Please Read This First

Just a word of caution. If you attempt any of the tips below and in the process found that you made a mistake and messed up the memory setting - don't worry. It can be reverted to the original factory preset very easily. Simply press MEM&CTRL button, then select Initial from the LCD menu then followed by Total Organ (see page 126 of the owner's manual). After this is done, just try the tips again.

How to Ensure Sustain Stays on During Playback?

You may have noticed that very often the sustain effect of a pre-recorded track goes off during playback, particularly after depressing the SEQUENCE RESET button to rewind your song. By the way, you activate the sustain effect for a specific sequencer track by pressing the SOUND MENU button (bottom right panel) then select Part Setting from the menu in the LCD panel. Scroll to the track you want and you can find the sustain option there. (A more detailed explanation on the Sequencer function and Part Settings are available further below).

I do not know the reason why this happens. Is this peculiar to only EA3? But fortunately, it is very easy to overcome this. Just do these steps. Set your sound, rhythm, effects setting, etc. for the beginning of your song (including activating the sustain effect under Part Setting), store it into one of your PANEL MEMORY 1 to 5. Proceed to record your tracks as per normal. After the recording is done and saved, select STEP RECORD (bottom right panel), go to the control track (CTL) shown on your LCD panel. With the scroll bar at the very first beat, depress the appropriate PANEL MEMORY button. A beep can be heard. Save your recording again.

Defining a PANEL MEMORY at the very first beat ensures that the system knows the exact setting required each time you rewind your recording to the beginning.

Are any of you disappointed with the factory preset string sounds? I am. (arrrgh…even my cheap PC sound card can produce better string sounds). Actually, the organ is capable of producing realistic and beautiful string sound. There is already one nice factory preset sound call Slow String. You just need to retrieve it and tweak the sound a little. Do this:

But it is a different story if you were to record your performance as a Wavefile, MP3 or into an Audio CD where it could be easily played on any PC or Hi-Fi. The basic requirements are:
1. A PC close to your organ, with a sound card and running on Windows
2. A software for editing, recording and converting analog signals into Wave files (.WAV)
3. An audio cord with head phone jacks on both ends (organ side needs a normal jack, the one on the sound card normally requires the mini version. Size converters and cord extenders are readily sold in electronic shops)
4. A CD-Write drive and CD-Write software (both optional)

Interested? Here is how I did it. Read on.

The EA3 is MIDI compatible, meaning you can download a .mid file and replay the song on the organ like you would on your PC. A MIDI file is actually very similar to the Technics sequencer file, i.e. the note data, effects and musical instrument data are saved into unique tracks. Although your keyboards are not disabled during a MIDI playback, all the sounds options are no longer the same, only the GM (general MIDI) compatible musical instruments appear. Furthermore, some basic functions of your organ are disabled, e.g. Techni Chord, rhythm, Orchestral Conductor, sound edit, foot switch, etc. In short, you simply cannot hope to play along to a MIDI playback immediately. What you need to do is really to convert the MIDI file into a Technics sequencer file. Once this is done, all the organ functions will be available as per normal. Search all you want in the owner's manual but the method to do this is simply not there. I have discovered (almost by accident) two easy ways to do the conversion, but I shall mention one method.

The note data and keyboard velocity will be converted correctly but the tracks may end up with different sounds, e.g. a bass guitar track may be converted to a piano track. The exact logic for the parts conversion between MIDI and Technics can be found on Page 27 of the SX-EA3 Reference Guide. One thing predictable is that a MIDI percussion track will be converted to a Technics keyboard percussion track automatically. I found myself using more and more of the converted rhythm loops (keyboard percussion) to go with my performance instead of using the factory preset rhythms. To avoid the organ becoming just an overpriced jukebox, I made sure that I convert the accompaniment tracks and tracks with repetitive notes only, leaving plenty of room for me to express myself musically on the upper/lower/pedal.

I personally like to modify the MIDI files on my PC before the conversion. I am currently using Cakewalk to delete unwanted tracks, transpose the music score, cut and paste measures, print the music score and adjust keyboard velocity. Editing the tracks on the PC is a piece of cake compared to doing it on the organ itself. Maybe in a not too far future, there won't be any more buttons on the organ; instead there will be just one big touch screen. Until that day comes, elaborate editing of Sequencer tracks is best done on the PC.

Don't forget to assign a Control track after the conversion and adjust the necessary Part settings. (You may want to read more about Sequencers below).

By the way, you can also save your recorded performance as a MIDI file (i.e. the opposite of what you were doing above). See below.

This 20 cm speaker lacks the punch. By the way, a sticker with the organ serial number organ is tucked away to the right of the speaker. A second sticker is underneath the keyboard.

The pedal bass sound and bass drum percussion sound is very weak especially if the organ is placed some distant away from a solid wall. I have noticed that whenever I place the back of the organ facing a few inches away from the wall, some pedalboard notes get really boomy but others remain weak. I suspect it is due to the vibration and resonance of the air space between the back soundboard and the wall. To avoid this, I provided more space between the organ and the wall. Although I ended up with weak sounding bass but at least the volume is consistent throughout the 13 pedalboards.

I am currently using a low-end Aiwa TS-W40 active-subwoofer to boost the low frequency sounds. What a difference this low cost component made to the overall organ sound. The subwoofer is connected directly to the organ speaker terminals by regular electrical wires pushed through a small hole drilled in the back board. (The line out connector signal is too weak for the subwoofer). Has anyone else tinkered with the speakers? Would like to hear from you if you did.

Subwoofer to the rescue...but it failed badly in the aesthetics.

Hopefully, the following pointers can help to make your journey of discovery into the world of multi track sequencer a little less painful.

Refer to page 112 of the owner's manual for detail instructions on how to retrieve any of these sound tones or drums/percussions tones. Basically, you press SOUND EDIT button (bottom right console), and then select Tone Edit from the LCD menu. You select the 145 sound tones or 54 drums/percussions by selecting Group and Tone Select sub menus. For the more adventurous, you can optionally mix in a second and third tone to create a very unique blend of sound. You can then proceed to change other optional attributes such as volume, envelope, filter and effect. The last step is to store the new sound into the MEMORY (see page 114) then save it as a Sound Memory File (see page 95).

The drums/percussions sounds are not nearly as good as the ones found in the keyboard percussion (lower keyboard + KEYBOARD PERCUSSION). You may want to ignore them altogether but don't forget to read more about the KEYBOARD PERCUSSION below.

If these additional sound tones and infinite tone edit possibilities are still not enough for that ultimate performance, there are a few more factory-preset sounds tucked inside the digital brain of the organ. Refer to the Alternative Reference Guide page.

(I) Expanded persussion sound on the KBP sequencer track.

Ideally, to record your performance, you should only record using the built-in Technics Sequencer. To replay it, you would of course need a Technics organ. For those who wish to replay without the need for an organ, the next best option is to convert into a General MIDI file. A general MIDI file can be played on many electronic keyboard instruments and on any PC that has a sound card. But take note, the sound reproduced from a MIDI file is NEVER exactly the same as that produced from the original Technics organ. The very small MIDI file size makes it an extremely popular format for sharing performances on the Internet.

Method 1

Record your performance on the Technics Sequencer (Sequencer Record button or Easy Record button). At the end of performance, save it using MIDI-FILE-SAVE option on the disk drive menu (page 96 of manual) instead of the normal DISK-SAVE option. Although all the recorded musical notes will be intact but there are two major problems…firstly, data from the auto drums (NOT keyboard percussion data), auto bass and accompaniment patterns are not converted. (the auto drums, auto bass and auto accompaniments are also referred to as Automatic-Play-Chord or Composer in Technics jargon). Secondly, the Technics selected musical instruments are not carried over into the MIDI sequencer data (MIDI patch). This method is therefore not very useful for a majority of our organ performances.

Method 2

This second method requires hooking up the organ/keyboard via MIDI cables to a Personal Computer equipped with Cakewalk software (WARNING - this method is not for the faint hearted!). The auto drums, auto bass and accompaniments are all converted using this method. Lawrence S Cohan has written an excellent document on this. With his permission, I have downloaded all his files. Write to me and I will gladly forward you his files. Another excellent write up by Armando Lozano on this method is available at http://www.arloga.com/technics/technics.html. Lozano wrote it specifically for GA3 whereas Lawrence's write-up dealt with KN keyboards in general. For EA3 owners, I suggest you read Lozano's write-up.

Here are some additional pointers specifically to those attempting this MIDI conversion method on an EA3:

- The MIDI cable plug OUT should be plugged into the EA3 MIDI IN connector and MIDI cable plug IN to the EA3 MIDI OUT connector.

- In para 4 of the write-up, select Setting 2 for the EA3.

- In para 8 of the write-up, depending on your tracks used in your sequencer recording, you need to experiment with the track assignments. Lozano has configured the accompaniments and auto bass as MIDI channels 13, 14, 15 and 16 respectively, therefore, do not assign any other tracks to these 4 channels.

- In para 10 of the write-up, I could not find midi device organ on my list and I am forced to select the default setting. This seems to work just a well.

Just a word of warning on your expectations, the finished product is far from being an exact "replica" of the original organ performance. Need lots of tweaking to get it to sound reasonably close, e.g. the instrument patches need to be completely redone, all the sustain effects are lost and the resolution of closely spaced notes are not as good. The limited instrument sounds and percussions in General Midi compared to the Technics organ shows up quite clearly also.

Firstly, many thanks to Armando Lozano for sharing this tip with me. Although attempted by Armando for the first time on his GA3, I have been able to reproduce the technique on my EA3. My write-up below is generally applicable for EA3/EA5 organs. You are most welcome to share your own experience on this.

Some fundamentals before we begin. Technics Composer enables you to create your own accompaniment patterns, which can be stored in a memory for later use like any preset rhythm. You access the stored patterns by pressing the Composer A and Composer B buttons. Each pattern is made up of five parts, i.e. Drums, Bass, Accomp 1, 2 and 3. The Bass, Accomp 1, 2 and 3 are also referred as Automatic Play Chord (APC). You may choose to create all five parts or less. The owner's manual said that there are two ways to create your composer, one is to create a new one from the ground up and the other way is to edit an existing pattern. In this tip, I am going to show you the third method.

If you can answer yes to all the following, then this tip is for you.
(i) you have used the Composer function a lot
(ii) creating new patterns using the manual edit is too tedious.
(iii) your own pattern require the use of percussion instruments not directly accessible from the keyboard percussion (lower keyboard) but available as MIDI percussion (e.g. bongo, guiro, rattler, etc.)
(iv) you have a PC with Cakewalk installed and MIDI cable attached to your organ.
(v) you have downloaded many MIDI song files from the Internet and are impressed by the percussion, bass and looping patterns used in the song.
(vi) you are not ready to give up your hard earned salary for those commercial pattern disks.

Expanding on criteria (i) above, you will also need to know the following, as I won't be discussing this.
- know how to select the sounds for the Composer Drums, Bass, Accomp 1, 2 and 3 parts
- know how to erase recorded Composer tracks if you made a mistake
- know how to select a compatible Intro, Fill-In and Ending patterns if you do not wish to create a new one.
- know how to save Composer into diskette for later retrieval/sharing.

Let's start…

1) If you have some settings in your temporary organ memory which you want to save (e.g. panel settings, sound edit, sequencer recording, etc), do it now as you will need to initialise and purge the entire organ memory later.

2) With the PC and organ switched off, hook-up your MIDI cable from you PC soundcard game-port to the organ MIDI terminals. Make sure that the MIDI-in cable goes to MIDI-out terminal in organ. Do the reverse for the MIDI-out cable. Don't plug into the Midi-thru terminal by mistake!

3) Open your MIDI file using Cakewalk. The MIDI file must be one that has the different instruments in separate tracks. Zoom in on the part of the song that will be transferred to the Composer. Accomp 1, 2, 3 and Bass must all be in the same scale for the entire duration. Take note of the scale, you will need to input this into the Composer in step 14 below. The duration I am referring is a value of 1 to 8 measures. You must input the value of 1 to 8 measures into the Composer in step 14 below also. I suggest you insert a start marker (blue flag) one or two measures before start of recording point. This will give you some time to dash to your organ to initiate your Composer record.

4) Go to TOOLS - MIDI Devices in Cakewalk and select MPU-401 (for Aureal cards) or SB Live! MIDI Port [C400] (for SB Live cards) for the corresponding input and output parts. (option depends on your soundcard) By the way, I am using Cakewalk Pro Audio Version 8. If you have a different version, some of the descriptions may be slightly different.

5) Adjust the Cakewalk tempo to very slow, maybe 80 or 90.

6) Under Cakewalk Track view page, place your cursor above the track number you will like to transfer into Composer, then right mouse click and select Properties. Assign the following channels for the following parts.
Drums - channel 10
Bass - channel 4
Accomp 1 - channel 2
Accomp 2 - channel 2
Accomp 3 - channel 2
For the other tracks, either delete them away or change to any channels other than 2, 4 or 10.

TIP!! From here on, you will need to trot between your PC and the organ very often. Ensure that the MIDI cable does not cause tripping hazard.

7) Switch on your organ then play your MIDI songs on Cakewalk. The sound should be heard from the organ if the connection is correct. Stop the song in Cakewalk then press MEM & CTRL button in the organ and then select Initial - Total Organ. (If the word GM appeared on your LCD panel earlier, it will now disappear after initializing). If your start your song from Cakewalk now, your organ will probably sound like a bunch of 7 year olds playing in a school band for the first time. Never mind about the sound for the time being but at least it is an indication that you are getting there.

8) Press the MIDI button to turn it on (bottom right of your console panel) then select MIDI PRESETS. Select External SEQ as master and EA Organ (with APC) as the slave, and then press OK followed by EXIT.

9) Select REALTIME. Set Clock to INTERNAL followed by EXIT.

10) Select COMMON, SETTING2. Scroll to DRUM TYPE - GM, then P-CHNG MODE - GM, followed by EXIT.

11) Select CHANNEL. Assign the correct channels to the following parts
ACC1 - channel 2
ACC2 - channel 2
ACC3 - channel 2
Bass - channel 4
Drums - channel 10
KB./PERC. - channel 10
For the other parts, select OFF or assign to any channels other than 2, 4 or 10.
Press EXIT twice.
Note that the Bass - channel 4 above refers to the APC bass, not the pedal board bass. (Play your song from Cakewalk again, this time your school band should sound like an orchestra again)

12) Set the organ TEMPO to be exactly the same as that in Cakewalk.

13) Press the COMPOSER button on the organ to turn it on. Select a memory location, e.g. RECORD MEMORY-A or RECORD MEMORY-B.

14) Select CLEAR to erase the entire pattern. At this point you can rename it if you wish. You will need to enter the various recording settings, e.g. number of measures, time signature, key type, chord type and the option for Fill-In. Refer also to page 86 of the owner's manual.

TIP! If you start recording at this point by pressing DRM, AC1, AC2, AC3 or BAS one at a time, the metronome sound will begin. So long you do not touch the bottom keyboard, or have not pressed Play Button in Cakewalk, nothing is recorded. If you were to select the STEP button, it takes you to the STEP RECORD mode. You can change the sound of the Drum, Bass, ACC1, ACC2 and ACC3 tracks here.

15) You are now ready to record. If you happen to be in STEP RECORD page, exit back to the normal recording page. You need to record one track at a time. Go to Cakewalk and select SOLO on the percussion track (channel 10). Play the track. (remember, I recommended you to insert a start marker in Cakewalk - is the blue flag appearing on the top of the track display page?).

16) Trot over to your organ and press the DRM button to start your recording at the appropriate beat. You need to synchronize your actions. Selecting Quantize in step 14 will give you some margin for synchronization error. MIDI can probably transmit the tempo automatically to the organ but I haven't figured out how. (I was told that it can be done on the GA3)

17) Stop the recording when the number of measure is up (e.g. if your Composer has two measures, stop the recording exactly before the start of the third measure)

TIP! Don't allow the recording to continue beyond the number of measure you defined, as the notes will be added to those already recorded. The result is distorted sound and maybe total silence during playback. You may instead define the record stop point from within Cakewalk.

18) Repeat steps 15-17 for AC1, AC2, AC3 and BAS. Of course you can stop at step 17 if you do not wish to use Auto Play Chord in your performance.

TIP!! Before you test out your Composer, disconnect your MIDI cable. Playing with the connection sometimes create strange echoes from the PC speaker and organ. (I am using a MIDI cable extender; therefore I prefer to just pull apart the extension cable to avoid repeatedly stressing the fragile MIDI terminals on the organ). I was told that selecting TOOLS - Project Option - Echo Mode - NONE in Cakewalk can stop the echo sounds. You may want to give this a try.

19) If satisfied with the recording, save it into Diskette. For subsequent minor adjustment, you should use STEP RECORD.

20) For the most important final step, please don't keep the Composer pattern to yourself. Share it with other Technics organ owners.

How to Add Gliding Effect using our Finger Tips?

This is a neat trick contributed by Armando Lozano. It allows you to add glide effect to a note by controlling the pressure exerted to the keys.

I have converted his entire original writeup into a downloadable .pdf format. You will need to ensure that the TOTAL TOUCH CONTROL is ON. (Select TOUCH button then Press On from the LCD menu). For EA3 users; to get the best result, you may want to set you Keyboard Touch Sensitivity to 9, i.e. maximum.

Click Here to download. (124kb .pdf file)