played two handed 3o years ago on the Hammond.
But that feeling is almost gone. I'm starting over again.
Yes, that's possible to. But on the Hammond I played the walking bass by feet :-)

Marc