Casio Lk-280 Song Tones

[Natulyre]

Hi there

I've been torturing myself trying to find a way to do what seems like a simple thing (maybe it's impossible, I have no idea), help me out if you can, I'll appreciate it.

I have a Casio Lk-280, it has a bunch of included songs that you can listen to with the "Listen" and the "Play" button, I cannot seem to figure out how to modify the tone that is used for the song. It always play with the 001 tone which is the Normal Grand Piano instrument.

I can modify the keyboard tone but I cannot seem to change the Song's tone for some reason. The manual isn't helping me.

Thanks in advance!

 

[The Y_man]

The manual implies that the tones are preset into the song and cannot be changed.....

The Y-man

 

[Ted Nicoson]

Typically, user songs or songs imported via SD-RAM cards, USB flash drives, or from a computer connection are loaded into and run (played) from RAM memory, which is changeable, but the demo songs are run (played) directly from ROM (read only memory) which is permanently "burned" at the factory and is not changeable.

Also, most manufacturers turn off MIDI transmit during demo song play so that you can not export the demos to an external DAW on a computer.

My favorites are units like my Casio WK-3800 and my Roland SC-88 which came with a diskette full of demo songs which I could load in and change to my hearts content.

 

[Natulyre]

Typically, user songs or songs imported via SD-RAM cards, USB flash drives, or from a computer connection are loaded into and run (played) from RAM memory, which is changeable.

Alright, now that demo songs are out of the way, how would you go about changing Imported songs / SD card songs Tones?

 

[Ted Nicoson]

Nat

Hang in there and quit torturing yourself. We'll figure out a way for you to do this - one way or the other. To do what you want to do on the keyboard itself requires the keyboard to have a "mixer" function and/or a sequencer with an "edit" function. Sadly, the LK-280 has neither. Its recorder/player has some basic edit functions, like deleting a song track, etc, but not what you need for re-voicing. So, you will need to do it externally with DAW software on a PC, then port it over to the LK-280 on an SD-RAM card as a Type-0 Standard MIDI File (SMF-0) with a ".mid" file extension. Now, before you get disappointed - bear in mind that many of us with keyboards with full-fledged sequencers and/or mixer functions do our song editing in exactly this manner. Editing with keyboard-based sequencers is a pain, at best, to a lot of us. So, in that case, welcome to the club. If you do not currently have DAW software on your PC, these folks have compiled a list of sequencers that are available for free download:

http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/freeware/MIDI_SEQUENCERS/

otherwise, Cakewalk offers Music Creator, and PG Music has Power Tracks both for about $50 US.

Now, the good news ! The MIDI standard provides for a total of 16 channels (tracks - sort of) but the LK-280 only gives you access to 6. It reserves the other 10 for itself, mostly for the rhythm parts, but when you port a MIDI song file to it for playback "directly from an SD-RAM card" (that is - it's NOT loaded into the recorder/player) it is the same as when you play the file from the PC to the LK-280 via the USB cable - ALL 16 CHANNELS (tracks - sort of) ARE YOURS ! Make sure you put any MIDI files in a MUSICDAT folder on the SD-RAM card, or the LK-280 won't be able to find them. Also, save any recording you do on the keyboard to an SMF-0, otherwise they are saved in a Casio proprietary format that your PC can't use. OH ! The LK-280 uses the GM-1 voice set, as does the Microsoft GM Wavetable synth in Windows, so playing a MIDI file on your PC should sound similar to the LK-280, but the LK-280's tones will probably sound a little better.

Good luck and enjoy that LK-280. It's a nice board. I will be here if you have more questions.

 

[Ted Nicoson]

Oops !

Forgot to mention in my previous post. I can not tell from the LK-280 manual if it will allow you to play the keyboard as it is playing back a MIDI file from the SD-RAM card. Some keyboards do, some don't. If it does, you are all set for making your own karaoke (actually keyboard-oke) files on the PC. Just take a MIDI file and set the volume of the track for the part that you want to play on the keyboard to zero with your DAW software, save it to the SD-RAM card, take it to the LK-280 and enjoy playing with a full band or orchestra behind you.

 

[Natulyre]

Going to try this soon. I really appreciate your posts, thanks!