This post is intended for the average keyboardist that is not a tech wizard (like me), who is trying to figure out how to make the best use of the Receptor at a gig. Here's everything I wish I'd known before I began to try to wire and program my equipment:
I will assume that you play both piano and organ/synth, and therefore own a weighted piano action keyboard and, a synth action keyboard.
1. Read this article, it's a great place to start: http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/use- ... g-07/30456
2. Get the Midi Merger from Midi Solutions to allow both your keyboards to send midi to the Receptor. Pick a different midi channel for the Receptor to listen for each keyboard. (I send channel 2 for the piano and channel 4 for the synth/organ)
3. The Receptor does not work well with every keyboard. Many vst's that you want to use do not communicate well with certain keyboard controllers. If you are using Roland, Yamaha, or any keyboard controller that is not easily configured to send a variety of controller, volume and midi program change info, you'll also need a midi mapper, such as the Midi Event Filter, also by Midi Solutions. (No- I don't work for them). This little gizmo will allow you to make almost any keyboard speak the Receptor's language.
4. Snapshot banks are wonderful live! Keep your Receptor next to you when you perform and all you have to do is turn one knob and press it in to instantly change sounds on one or both keyboards. This is accomplished by the way a snapshot will mute or solo various vst's in your receptor's mixer.
5. Use your keyboard's buttons to call up patch changes on any vst that you use often. For example, I use B4 a lot, and I need to change just the B4's patches often while performing. By telling the Receptor to target singles in the Receptor setup page, I can use program change messages on my keyboard to change just the B4's patches within a particular snapshot.
6. Watch out for Receptor system hogs. Some vst's will eat up all your processing power, causing latency and prevent you from creating usable snapshot banks.
7. Layer, Layer , Layer. Your best sounds often happen as a happy accident when you experiment with combining different vst's to receive on the same midi channel. I have a wonderful horn section made entirely out of several soundfonts.
8. If your keyboard controller has built in sounds and patches you like, incorporate them into your snapshots as a line in channel in the Receptor's mixer.
9. Keep your old keyboard patches handy as a backup in case of Receptor crash. (Unlikely, but why not be prepared?)
10. Have some fun making music!
Basic Info For The Gigging Keyboardist
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- KVRer
- 25 posts since 19 Nov, 2006 from London
some good tips there.
I'd also add:
you can use one usb keyboard (for example most m-audio boards) so you don't have to use a midi merger
if your keyboard has lots of programmable buttons, you can use bank select on the receptor, and that way you can use some buttons to call up multis, and some to call up singles on particular channels. That way you can change sounds on one board and keep the samples in memory on the other.
For example, I keep my lower keyboard as a piano, and just change singles to get different organ or synth sounds on the upper keyboard. For some songs I need to change multi so i can have strings and a rhodes, for example. that way you get the best of multis and singles.
I'd also add:
you can use one usb keyboard (for example most m-audio boards) so you don't have to use a midi merger
if your keyboard has lots of programmable buttons, you can use bank select on the receptor, and that way you can use some buttons to call up multis, and some to call up singles on particular channels. That way you can change sounds on one board and keep the samples in memory on the other.
For example, I keep my lower keyboard as a piano, and just change singles to get different organ or synth sounds on the upper keyboard. For some songs I need to change multi so i can have strings and a rhodes, for example. that way you get the best of multis and singles.