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Here are some more of the included BIAB PGMusic Style Demo Songs as played back through the Ketron SD2 Orchestral Wizard. This is exactly what it sounds like through my studio monitors here, no tweaking or the like at all, it is simply recorded to pcm digital audio stereo file as it is played back. No changing of any of the original PGMusic song settings at all. Matter of fact, these songs were chosen at pseudo-random from start of the alphabetical style picker list, using a scripting program to automate the issue. What you hear is what you get. And these are using only the GM Bank! Just load a song and play it through the Ketron SD2 and this is what you get. !CAMPGIT_SD2.mp3 BLZTRIO1_SD2.mp3 BOARDWLK_SD2.mp3 Bolero2_SD2.mp3 BritSw16_SD2.mp3 C2_BLAK_SD2.mp3 C2_GRET_SD2.mp3 C!GITWLZ_SD2.mp3 C_2Bt_Sw_SD2.mp3 C_BDUNN_SD2.mp3 Cairo3_SD2.mp3 Calling_SD2.mp3 Campinas_SD2.mp3 CC_CROW_SD2.mp3 DixiFast_SD2.mp3 TBos_250_SD2.mp3 Folks are always asking what Style works with a particular target song they have in mind. One of my favorite BIAB excercises is to juke the Style Demo folders while doing other work at the computer. But I MUTE THE MELODY TRACK. That way, I hear only the accompaniment instruments, the feel of the thing. Quite often is the case that the PGMusic Demo Song uses much the same chord changes as certain targeted songs, they just have to put their own melodies to them to avoid copyright infringements. Mute the Melodies and often you can hear which song the file came out of, so to speak. Songwriters, this method also is a great way to get those creative juices flowing, too. PGMusic Demo Songs with MUTED Melody Track and the Ketron SD2: CC_TONY_SD2.mp3 CELEBRTE_SD2.mp3 Celt_Jig_SD2.mp3 Cesaria1_SD2.mp3 CHET_SD2.mp3 COOL_ONE_SD2.mp3 Cornado_SD2.mp3 Country1_SD2.mp3 COZY_SW_SD2.mp3 Cray1_SD2.mp3 CREEDNCE_SD2.mp3 DADGAD1_SD2.mp3 DOGFUNKD_SD2.mp3 Great sounds plus ease of use have retired mostly all of my software synth solutions here. Just not worth the hassle anymore, considering. --Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hey sounds pretty good. Still sounds like midi, especially the drums -- but I knew it was midi (ha, ha) and you didn't do any post-processing. I bet with some editing magic, you could fool me completely (though tthat isn't TOO difficult).
Kevin
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Keep in mind, Mac said he only used the GM soundbank. This is the main problem with GM. It's convienient, but you pay for that in mediocre sound especially the drums. GM is restrictive. The GM standard only allows for certain things or the sound is not GM certified or whatever they call it.
Take the GM Rhodes electric piano patch for example. The GM soundbank only has one. Check out any other big name keyboard from Korg, Roland, Kurzweil whatever, they have like 20 different Rhodes. Is only one of them the best? No, there are many different kinds of recorded Rhodes that you've heard on records over the years just like there's all kinds of different sounding Strats. It's all in how it's set up and what sound you're looking for.
It's in all the other non-GM soundbanks that the Ketron as well as most any other synth on the planet really shines. The other drum kits in the SD2 are very good but the GM bank only allows for a few. The problem again is convenience. To get those great sounds, you have to take the time to pick each instrument per track rather than just let Biab use the GM bank. Everything's a tradeoff. If you don't have time to pick out the best sounds from the higher banks, then you can't complain about a so-so sounding GM bank.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Apprentice
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Apprentice
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Yes Sir. No doubt about it’s best sounding midi rendition I’ve heard and thanks for providing it Mac. But that awful thin electric guitar GM sound used really doesn’t hack it for me compared to a good stratocaster sound such the Dire real tracks. But then again we have the benefit of PGMusic team brilliance in being able to replace that guitar with a real sounding guitar track (or a better real drum track in some examples)
However, you’ve put me one step closer in getting a SD2 though.
Cheers.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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PG Music Staff
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Many thanks for posting those great sounding demos Mac!
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
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Hi Mac,
Thanks for posting, these. I have often wondered about the SD2. I'm impressed they sound excellent. Definitely a cut above the average MIDI sound.
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Hi Mac. It was your tune on the Ketron site that finalized my purchase of the SD2. No regrets here either. Thanks again.
It's well worth the time and expense to have this quality for me. The real tracks are great, but there are not real tracks available for all instruments. I have wondered about the Garritan Personal Orchestra but really don't know enough about it to see if I really need it.
Stan
Last edited by Shastastan; 10/19/09 07:52 AM.
Cornet Curmudgeon
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Well this post will end up costing me 300.00 before the year is out!   Thanks Mac,
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks Mac,
This is the first "sound card" I have heard that is good enough for professional work.
Now I've got G.A.S.
Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Productor Musical
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Productor Musical
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Cita:
Here are some more of the included BIAB PGMusic Style Demo Songs as played back through the Ketron SD2 Orchestral Wizard.
This is exactly what it sounds like through my studio monitors here, no tweaking or the like at all, it is simply recorded to pcm digital audio stereo file as it is played back. No changing of any of the original PGMusic song settings at all. Matter of fact, these songs were chosen at pseudo-random from start of the alphabetical style picker list, using a scripting program to automate the issue. What you hear is what you get.
Great sounds plus ease of use have retired mostly all of my software synth solutions here. Just not worth the hassle anymore, considering.
--Mac
Excelent sound there Mac! it surpasses expectatives about the average MIDI results. Impressive. This demonstrate the amazing versatility of BIAB working together with a great gear like Ketron SD2 Orchestral Wizard and of course a well done control of the process by you - Thanks Mac, good stuff as always!
Gabriel Arellano,
Nucleox Music
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Please no hate mail
I was thinking, and will probably do it anyway, of pulling the trigger on the SD2 just to have something to pack in my laptop bag for traveling on business. But after Macs post I got serious about doing a side by side with my few GM dedicated synths (not counting my hand built GM “banks” on my other synths.
I was surprised on doing a side by side with my “old” Roland SC-8850 (yes it’s a LOT bigger physically) that most sounds were a PUSH. Now when I run same songs through a Nanosynth that was a whole other story [but the Nano was FIRST!]
Like I said I will probably pull the trigger on an SD2 just because I can (plus its one more thing my wife will have to get rid of when I drop dead <G>)
Larry
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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Yes, good demos. I've been using the ketron for about a year now and IMHO it blends pretty good with the RT's, most of the time without much manipulation so they can "co-exist" in the same song, specially when using the higher banks.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Enthusiast
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Enthusiast
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Yes!!! Next best thing to a $2500 Roland!!! Pers. as I am getting back into Jazz it really stands out with a number of instruments but esp. Acoustic piano, Upright bass & the brushes drum kit as a back up band.
TGV
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Quote:
Keep in mind, Mac said he only used the GM soundbank. This is the main problem with GM. It's convienient, but you pay for that in mediocre sound especially the drums. GM is restrictive. The GM standard only allows for certain things or the sound is not GM certified or whatever they call it. <...>
There is no such thing as a GM sound. There are only patch number assignments to GM sounds.
The GM patch number for an Acoustic Grand Piano is #1. But GM does not specify what the acoustic grand piano is supposed to sound like, only that patch (or program) #1 is used to designate Acoustic Grand Piano. So the Acoustic Grand Piano on my laptop's sound card sounds pretty thin while the Acoustic Grand Piano on the GM bank of my Korg i3 sounds quite nice. I would imagine the Acoustic Grand Piano on the Kurzweil sounds even better.
But the Rhodes piano (#5) sounds best on my SD90.
The Acoustic Bass on my sound card is lame, the Acoustic bass on my Roland SC55 sounds better than the Acoustic bass on my SD90, but the Acoustic Bass on my i3 sounds so good you can hear the wood vibrate. All are patch #33.
But the guitars on my SD90 are excellent, and there are some sounds on my old SC-55 that still sound great.
And that is all GM does, assign standard patch numbers to a number of commonly used sounds. It does not specify what those sounds are supposed to sound like, or even what kind of synthesis is to be used for those sounds.
I hear people discussing the lame GM sounds often, but there is no such thing as a GM sound, only a GM patch number for a sound. I suppose GM gets its reputation from the typical synthesizer on the sound card in a computer which is not nearly as well done as a more expensive professional level synthesizer.
But of course as you pointed out, they are limited to 128 patch numbers. So more than the 128 GM instruments are always a plus.
Insights and incites by Notes
Last edited by Notes Norton; 10/21/09 05:11 AM.
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Bob, you bring up an interesting point, the quality of the sound. Awhile back I ask what sound module has the best sound, but I should also add, "For the $$$$".
For instance, I have an older Roland XV88 that I believe is 8 bit sound depth, where the newer Rolands are 16 bit. Since most of us don't have the money to buy a sound module for a certain instrument, does the Ketron SD2 rank as good as 80% in quality of instrument sounds as the best KB by who????
Or is there a better method of creating a sound module from existing synths.
Since I don't have the the money to throw at this, it's really an exercise in "What if"
Just asking Wyndham
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Newbie
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Newbie
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Thanks for posting these sound samples from the Ketron SD2. I, too, am getting tired of my soft synths. Lately, I've gone to using my cheap-cheap Yamaha PSR 225 keyboard for my midi sounds. It's not bad. But, it's time for something much better.
I've also been looking at the Yamaha motif-rack XS (about $1000) or the EX (about $700). I play flute, not just jazz, but also classical. So, strings, bassoons, all woodwinds, etc., are very important to me. To make it even more complicated, I'm also considering a wind-controller, such as the Akai EWI, and so a good sound module that can handle that would be a real plus.
So, has anyone had a chance to A B a motif and the Ketron? Opinions?
Thanks,
Dave Harris
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi Mac,
Thanks for the demo's.
Can you please put up demo's of a few songs that use the upper banks so that we people who don't (at the moment) have a Ketron SD2 can hear the difference to GM Midi.
Regards
michee
Windows 11 64 bit, Biab 2024 1111, Realband 2024
i7 Desktop Computer 16Gb Memory
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Great job Mac!
Now, I have a couple of questions, since I have also thought about getting the SD2 in place of using the Cakewalk TTS-1.
First, is there an editor that I can use to program the SD2 to give me the higher quality upper bank sounds using normal GM patch change commands? In other words, I would like to have the SD2 automatically switch to the higher bank sounds when it gets a PC command from BIAB?
Is it possible to use the Akai EWI USB with the SD2 direct? or do I need a computer to use it?
Thanks again Mac,
Ed
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Journeyman
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Ed, you will be disappointed in your modules sooner or later, if you don't take on the idea: Higher banks are not of "higher quality". They are just slots in which to stash more sounds.
The first 128 slots (the whole of Bank 1, in other words) are the GM sounds. There is nothing special about them, except the set locations. They are going to be neither better nor worse than any other sounds in that module, unless the manufacturer is inconsistent for some reason of his own.
See what Bob Norton wrote five posts above.
Getting at higher banks needs no editors or any other magic. Just select whatever sounds you like through the GM2 menu provided.
Last edited by allis; 03/15/10 05:24 PM.
Larry
______
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When my wife, who plays flute, heard the flute on the SD2 she put it down and said I can never get that good a sound. No kidding. It does sound great.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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