PSR-I500 MIDI question

[Satyaa]

Hello all. First time posting here for me.
I have spent few days going through the PSR-E series forum, specifically every post about I500 model.

My interest currently is in Indian percussion instruments, specifically Mridangam. While the Ethnic/Indian kits on other Yamaha models have between 3 and 7 sounds, including the very expensive ones, the I500 kits have 25 sounds. I have not tried/heard them (nothing at a store near me) but the description sounds good.

I have checked the DTX products and they also have a limited 7 Mridangam sounds. While those 7 sounds are sufficient to get started it becomes limited very soon. The 25 sounds in the I500 are really tempting.

Playing percussion on the keyboard is neither fun nor efficient (for me). I'd like to use a MIDI pad controller like Novation Launchpad X or AKAI MPD226 plugged into the keyboard and try playing the percussion sounds.

I have written to Yamaha Support. Their response quoting the user manual was brief. Bottom line, the I500 only works as a MIDI host when connected to a computer. It cannot work connected to a MIDI controller like the pad controllers mentioned above.

Has anyone here tried using the I500 as a MIDI host? Can you confirm if my proposed device setup works?

If there was a way to get those 25 sounds in WAV format or a style file, I could use them on another device. Yamaha Support said they don't have such files. Not sure if there is a hack to download those sounds from I500.

Thank you!

[pjd]

Hi --

Welcome to the Forum!

The first thought that came to mind is the AKAI MPX8 compact drum controller and sample player. Load a set of eight drum sounds and play them using the pads. No external keyboard required.

I'll bet there are plenty of ethnic/Indian drum sounds (WAV files) on the Web. 

If you really want the Yamaha drum sounds, I would sample the I500 using Audacity on a PC. It's much easier to sample drum sounds than melodic sounds. Drums are one-shots and don't need to be looped.

The MPX8 is not expensive. I've got one. Load time is a bit slow, but overall, the MPX8 is effective.

Hope these thoughts help -- pj

[Satyaa]

Thanks @pjd

I am exploring the option to sample I500 sounds. Once I get that, I can use it with a DAW like Roland Zenbeats. I am also considering Yamaha FGDP-50 that can use WAV samples.

I am not familiar with the AKAI MPX8 but I will explore that. The 8 keys may not be sufficient. I would prefer something like the MPD226 with 16 pads and multiple banks.

There are few tricky elements about this instrument, which is why I cannot find good quality samples online. There are a couple of vendors selling some, but they also have less than ten sounds in the library and cost as much as the I500 keyboard

First, the main sound of the acoustic instrument is tuned to the pitch at which the lead artist is performing (vocal, violin or flute). All other sounds/syllables are relative to the primary sound. If the lead pitch changes, then the acoustic instrument is re-tuned. It is not possible with any of the available electronic solutions. I cannot change this. All free samples available on the internet are inconsistent, meaning they are not one matching set of all the sounds.

Then there are articulations that are difficult to emulate through simple sampling. I would have to sample each articulation separately and assign it to a different pad. In fact, the 25 sounds available in I500 are articulations of the basic ten sounds of the acoustic instrument. With more 16 samples, I will end up using something like the Launchpad X that I have now.

Kontakt Player with Spotlight: India pack was the closest I found but that software was very difficult to get it to work on my new laptop. I gave up.

Thanks for your response.

[pjd]

Sounds like you have a good grasp of the technology and the musical requirements.

Not sure what other ideas I could offer! 

Good luck -- pj

[Satyaa]

I have a partial success. I call it partial because for two reasons...

1. There is a latency that might bother professionals and performers. For my hobby purposes it seems to work.

2. This adds a laptop in the mix (could be simpler with iPad).

I had earlier tried this method with the free Kontakt Player 7 and it did not work.

I have Roland Zenbeats unlocked version on my Windows laptop. I defined an instrument track but did not select any instrument. So, when I hit the keys on the built-in keyboard it produces no sound.

I mapped the MIDI input into this instrument track from Novation Launchpad X. I mapped the MIDI output from this track to my Casio CTK-4000. I select a drum kit on the Casio. When I play the pads on Launchpad, it produces the sound on the Casio.

Because the I500 USB MIDI functionality is similar to this Casio keyboard (meaning, it takes MIDI IN messages from a PC but not from an external controller) I am imagining that this will work. I will try this on another Yamaha keyboard if I can find one.

Thanks.