CTK-5000 Edit Rhythm in PC

[Biswajit]

Hi,
I can pull the .ac7 Rhythm files on the keyboard to the PC but not able to edit it using the DataManager SW.However,this same sw can edit the rhythm files in .cfk format and the keyboard can play them.So has anyone tried converting the the .ac7 rhythm files to .ckf format..or have been able to edit in any other way.
Although the built in rhythm files can be edited in the keyboard itself,however,we cannot change much.eg the sequence of notes..I was hoping that I will import those into PC,convert into .mid and edit them in Anvil Studio..convert into .ckf ..and put them back on the keyboard.
Note:I use older Datamanager sw to connect to keyboard..and the newer version to edit.

Regards,
Biswajit

 

[Ted Nicoson]

Sorry, Biswajit !

I am not aware of any AC7 to CKF converter programs. I did a Google search to see if possibly someone had written one, but I did not come up with anything. If we want to convert MIDI phrases to AC7, as a "work around", we use the old IDES software to convert the MIDI to CKF first, then use the new Data Manager to convert the CKF to AC7, but I am also not aware of any kind of "work around" for converting AC7 to CKF, as you are trying to do. If someone has designed a converter program or "work around" perhaps they would be so kind as to enlighten the rest of us.

 

[Biswajit]

Wow Ted..you have used so many keyboards ...in my case, its the second one but would like to use it to the max! Glad to be speaking to experts here.
Regarding converting .cfk to .ac7,I think that process is not really required as CTK-5000 can play .ckf rhythm files..this gives the doubt that perhaps .ckf and .ac7 files contain the same content..however,mere changing of the extension to .ckf was not enough to be able to be detected as a rhythm by the SW.
Motivation for this query : Suppose someone suggests some song to play in a group, then some built in rhythm actually sound good enough ,however,it would be better if we could change some notes..keyboard itself cannot do that..but possibility to convert into midi raises hope that we could achieve that

 

[The Y_man]

See
https://www.keyboardforums.com/threads/wk-500-ac7-file-rhythm.23501/#post-167728

The Y-man

 

[Biswajit]

Thanks Y-man.So its confirmed that .ac7 currently is un-editable by any software on the planet (except maybe somewhere inside Casio company).I will settle with editing the built-in rhythms in the keyboard itself.

-Biswajit

 

[Ted Nicoson]

Biswajit

Don't forget, you can still import the .CKF rhythm files from the older Casio boards (WK-3000/3300/3500/3800/etc) into the newer boards with the new Data Manager software and then edit those within the board. I think a lot of the current styles are probably carryovers from the old repertoire, but you may find a truly "different" one here and there that would give you a unique base from which to start your editing.

If you do not already have them, here is a link to 140 of the oldies from the Casio-Europe site's archives, and many (most ?) of these are actual "originals". That is, they are not repeats of factory presets that came already installed in the boards:

http://www.casio-europe.com/euro/downloads/emi/cms/wk3300wk3800wk8000/rhythm/cms_rhythm.zip

Here is a link to 108 more aftermarket "originals" from the Casio International site's archives. Go down the list to "RHYTHM" and click on "Data List" (in green) to its right. That brings up the list of 108 downloads. Click on the word "Download" to the right of each rhythm file you want. Sorry, this is a one-at-a-time process. There is no link that gets them all in one shot. It takes some time, but is worth it. Also, this is a Java Script menu system, so if you are not running Java, you will not be able to access it. Do not bother downloading any of the tones, drumkits, drawbar settings, DSP settings, etc, as they will not work on the new boards:

http://music.casio.com/e/data_ex4/

On this same site, on the page you first come into, is a selection titled "PACKAGE" that will allow you to download a selection of 7 genre/ethnic specific packages that include rhythms with appropriate matching tones. Even though the tones will not work, the rhythms will, but would most likely require considerable tweaking to select the most appropriate tones on the new boards. That could be a lot of work, but may be well worth it, if you are into those music styles. I am going to download them later this evening to see what all would be involved.

Good luck !

 

[Ted Nicoson]

OK Biswajit

It looks like it is a "no go" on those "packages" I described above. The individual rhythms are fine, just not those genre/ethnic specific "packages" I described last. I knew the WK-7500 would not load the tones imbedded in them, but I thought it might sort out the rhythm files from the package and load them, but not so. The old IDES-4 (WK-3800) software won't even unbundle them. They were meant to be downloaded to the keyboard as a complete tone/wave/rhythm package - probably so the rhythm can keep track of where the waves and tones are stored in user memory. I thought I might be able to load them into my WK-3800 and then just upload the rhythms to my PC for further processing for the new boards, but when I saw they were "tone with wave" packages, that pretty well told me it was probably not worthwhile. The older boards could load wave files for tones that the keyboard did not have. The new boards can not do that, and there is little likelihood that they have anywhere near the correct sounds in their ROM's. Most of these packages are Middle-Eastern, Chinese, and Japanese and use instruments that most keyboards do not have or do not come anywhere near properly emulating, even when they have the correct sounds. I may still try some experimenting with these at some time in the future, but at the moment, I am afraid I have enough projects going. So ! Sorry I brought this one up ! Have fun if you do try anything with those other rhythms, though.

 

[Biswajit]

Hi Ted,
I did download quite a bit of rhythms from different links,including the ones mentioned by you sometime back (thanks to different posts in this forum)..and yes..the ckf files are editable as well playable in my ctk.And the fact that many of these share the same name ,as the ac7 ones in my ctk ,implies I might have all the keyboard ac7 files already converted to ckf files....problem solved for now.
I have not tried the packages yet..will update if I find something interesting.

Thanks again for your time.
Regards,
Biswajit