Keymn post_id=49325 time=1502327837 user_id=2286 said:
These expansions were loaded when I received my 4x. All my orchestration banks are now full. If they make more orchestras, where do I store them?
There are 4 expansion slots, Roland makes only 4 expansions. (Alpine, Dallapè, Orchestra and Balkan).
Keymn post_id=49325 time=1502327837 user_id=2286 said:
Like we discussed before, how many programs do you need, 1000+?
First lets define a few things:
- An EXPANSION is a series of additional sounds.
- A SET is a factory predefined series of combinations of sounds. Think of each set as a different accordion, digital or acoustic. There is room there for 100 sets of 14 (one per register) kinds of accordions, if you will. With all expansion sets installed, I believe there are less than 40 out of the 100 in use from the factory. Add in the ones included with the expansion sets, Richard Noel sets and the couple that I found on the internet, that rises to 68 sets (on my 8x, this comes out to 68X14 or 952 sound choices).
- A USER PROGRAM is a custom created sound different from the SETs, and we again can have 100 X 14 custom setups. Though we can have up to 1400 combinations of sounds on the accordion at one time, we can have as many custom sets as will fit on a USB stick as can fit (on a 128gb stick you can fit several thousands of USER PROGRAMS on a single stick). From the factory, there are only a couple used. With the addition of the Richard Noel files along with the adaptations of the new 4X files, this increases to again, 37X14 or 514 musical options in all
Between the user sets and user programs, currently that means I have 1466 possibilities, and that does NOT include additional combinations one can make on the fly or other users sets that I can create myself. Basically, there are more possibilities possible to make than you can imagine, and in total one can have as much as 1400 sets and 1400 user programs available at any one time (not including the thousands more user sets that could be waiting on the USB stick for you!). In short, the possibilities are vast.
To answer your question, there is no one correct answer for that, it depends on the individual. For example, on average, I have one register from one set per song, so if I play 20 songs, thats 20 settings, but there are songs that I play where I use 4-6 different registers from different sets.
That is the beauty of a digital accordion, where when I use an acoustic, I have ONE sound with variations coming from the registers, but on the digital, the sonic varieties are endless.
Keymn post_id=49325 time=1502327837 user_id=2286 said:
The seven banks of 14 is good enough for me. I divided each bank in half giving 28 sets of styles, each with 7 register settings. How many styles of music is there that we play? I am only using 3 banks at this time which covers many music styles.
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... and there is the beauty. You play 3 banks for all your music, that basically gives you the sonic impression of playing 3 different instruments based on the style of music you play. There is NOTHING wrong with that, and already you are adding more musical variety than is available on an acoustic accordion.
I play different user programs and registers on a PER SONG basis more than on a style, so if you play 3 styles in an hour and offer 3 basic different sounds with 20 songs, I play 20 different songs and 20-50 completely different registrations in that same hour because I play not on a per style but a per song registration, so each song has its own choice registration.
To explain that 20-50 number, there are songs that I play where I set up a custom user program, pull registrations from different sets and move through them with a touch of my chin switch, again giving me increased sonic variety within that song, so I have complete USER PROGRAMS made for a singe song which move me from one predefined registration to another all at the press of a chin switch.
Currently, I keep my basic setup documented. This is the setup I always return back to after making so many changes that I am lost, and I keep that info at:
http://www.accordionmemories.com/mymusic/where/
More advanced 8X players use this to totally reconfigure their accordion on the fly in that single button press to go from Stradella to Free Bass and back, from one orchestral sound to another, from one keyboard configuration to split keyboards with different instruments at the top, middle and bottom, to change to different drums sets and so much more.
That is the beauty of having choices. One can go factory or one can add a few custom touches or one can go hog-wild and create something that no one else has heard... all from the same box!
