Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    
    
    The Freeze feature is basically a mono-sampler. I.e. you can say
    nineteen into it and get it to say n-n-n-n-nineteen back to you
    triggering is via a midi-keyboard which allows your nineteen to
    sound like a smurf or Darth-Vader (sp?) depending on which end of
    the keyboard you use.
    
    As to the noise. I find my SPX to be reasonably quiet given judicious
    and subtle use. If it sounds noisey you are probably overusing it.
    
    How do you use ?
    
    Have you read the manual.
    
    				Paul.

     Paul,
    
     thanks for the info about Freeze, I think I got it now.
    
    About the noisy SPX: I read the manual, but as far as I can
    remember it says nothing about setups concerning noise.
     I'm using the SPX for guitarsounds and guitareffects. I have
    connected it to the effects-in-out jacks provided by the amp.
    The input level of the SPX is low (just within the green led's).
    Is there something like a preferred setup for the SPX and what
    do you mean by saying "overuse"?
    
    Guenter
    

    Make certain that the level switch on the back by the input jack
    and the one by the output jack are in the right positions, probably
    +4dB or the middle one.
    
    Since one of the freeze programs can only repeat the same 2 second
    lenght, I built a trigger box, like a metronome, that would trigger
    the single-shot freeze; this gave me variable length loops.
    
    The mono-sampler deal is only good +/- an octave.  Notice that it
    doesn't change the length of the sound, only the pitch.  i.e.,
    if you play the sound back an octave lower, it isn't twice as slow,
    it's the  same spped.
    Tom

    
    Re -1
    
    Now I never new that. I have never used the freeze mode. I have
    only read about it. How would I find the lack of speed change useful.
    
    Why Dont all samplers do this ?
    
    					Paul.
    

I sent away to Ya**ha for the SPX90 MIDI format spec sheet.  It showed how to
do a note on, note off, and a probably erroneous sysex message.
The user's manual that comes with the unit has more information: it shows
the sysex for reading and one for writing preset-to-program tables,
and a parameter setup sysex, but not a read parameters sysex. Also the
write parameters sysex doesn't give what each data byte means.
Sounds like the end of the line to me, calling the manufacturer.
Anyone have any bright ideas for getting the sysex parameter format?
Maybe I could guess at the read parameter setup sysex, but there may not
even be such a message at all.
Tom

	When I received the little spec sheet 
from Y*m*h*, they included a customer service card.  I filled it out saying
that no, what they sent didn't satisfy my requirements, and they called up
the other day to say they understood now and would send this huge save-a-tree
and-put-it-on-CD book with more spx 90 sysex details.
I think we have those with our manuals, sort of.  Do we respond like that?
Tom

 Yamaha sent the ca. 100 pp. of material on SPX90 sysex formats.
It is presented in the context of a CX5M demo. 
  I learned a few things up front:
1. a little switch inside (a test switch) makes the thru port into an out
port that can return sysex dumps.
2. the sysex data is divided into nybbles and sent a nybble per byte.
3.  There are 4 bytes (4 nybbles) per parameter, always.

I still can't get a sysex send to work.  I copied the midi hex off the
screen dump they had from a cx5m and sent it and got a different checksum.
  I must not be calculating the checksum with all the right bytes.  I know
I'm doing the arithmetic right because another sysex works (one I don't care
about, mapping programs to presets).

The spx has no messages for changing just one parameter or for button push
emulation.

Tom

    I received the Yamaha book of spx 90 codes.  I was able to implement an
    Amiga patch loader for the spx90.  I want to fix a couple bugs,
    but it is very usable already.  Which is just in time because the
    low battery message came up, and when I disconnect the battery to
    replace it, the stuff in user memory will be lost.  But now I can
    reload it all in minutes (already have made the data files).
    The data files in are text files of the values of the patch; my program
    reads the files and formats it for the spx90II and loads it as sysex.
    Perhaps I should save it as binary sysex.  When synthesizers save
    sysex patchges, are they merely a binary file of the entire 
    sysex message??
    Anyone with an spx90 and an amiga?
    Tom