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1 product rating - PianoMaestro Learning System - Fits Kurzweil MarkPro TWOiS SP4 SP4-8 SP88X. Buy It Now +$10.00 shipping. 20 new & refurbished from $139.00. PianoMaestro Learning System - Fits Kawai MP6 & Kurzweil SP4-8 Digital Piano. Kurzweil SPS4-8. Digital Stage Piano with Speakers. 88 Keys with hammer action. Well-known international brand Kurzweil of great sound quality, pioneer along with Rhodes in the creation of electric pianos. 8-fold Unison, Extensive wavetable editor, 16-Voice polyphony - up to 520 total oscillators, Dual filter with balance.
Some of the tutorials for the PC3 and PC3LE should be of help, since the SP4 is a reduced feature version. MBK, I'm going to take a guess that you have never used an SP4.? Because really, I don't think PC3/PC3LE stuff would help at all. Sure, the SP4 is derived from the PC3 series and shares sounds, but operationally, they have very little in common. Not only is the SP4 functionality far reduced (such that the vast majority of PC3 info would not apply), but even what is there has a completely different interface (i.e. Different front panel controls and displays). Some of the tutorials for the PC3 and PC3LE should be of help, since the SP4 is a reduced feature version.
MBK, I'm going to take a guess that you have never used an SP4.? Because really, I don't think PC3/PC3LE stuff would help at all.
Sure, the SP4 is derived from the PC3 series and shares sounds, but operationally, they have very little in common. Not only is the SP4 functionality far reduced (such that the vast majority of PC3 info would not apply), but even what is there has a completely different interface (i.e. Different front panel controls and displays). True, but OTOH: the thing reads PC3 and PC3LE programs, so I understood from Kurz's documentation. And perhaps set-ups too, don't know. Apart from the FX extensive programs (with too many DSP units, like the Double Leslie), that is a pretty interesting feature, methinks! It might not be reachable/editable on the SP4 itself, but the architecture and possibilities (soundwise) are there.
#2618566 - 08/11/14 05:27 AM Re: New Kurzweil SP4-7 MP Hall of Fame Member Registered: 01/05/12 Posts: 3039. True, but OTOH: the thing reads PC3 and PC3LE programs, so I understood from Kurz's documentation. And perhaps set-ups too, don't know.
'Here ye, here ye! Here be thee commandments for SP4 V2 from Lord Kurzweil' The SP4 V2 OS introduces the ability to load Programs and Setups from the Kurzweil PC3K, PC3, and PC3LE. Within the limits mentioned below, converted programs and setups will sound the same on the SP4 as they do on the PC3K, PC3, or PC3LE. (See The “Load (fill)” Dialogue on page 4 for full details.) Program Conversion Overview When loading a program from the PC3K or PC3, the program will sound the same on the SP4 aside from the following limitations.
The SP4 has 64 voice polyphony and cannot play as many notes at the same time compared the to the 128 voice polyphony of the PC3K and PC3. The SP4 cannot load some effects from the PC3K or PC3 if they use more than 10 DSP units. The SP4 does not load samples. If you load a PC3K program that contains user samples, keyranges that contain user samples will not play properly. When loading a program from the PC3LE, the program will sound the same on the SP4. When loading a program from the PC3LE, the program’s arpeggiator settings are loaded to the SP4.
Once a PC3LE program is loaded to the SP4, there is no way to enable or disable the program’s arpeggiator on the SP4. Does the software not work? Poor support? Both the above. The software works, though not well and not predictably.
There have been a large list of bugs that myself and many others spent countless hours reporting on, only to find about 5 to 10% of them ever addressed. Mark from ST will come on to a forum and sweet talk everyone, getting our hopes up again.
Then he'll disappear for another 2 or 3 years while nothing moves forward. It's this way (to the best of my knowledge) with the other synth companies that ST provides programs for.
Do a Google search for SoundTower and read the various discussions about their different products. I only have personal experience with their Kurzweil and Moog offerings. Moog now does their Sub-Phatty editor in-house. I'm hoping that Kurzweil follows suit soon. To be fair, the free editor that you can download and use with the PC3 and PC3K series from Kurzweil is great for observing signal flow and 'how things work together'.
In the latest iteration, I found that changing one parameter worked well, changing another parameter also worked but reset the original changes. The saving function is non-standard, as is the window layout. The Librarian function neither resembles a Librarian, nor does it function. One is forced to flip through window menus even if there is unused screen real-estate. No 'save' dialog appears after editing. Except in the FX window where you get a 'save' dialog even when you haven't changed anything. Saving banks or individual programs and setups takes up an enormous amount of file space compared to doing the same thing on the PC3 itself.
Neither does it play well with others. When it works, it's brilliant.
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It looks nice and is relatively clear. When it doesn't work, it's unfinished crap-ware. Then to add salt to the wound, Mark tends to bad-mouth the beta testers publicly. Maybe I just feel overly protective of my musician friends. I can't stand to see someone take a musician's hard earned money and not deliver a respectable product. The PC3 and PC3K editor is free (paid for by Kurzweil) while SoundTower charges $69 for the PC3LE and SP4 editors. I can't quite see if the Artis editor is free or not, though it might be.
If you're going to use the free version, don't depend on it for any deep programming and especially don't use the Librarian function to save programs. The native 'Save' function in the Kurzweil is the best way to go.
#2619148 - 08/12/14 08:32 PM Re: New Kurzweil SP4-7 Platinum Member Registered: 12/02/05 Posts: 1358 Loc: Southern Calif. I am loving my new keyboard. The sounds are amazing and the keyboard feel is great! I am using it on the bottom of 2 tiers with a Korg Pa900 on the upper tier.
I really love that I can turn down the volume on the Korg, turn up the volume on the SP4-7 and play that, and then turn the volume down on the SP4-7, turn the volume up on the Korg and use the SP4-7 as a controller operating the Korg arranger. I have figured how to update the software to the latest version, it came loaded with 2.0 and so I updated to 2.10. And then I loaded the extra soundbanks. I played with some of the factory Setups, but then I started to create my own setup simply layering a Piano sound and a string sound.
That went well, but since then I have been unable to Edit that Setup. I just wanted to adjust the volume of the strings layer, and cannot figure out how to do that. In the end I created a new Setup and just overwrote the previous one, but there must be a better way. #2619152 - 08/12/14 09:17 PM Re: New Kurzweil SP4-7 Platinum Member Registered: 06/30/09 Posts: 1313 Loc: Boston, MA. Have a look at Chapter 8 of the SP4-7 manual, on editing setups. The parameter you want to change for each zone is 'entry volume' - this changes the volume of each layer.
Then, if you want to be able to change the volume of the string layer while you're actually playing the setup, have a look at Page 8-10 on continuous controllers. It's fairly easy to set up the SP4-7's control knob to control the volume of particular layer on the fly. #2619168 - 08/13/14 02:15 AM Re: New Kurzweil SP4-7 Platinum Member Registered: 09/05/13 Posts: 1472 Loc: Wilts, UK.