PSR EW300 Voice Layering (Dual): I must not be doing it right?

[Noots]

I'm trying to understand if I'm doing something wrong when I want to layer two voices. Let's just say I want to layer the voice 001 of the portable grand with the next voice, 002 (which is Brite, I believe). For some reason, if I follow the instructions as given, no matter what I try I end up having the second voice be 054 Strings. Why is that?

I've found that if I really hold down the Dual button (which makes me feel like it could be called "Duel" instead), it will show me that 054, and maybe I can override this with the second voice. But why does it default there? Is there something else I should be doing to just blend the currently played voice with another of my choosing? There has to be something simple that I can input--it cannot be this hard to do.

Thank you.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Whenever you choose a Main Voice, there are a number of presets which Yamaha has chosen ahead of time as being "ideal" for that voice. These preset values will be loaded to their respective functions, even if a particular function isn't currently activated.

The specific functions affected can vary from model to model, and I'm not sure which ones the PSR-EW300 uses. But in general it seems to be related to the types of preset voices that the keyboard offers. For instance, some models include "dual" voices among their preset voices-- voices which, when selected, automatically turn on the Dual function with a specific voice preselected as the Dual Voice, along with certain settings related to that voice such as its volume, octave offset, reverb depth, etc. Other models include "arpeggiated" voices, which turn on the Arpeggio function with a specific arpeggio type preselected. There may also be "harmony" voices which turn on the Harmony function with a specific harmony type preselected. If a given keyboard model includes one of these preset voice types, then the pertinent functions will generally be included among the ones which have preset values stored for each of the preset voices. For instance, if your model includes any "dual" preset voices then it's extremely likely that the keyboard stores a specific Dual On/Off setting, Dual Voice Number setting, Dual Volume setting, Dual Octave setting, etc., for each one of its preset voices.

Consequently, whenever you want to set up your keyboard with a particular combination of voices, volume settings, octave offsets, etc., it can be very important that you change the function settings in the correct order, otherwise you might find that the settings you're choosing will end up getting overwritten by the preset values. There's no specific "correct order" for most of the functions, but there definitely is when it comes to choosing the Main Voice. In particular, you should always select the Main Voice first, before changing any of the other function settings, since choosing the Main Voice will cause the keyboard to read the various presets which are stored for that voice and write them to their corresponding functions. Then, once you've selected the desired Main Voice Number, you can safely change any functions related to it such as Main Volume, Main Octave, Main Reverb Depth, etc., as well as other functions such as Dual On/Off, Dual Voice Number, Dual Volume, Dual Octave, Split On/Off, Split Voice Number, Reverb Type, Arpeggio On/Off, Arpeggio Type, etc.

 

[Noots]

Thank you. And ouch. So I can't just determine that I want to play the Portable Grand and Layer it with Lite as the instructions tell me to, because there's a preset to layer it with Strings. Does your note imply that I can go in and turn off the Dual preset for something (or maybe globally), to allow an easier layering?

I have a Casio WK-7500, and it's easy as heck to layer two voices of anything I want. But that beast weighs around 20lbs, and is becoming a pain to drag out to open mic every week. Was really hoping the 11-lb EW300 would make me very happy to lug around, and less jealous of our guitar-playing brethren who can sling their gear with minimal effort.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

No, that's not what I said, and I apologize for not being clearer.

To use your original example, say you want to layer Voice 001 with Voice 002.

This way should work:
(1) Select Voice 001 as the Main Voice.
(2) Press DUAL to turn on the Dual Voice.
(3) Hold down DUAL to go to the Dual Voice function.
(4) Select Voice 002 as the Dual Voice.

This way will most likely not work:
(1) Press DUAL to turn on the Dual Voice.
(2) Hold down DUAL to go to the Dual Voice function.
(3) Select Voice 002 as the Dual Voice.
(4) Select Voice 001 as the Main Voice.

If you do it the first way, selecting Voice 001 as the Main Voice will most likely turn off the Dual Voice and (even though Dual Voice was just turned off) set the Dual Voice to some voice that has been preselected as going well with Voice 001-- which, going by your first post, is apparently Voice 054. Once the keyboard loads the presets for Voice 001, you're free to override them by changing the Main Voice settings if desired (Volume, Octave, Reverb Depth, etc.), turning on the Dual Voice if desired, changing the Dual Voice to Voice 002 if desired, and changing the Dual Voice settings if desired (Volume, Octave, Reverb Depth, etc.).

But if you do it the second way, everything you did in steps 1 through 3 will be undone by step 4, because when you select Voice 001 as the Main Voice, the keyboard will automatically turn off the Dual Voice (even though you had specifically turned it on in step 1), and automatically set the Dual Voice to Voice 054 (even though you had specifically set it to Voice 002 in step 3).

However, this behavior varies slightly from model to model, depending on the types of preset voices which are available on the keyboard.

For instance, on my PSR-E433, PSR-E443, and PSR-EW400, it works just as I've described above, because those models include several "dual" voices in their presets.

But my YPT-400 (which is another name for the PSR-E403) does not include any "dual" voices in its presets, and selecting the Main Voice does not automatically change the Dual On/Off and Dual Voice settings.

Looking at the Voice List for the PSR-E363/PSR-EW300/YPT-360, I see that these models include "dual" voices (numbers 162 through 188) and "arpeggio" voices (numbers 216 through 235). Therefore these models should work as I've described above with respect to the Dual and Harmony/Arpeggio features-- i.e., whenever you select a Main Voice, the keyboard will automatically change the Dual On/Off setting (on for voices 162 through 188 and off for the rest), the Dual Voice setting (preselecting a voice that goes well with the Main Voice you selected), the Harmony/Arpeggio On/Off setting (on for voices 216 through 235 and off for the rest), and the Harmony/Arpeggio Type setting. Other settings related to those functions will also be affected-- Main Voice Volume, Main Voice Octave, Main Voice Chorus Depth, Dual Voice Volume, Dual Voice Octave, Dual Voice Chorus Depth, Harmony Volume, Arpeggio Velocity, and Pedal Function. You can change those functions to any settings you want, but you should always do so AFTER you've selected the Main Voice you want to use.

By the way, choosing a Style or a Song will also affect certain settings-- in particular, the Tempo and the Time Signature (Time Signature Numerator and Time Signature Denominator). Once you've selected a particular Style or Song, you can change the Tempo setting to speed up or slow down the Style or Song playback as desired, but changing to a different Style or Song will set the Tempo to the default for the new Style or Song. And the Time Signature is locked for each Style and Song, so you won't be able to change it at all. However, if you want to play or record a Song of your own then you will be able to set the Time Signature as desired-- unless you're using a Style in your recording, in which case the Style's Time Signature will be used.

Also, if you set the Main Voice to Voice 000, the keyboard will automatically change the Main Voice to one that's been preselected for the selected Style or Song.

 

[Noots]

Thank you, that's most helpful. On my other keyboard, I probably only had half a dozen dual voices in my bank of presets. Hopefully it won't be too tough getting something similar set up. This is a great forum to have access to.