Cannot set Pattern Volume

[MediaWhapper]

Hi all,
I’m using a PSR E443. I want to change the balance of the “drum” pattern compared to the piano. I see in the manual how to get to the setting (PatrnVol, Fn #003), but the setting only displays “— — —“, not a value. Turning the wheel or keying in a value from the keypad has no effect.
In contrast, “AuxInVol” (Fn 004) displays a value and can be changed with either the wheel or the keypad.
Is my axe just funky or am I not doing this right?
TIA,
MW

 

[Ted Nicoson]

The term Pattern in PatrnVol applies to the DJ Patterns and will only show a value while the keyboard is in Pattern mode. What you are calling a drum "pattern" is actually the "Drum Part" of an Auto-accompaniment Style. You adjust its level with the StyleVol function. This adjusts the level of the entire Style. The only way to adjust the level of just the Drum Part, on the keyboard, is with a Style Creator (editor), which the PSR-E443 does not have. There are utilities available on the PSR-Tutorial website, by Jorgen Sorensen, Michael Bedesem, and Heiko Plate, that will make these edits off the keyboard, but again, the PSR-E443 does not allow exporting preset Styles. If you can find that Style, or a similar Style, in PSR-Tutorial's Style libraries, you can download and edit it with one of those utilities, then load it into the PSR-E443 as a User Style.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

As Ted says, the function adjusts the overall volume of the pattern, style, or song-- depending on which function you're adjusting-- and doesn't let you adjust the separate volumes of the individual parts. You can think of it as a percentage-- a setting of 100 means 100%, 50 means 50%, 127 means 127%, etc.

The reason the specific function you're asking about is displaying "---" is because you haven't put the keyboard into Pattern mode by pressing the PATTERN button so that it's lit up. I'm guessing that the keyboard is probably in Style mode, which is the default mode, in which case the Style Volume function will display a numeric value and can be adjusted. The other possibility is that Song mode is active, in which case the Song Volume function will display a numeric value and can be adjusted. Only one of these three modes-- Style, Pattern, or Volune-- can be active at any given time, and the Volume function for that particular mode will be active whereas the other two will display "---" instead.

Also, as Ted says, the Drum part that you're trying to adjust is probably coming from the style, rather than from the pattern, so you should probably be adjusting the Style Volume, not the Pattern Volume.

 

[MediaWhapper]

The term Pattern in PatrnVol applies to the DJ Patterns and will only show a value while the keyboard is in Pattern mode. What you are calling a drum "pattern" is actually the "Drum Part" of an Auto-accompaniment Style. You adjust its level with the StyleVol function. This adjusts the level of the entire Style. The only way to adjust the level of just the Drum Part, on the keyboard, is with a Style Creator (editor), which the PSR-E443 does not have. There are utilities available on the PSR-Tutorial website, by Jorgen Sorensen, Michael Bedesem, and Heiko Plate, that will make these edits off the keyboard, but again, the PSR-E443 does not allow exporting preset Styles. If you can find that Style, or a similar Style, in PSR-Tutorial's Style libraries, you can download and edit it with one of those utilities, then load it into the PSR-E443 as a User Style.

Very informative response! Thanks!

 

[MediaWhapper]

Very informative response! Thanks!

Very helpful guys. I adjusted the Style volume and got the results I was looking for.
I really just wanted to play a simple drum pattern as a metronome to the songs I’ve bee practicing, but I couldn’t hear the beat behind the Grand Piano patch I was using. I didn’t realize that pattern is actually part of a Style. I’ll read more about styles going forward.
Raising the level of the Style fixed it just fine, and now I can keep better time with my tunes.
Thanks!

 

[SeaGtGruff]

A style has up to eight parts:

- Rhythm 1
- Rhythm 2
- Bass
- Chord 1
- Chord 2
- Pad
- Phrase 1
- Phrase 2

But on the PSR-E443 and related models some of the parts are paired together as far as your ability to toggle them on and off with the Track Control buttons:

- Drums (Rhythm 1 and Rhythm 2)
- Bass
- Chord 1
- Chord 2
- Pad
- Phrases (Phrase 1 and Phrase 2)

When you play a style, you can use the Track Control buttons to turn off the parts you don't want to hear. So if all you want to hear are the drums, you can turn off the other parts of the style. Or you might want to hear the drums and bass, but not the other parts; and so on.

 

[MediaWhapper]

A style has up to eight parts:

- Rhythm 1
- Rhythm 2
- Bass
- Chord 1
- Chord 2
- Pad
- Phrase 1
- Phrase 2

I have to admit, I haven’t toyed with the styles that much. If the PSR-E443 combines some of the parts, what Yamaha models carry all eight parts individually?

 

[SeaGtGruff]

The PSR-S models let you control each of the 8 style parts, but they're more expensive than the PSR-E models.