how do I layer 2 or more programs?

1. Layering Two or More Programs

To play two or more programs, you must create a Setup with a zone for each program, and each zone set to a different MIDI channel.

1. Press the MIDI Setups button, then type 127, then press Enter on the numeric keypad.

2. Press the MIDI Transmit button. If the display doesn’t show Zone 1, press the Zone 1 button. Press 1, then Enter. The button will now be lit green and the display will show it is set to channel 1.

3. Press the Program button. Choose the Program you want for the first zone. You can select it by using the alpha wheel, the + and – buttons, or the numeric keypad. (The programs and their numbers are listed in Appendices A & B in the manual.) Or you can use the Sound Select and Next/Previous Group buttons, as described at the beginning of this document.

4. Step 3 will allow you to choose any program from the Internal Voice bank. But if you have the VGM board and want to choose a program from one of the VGM banks, then you need to switch banks. There are two ways to do this.

If you know exactly which program you want, then the fastest way is to type the bank number, followed by the “+/-” button, followed by the program number, then Enter. (The bank numbers were listed at the beginning of this document.)

OR

If you want to scroll through the programs in a bank, press the << button to get to the Bank parameter. Use the alpha wheel to choose the bank you want. Then press the >> button to get back to the Program parameter and use the alpha wheel to scroll through the programs in that bank.

5. Now that you have chosen your first sound, you will choose your layered sound. Press the MIDI Transmit button, then press the Zone 2 button. Notice that the channel is set to Off and the Zone 2 button is unlit. Set it to channel 2. (You can actually choose any channel but 1, since 1 is being used by zone 1.) The Zone 2 button turns green, showing that it is active.

6. Press the Program button. Repeat steps 3 or 4 to assign a program for your second layer. Play the keyboard. You should hear both sounds together. Notice that the sustain pedal works for both layers.

7. If you want to add a third or fourth layer, just repeat steps 5 and 6. (Just make sure to choose a different MIDI channel for each zone.)

8. That’s it!. Now all you have to do is Name and Store your Setup. Press Store. The display says “Replace Setup 127?”. Press the >> button so that the display says “Rename Setup 127?”. Press Enter. Now you are in the naming routine.

You will see an underline cursor under the first character (“D”). Press the <<< or >>> soft buttons to move the cursor. Press a button on the numeric keypad one or more times to enter a character above the cursor. The characters that correspond to the alphanumeric buttons are labeled under each button. If the character that appears is not the one you want, press the button again. For example, pressing 1 once will choose an “A”. Pressing it again will choose “B”, and one more time will choose “C”. Press the +/- button on the alphanumeric pad to switch between upper and lower case characters. Press 0 one or more times to enter the numerals 0 through 9. Press CLEAR (on the alphanumeric keypad) to erase the selected character without moving any other characters. To insert a space, press the “E” button in the Assignable Controllers section. To delete a character press the “F” button, and to move the cursor instantly to the end of the name in the display, press the “G” button.

In addition to letter and number characters there are numerous other characters you can choose. For example, if you layered piano and strings, you might want to name your Setup “Piano & Strings”. You can choose these characters by scrolling with the alpha wheel or the + and – buttons. At the end of this document, is a list of all the characters and the order in which they appear.

Once you have the name the way you want it, press Enter.

9. The PC88 now jumps back to the Store dialog. The display will read “Replace Setup 127?”. You don’t want to save over the preset Setup 127, since you will want to have it available as a template to start from. So choose a different number. If you haven’t saved anything yet, you will find empty locations between 33 and 125 if you have a PC88 or 65 and 125 if you have a PC88MX. If you are on a blank location, the display will change to say “Save Setup xx?” (xx is the number you have chosen).

Now press Enter. Congratulations – you have created and stored your first Setup!

A programming note: The steps above take the approach of editing all the parameters in one zone, then going to the next zone and editing the parameters for that zone. But you can also work by editing the same parameter for all zones, then going to the next parameter and editing that for all zones. For instance, you could go to the MIDI Transmit page and set the MIDI channel for each zone (by pressing the Zone Select buttons, then go to the Program parameter and choose the programs in each zone. Either way of working is just as valid – it all depends on how you want to work! All of the tutorials here use the approach of setting all the parameters for one zone at a time, to help minimize confusion. Just remember to always check the zone number in the display so you are aware of which zone you are editing.

Knowledge Base