CompuServe Thread

A little more about the Casio MT-240: with Sonix, I get 8 voices: 4 Amiga and 4 Casio. Sonix has a limitation of 8 voices. While I had no problem using it with Dr. T's products, its limitation of channels (3) means some remapping, or, bypassing files with more channels than can be easily remapped down to 3 (too many events on one channel can cause it to choke). I did try SuperJam, but had some problems trying to use MIDI. I THINK I got it to work ONCE, but later on could not, which may have been more my fault than anything else. Also, the ugly DMCS port will not work at all with the Casio MT-240. I spent mucho time changing DMCS presets, channels, voices, et cetera, but never got it to work with the 240 (??). I have not tried MED, Soundscape, nor Sound Studio, so can't say much there. Real World: from southern Illinois, USA Internet: ca0008 at siucvmb.siu.edu

Hi Tim, Q1=List price is approx $220. I've seen 'em street-price for $165. I guess $100 is fair to high (depending on the used market in the area). Q2=Super Jam will use any midi kybd as an additional sound module to that which is produced internally on the Amiga. Q3=I don't believe the Cz101 is multi-voice. It was designed primarily for single-voice, solo work. The manual for the mt-240 states it can be "mapped" for midi in 2 setups: 1)as a single kybd with 6 note poly capability 2)as a split kybd into 3 sections, (6 note section,4 note section, and a 2 note section for multi-sound source. Each section will accept Pgm chg commands so you can change sounds from the Amiga. Plus, you can directly access the percussion section of the mt-240 via midi note numbers. The unit will send/receive on channels 1-4 only, accepts pgm chg commands 0-29 on chan 1-3 and accepts 0-19 on chan 4. Overall, I think it has more midi capability than the 101. You should check it and the manual out for more info. Depending on your budget you might want to consider finding a used Kawai or Roland unit, K1 or D10. Dr T makes an editor for the K1 that will run with KCS, so you could edit and sequence sounds and your song without having to boot and reboot prgms. Anyway just a thought, it really depends on where you want to go with your setup. Hope this helps. Regards, C.Julson/Gusman Theatre *——->

The Casio MT-240 is the best sounding keyboard in the inexpensive range of 'boards. It has the BEST natural piano sound of any 'board < $1,000. One major drawback of the 240 is that while it has 49 keys, there are SMALL keys (perhaps half the size of "regular" keys). While it has 20 built-in rythms, none of them can be used under MIDI control. You can send a command (SYSEX) to SET the current selection, but the 240 does not provide for any command to ENABLE or turn on the rythm "section". The 240 DOES, however, have stereo output (built-in speakers) which many of the other 'boards of its class do not have. It does have MIDI connectors – one each, IN and OUT. The following is a summarized spec sheet: 49 keys, 10-note polyphonic (3 voice channels, one auto-rythm channel) 20 preset tones (piano, harpsichord,vibes,jazz organ,pipe organ,brass ensemble,strings,flute,chorus,jazz guitar,bells,funky clavi,metallic sound,synth ensemble,percussion,elec piano,organ,accordian,synth reed, and bass) 20 auto-rythms, Casio chord, and an output jack 210 "tone bank" (combinations of preset tones) "The MIDI function transmits and receives MIDI messages as a single keyboard (6-note polyphonic)." The 10-note poly is for manual playing. I have tried just about ALL of the $400 and under 'boards and found that the 240 had the best sounding instruments (Pulse Code Modulation), but that is MY ear. I am not a real performer, but would never attempt to use the 240 for performance based upon the small keys – your fingers can slip too easily. For a "beginning" MIDI setup, the price and performance of the 240 can't be beaten, albeit most other 'boards do have larger keys. Real World: from southern Illinois, USA Internet: ca0008 at siucvmb.siu.edu

Tim, I think the CZ-101 is a good place for you to start. See if you can get it for less than $100. If not, I still think it's worth $100. It's really a great beginning synth. Again, I still kept mine. Yes the CZ will do what you want. You have to get a MIDI interface for the Amiga. The ECE MIDI interface is a good cheap one. Let me know if you need more info on interfaces. The interface allows you to connect the CZ to the Amiga and the Amiga to the CZ. Then you need sequencing software. I recommend Bars&Pipes Pro from Blue Ribbon. If you don't want to spend that much now, you can get Bars&Pipes (not the Pro version) and upgrade to Pro later. Then you put the sequencer into RECORD mode and play the CZ in real time. You can then edit your performance using the Amiga and play it back through your CZ. Actually the CZ has 8-voice polyphony. That means 8 notes can sound at once. The CZ also has 2 oscillators. You use the oscillators to create patches (sounds). However, most of the patches use 2 oscillators, so you are limited to 4 notes sounding at once. A few patches only use one oscillator, so you could play 8 notes at once if all the notes were only made up of one oscillator each. For all practical purposes though, you can consider it as a 4 voice unit. You'll want to use 2 oscillators per patch. In any event, in multi-timbral mode, you are only limited to 4 voices, regardless of the number of oscillators per patch. This means that when using the CZ with a sequencer you can assign 4 voices to play at the same time. They can be 4 different voices, but then you couldn't play chords. If you wanted to play 4 note chords using a piano sound, you'd have to assign all 4 voices to the piano. So while it is a bit limiting, I still think it's great for you to start with. What made the CZ so popular was that it was cheap, sounded good, and was programmable. That still holds true. I recommend it. *** Dom Fontana ***