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I've successfully imported my MZ-X500 Instrument INS file to a PAT file. I've also successfully imported my MZ-X500 Drums INS file to a PAT file. If I use any high bank instruments I am unable to also select high bank drums and vice versa. The program appears to only be able to use one PAT file definition at a time.

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Hello William Sterling!

Welcome to Band-in-a-Box (BiaB) and to the forum. Is the MZ-X500 you mention the Casio 61 key arranger workstation keyboard?

Silly question but have you checked the BiaB program midi settings (Options > Preferences > Channels or Ctrl + E > Channels) to make sure the track midi channel settings match the workstation channel settings?

Silly question number 2 have you looked on pages 523 & 524 in the manual where it discusses using a patch map? While it doesn't specifically state you can use only one patch map for instrument and one for drums it seems to imply that.

Unfortunately I don't use patch maps so my help is limited.


Jim Fogle - 2026 BiaB (Build 1224) RB (Build 8) - Ultra+ PAK
DAWs: Cakewalk Sonar - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8
Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD
Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
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Thank you for the welcome Jim.

Fixed it. Apparently BiaB 2019 Build 626 Does not parse the DRUMSET INS file properly. It appears to ignore the 'BankSelMethod' setting and always assumes a param of '0'. My synth requires '1'

I have it all working now, just had to manually program the drum kits, all 77 of them ;-)

Yes, the MZ-X500 is a Casio. I use it with my Kronos 2. They make a good pair.


Last edited by William Sterling; 07/20/19 01:29 PM.
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I'm glad you got the PAT or INI file straightened out. Are you going to share a copy of the corrected file with PG Music so they can add it to their patch map depository?

That is a glamorous instrument photograph! I'm sure it sounds just as good as it looks. Both your Casio and Korg are outstanding instruments. Between the two I'd say you have external midi sound modules covered.

Curious side question if I may. Of the two workstations, which keyboard bed do you prefer to play and why. I'm not a keyboard player but I've read many times that each keyboard bed has it's own feel and every manufacturer has their own interpretation of "natural feel".


Jim Fogle - 2026 BiaB (Build 1224) RB (Build 8) - Ultra+ PAK
DAWs: Cakewalk Sonar - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8
Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD
Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
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Yes, welcome, and do send that patch map to support@pgmusic.com

Reference this thread. Thanks!


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Originally Posted By: Jim Fogle
I'm glad you got the PAT or INI file straightened out. Are you going to share a copy of the corrected file with PG Music so they can add it to their patch map depository?

That is a glamorous instrument photograph! I'm sure it sounds just as good as it looks. Both your Casio and Korg are outstanding instruments. Between the two I'd say you have external midi sound modules covered.

Curious side question if I may. Of the two workstations, which keyboard bed do you prefer to play and why. I'm not a keyboard player but I've read many times that each keyboard bed has it's own feel and every manufacturer has their own interpretation of "natural feel".


The correction involved changing this ...

0.0.120=STANDARD SET 1
1.0.120=STANDARD SET 2
2.0.120=STANDARD SET 3
3.0.120=STANDARD SET 4
4.0.120=STANDARD SET 5
...

to this ...

0.120.0=STANDARD SET 1
1.120.0=STANDARD SET 2
2.120.0=STANDARD SET 3
3.120.0=STANDARD SET 4
4.120.0=STANDARD SET 5
...

I made the change by editing the PAT file in Notepad. The Drums INS file I created back in 2016 is correct and works properly with my DAWs. The instrument INS file I also created in 2016 works fine as is. I'll send the PAT files to support.

Re: Keyboard beds there is no contest, my 61 key Kronos wins hands down. It's a "Natural Touch Semi Weighted" keybed where the Casio is a pretty cheap 'organ' type keybed. I use the Kronos to control the Casio. A fair number of folks have complained about the Casio keyboard getting noisy with age. Silicone grease seems to work well to fix the issue.

The Kronos 2 (identified by the solid wood end caps) has 'Hammond' type keys. The Kronos 2 survives aggressive palm glissandos easily.


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Originally Posted By: Matt Finley
Yes, welcome, and do send that patch map to support@pgmusic.com

Reference this thread. Thanks!


Thank you Matt. I have sent the Casio MZ-X500 PAT files to support and referenced this thread.

cheers,
Rick

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Yamaha and Roland have different standards for what is called displacement. It’s very annoying. If I ask you to count to 10, you’ll probably start at one and end at ten. Often programmers start at zero, however. Your familiar numbering system is Decimal, or Base 10, otherwise known as the digits zero through nine, for ten possible digits. I could go on...


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Originally Posted By: Matt Finley
Yamaha and Roland have different standards for what is called displacement. It’s very annoying. If I ask you to count to 10, you’ll probably start at one and end at ten. Often programmers start at zero, however. Your familiar numbering system is Decimal, or Base 10, otherwise known as the digits zero through nine, for ten possible digits. I could go on...


Yes, that was my first thought, but the issue at hand was different. See my post above re ordering of parameters. BiaB was sending the correct parameters, just in the wrong order. Its the old MSB or LSB first issue and how LSB, MSB are functionally defined. The crucial parameter that is being ignored is ...

BankSelMethod=1

There are apparently 4 possible values for BankSelMethod, 0,1,2 & 3

0 Normal - bank select MSB and LSB matter
1 Only the MSB is used and defined
2 Only the LSB is used and defined
3 Only program changes are used and defined

As you can see, if this parameter is ignored and defaults to mode zero when it requires mode 1 things can get messy. wink

Last edited by William Sterling; 07/21/19 11:57 PM.
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Ah, I understand. Thanks for clarifying. And thanks for sending the patch map to PG Music.


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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For those who have the Casio MZ-X500 or X300 and need to define the instruments in Sonar or any DAW that can use INS files here is a link to my posting of those files on the Casio forum.

MZ-X500/300 INS Files post

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