From ron@vgi.com Fri Oct 05 09:47:29 2001
Subject:Re: V5, Drawbar connection


On Thu, 4 Oct 2001 18:48:34 EDT, parakeys@aol.com

> Hi everyone,

Hi Dean, I'm the guy that bought the Spin from you a year or so ago.

>
> I just bought a V5 used. I have a V3 and drawbars.
>
> Question: How can I hook everything up (excluding the V3) with the V5 and
> seperate midi drawbars where I can control the top split of the keyboard
> with
> the V5's drawbars and the bottom portion of the same keyboard with the
> seperate midi drawbars?

Run the MIDI OUT of the keyboard into the MIDI MERGE in of the MIDI
Drawbar (MDB) unit, then run the MIDI OUT of the MDB unit into the MIDI IN
of the V5. Same setup as you used with the V3.

Now you need to set up the V5 and the MDB to work together. The V5 has a
channel selector on the back. Set it to anything other than 0 or 16 - I
suggest 1. The "top" manual will then be on channel 1 and the "bottom"
manual will be on channel 2. Use the V5's drawbars to control the top
manual, and use the MDB (set MIDI channel 2) to control the bottom manual.

> I understand that with a midi merge I can use two keyboards, but I'm
> thinking
> that I may just want to use one sometimes. The V5 has a "split" function
> button that the V3 didn't have.

I use my V5's Split mode a lot with my single keyboard. Some folks have
had trouble getting the Split function to work for them, and the process
for setting the drawbars for the top and bottom in a Split patch is very
confusing. Let me know if you need help.

>
> 2nd question: Is it difficult to set the morph function to the drawbars?
> It would be nice to actually use the two sets of drawbars on one manual like
> you can on the Hammond.

All you need is something that can send MIDI Controller #1 on a chosen
MIDI channel. My Roland XP-50 has two controller sliders next to the
Volume slider that I've assigned to this purpose, but I'm using them to
control the volume of each manual separately by fading between 808000000
and 000000000 on the bottom or 888000008 and 000000000 on the top, rather
than between two sets of "real" settings. I just use different patches on
the V5 when I want to change drawbar settings.

You should be able to use your MDB unit with the MAIN/AUX switch set to
AUX to set the Auxiliary drawbars in the V5. You're very lucky to have a
MIDI Drawbars unit, this process can be a total PITA with other MIDI
controller equipment.

Enjoy!
Ron

> Most importantly though is the first question about the split on one
> keyboard...V5 drawbars on top and the seperate midi drawbars on the
> bottom.
>
> Sorry for the rambling!
>
> Dean