Topic: Talk Box sound for PSR-E433 and up

[SciNote]

In the section with songs played by forum members, someone posted a recording of Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer", and he said he had trouble with the talk box effect at the beginning of the song.  I think he said he had to import that sound from another source, instead of generating it directly on the keyboard.  That got me to thinking, how close could I synthesize a talk box sound on a PSR-E433?  So, I tried some experiments, and came up with this...

Here's a Bon Jovi style application of it...
https://app.box.com/s/9u6a5ke91gggmclua6e6u21hvsc0kwxl

And here's a Peter Frampton style application of it...
https://app.box.com/s/u54tup6vyz1hzawbkc8ckercm7yi6zfs

With the Bon Jovi clip, I split the keyboard and just used a basic theater organ sound for the chords and high-pitched lead that follows along with the talk box at the end of the intro to the song.

Here's the patch...

Reverb: Hall 03 (but you can set that to your taste)
Chorus: Flanger 2 (which is chorus setting number 4 on the PSR-E433)

Main Voice
-----------------
Voice: Distorted Lead (Voice 156, but likely different on keyboards other than the E433)
Volume: 85
Octave: -2
Pan: 64
Reverb: 20 (or higher, depending on your preferences)
Chorus: 120
Attack: 68
Release: 64
Cutoff: 35
Resonance: 110

Dual Voice
-----------------
Voice: Muted Trumpet (Voice 129 on the E433, likely different on other keyboards)
Volume: 110
Octave: -2
Pan: 64
Reverb: 20 (or, as above, higher, if you prefer)
Chorus: 120
Attack: 72
Release: 64
Cutoff: 50
Resonance: 110

You may actually want to use higher reverb settings, as I use an external reverb unit on my setup.

Feel free to experiment with these settings and post if you can make the sound even more accurate!

[SeaGtGruff]

I love the way you're able to come up with results like this!

[SciNote]

Thanks!  I just love seeing exactly what I can get out of this "entry level" keyboard and using it like a synthesizer.  On that note, I just ordered an actual synthesizer!  It's a Roland Gaia SH-01.  As I know this is not "Roland-Tutorial.com", I won't post too much about it here.  But basically, it's an older model that is still in production, but it is essentially 3 synthesizers in one.  It's not just 3 oscillators.  Whereas a conventional synthesizer, like a Mini-Moog, would have it's 3 oscillators mix down to one filter and one pre-amp, this keyboard has a separate filter and pre-amp for each of its oscillators, and each of the three sections also have their own LFO's, so it should be capable of some pretty complex sounds.

It costs about $650, and I realize I could've almost got a PSR-S670 for that money.  But I have always wanted a real synthesizer since I was a teenager (Many moons ago!).  Yes, I once had a Yamaha DX-7, which was a very powerful instrument capable of making very complex sounds.  But, with its non-intuitive FM programming, and it's menu-driven programming, I never felt like I had the real "synthesizer experience" of just firing it up, pushing some buttons, and grabbing some knobs and sliders to either zero in to a sound I am looking for, or just explore sonic possibilities.

I am trying to move away from using just my PSR-E433, and get back to "playing the keyboards".  My current set-up involves the E433 and a Casio 88-note weighted-key model, and a set of bass pedals rigged to an old Casio MT-68.  I intend to incorporate the Roland into this set-up, and when I record more songs for the "Songs Played by Forum Members" section, I intend to use the entire set-up where the main focus will still be the PSR-E433, but with much more sonic flexibility available without using multi-track recording.

By the way, concerning those bass pedals... When I originally bought the aforementioned DX-7 back in 1985, I also bought a cheap set of used bass pedals, as I had learned to play keyboard on an organ, and I wanted to continue that experience.  Well, those pedals would frequently go out of tune, and I had to just turn a little tuning pot to get it back in tune.   Then, as you may have guessed by now, it got to the point that it went out of tune, and the tuning pot was turned as far as it could go, and I could no longer tune it.  So, I gutted it, and then I just wired the contacts of the bass pedals themselves to a connector, which then goes to another connector that I wired up on the old Casio MT-68.  Then, the wires from that connector just go to the contacts of the lower octave of keys on the MT-68.  Since the MT-68 is an old, basic design with no velocity sensitivity or aftertouch, the contacts at the keys are just like simple SPST switches.

[vbdx66]

Hi Bob,

Seeing the photographs the thought effectively crossed my mind that you might have gotten a Casio. Which model did you choose? It looks like a CDP to me.

Regards,

Vinciane

[SciNote]

The bottom keyboard, the one with 88 weighted keys, is a Casio CDP-200R.  But, I've had that keyboard since 2011.  I got it to have something to practice piano style playing, and I got it at a great price, as it was a refurbished model and only cost about $250 -- which is about half of what weighted-key models usually start at.  It's got a decent piano sound, good organs and synth sounds, but not-so-good string sounds.  Additionally, while two sounds can be layered, like Main and Dual voices, the octave and volumes of each part CANNOT be changed independently, which limits the use of that feature.  But, like I said, for piano playing, as well as just a back-up keyboard, it works fine.  The middle keyboard is, of course, the PSR-E433.  And the top keyboard is a Roland GAIA SH-01 synthesizer.