Topic: Using PSR-SX900 with Logic Pro X

[thcb]

Hi,

Is there way to do following stuff with PSR-SX900 and Logic Pro X and if yes, any idea how? I haven't had any success yet.

1. Use PSR instruments with Logic, so if I export midi from my keyboard, can I somehow use PSR instruments in DAW or is only way to export the actual audio track?
2. Control record in DAW / sync tempo or clock etc. I am able to control Logic recording from my Arturia KeyLab but haven't been able to find solution from PSR

Thanks in advance!

[plutogenie]

Hi Thcb,

Given your post is over 12 months old, and you last logged in just after you posted, I am not sure you will see this reply

If not, nonetheless, maybe this will be useful for someone else in answer to your first question:

Is there way to do following stuff with PSR-SX900 and Logic Pro X and if yes, any idea how? I haven't had any success yet.
1. Use PSR instruments with Logic, so if I export midi from my keyboard, can I somehow use PSR instruments in DAW or is only way to export the actual audio track?

I don't use Logic Pro, but I do use Cakewalk with my SX900. I imagine the principles will be the same.

When you say "export midi from my keyboard", I assume you mean that you have used the Quick Recording or Multi Recording option in the SX900 to record MIDI, and have saved the MIDI file onto a USB stick to "export" the file onto your Mac running Logic Pro. All DAWs then allow you to open the MIDI file for things like editing.

I also assume that you are familiar with how to connect the SX900 to your Mac via a USB cable, and that you can see and select the SX900 as a MIDI controller. For e.g., in Cakewalk I see the SX9900 under Preferences -> MIDI -> Devices, and select this for both Input and Output.

I have then used Cakewalk to edit and playback the MIDI tracks via the SX900. This means I hear the MIDI playing through the SX900 speakers, and can therefore hear the PSR instruments.

In your DAW (Cakewalk, Logic Pro, etc) each track of the MIDI file can be linked to a PSR instrument. In Cakewalk, for each track there is a Channel, Bank and Patch (or PSR instrument). If you have imported the MIDI file, the Channel, Bank and Patch settings for each track should already be there. I normally find, in Cakewalk, that I don't need to make any changes to these. As long as the SX900 is my default MIDI controller, as per the above preferences, all playback in the DAW will be output via the SX900.

I sometimes use Cakewalk to change the PSR instrument, which I achieve by changing the Bank/Patch setting for the track. This can get difficult unless the DAW can import SX900 instrument definition files, for which there are some available in this and other Yamaha forums. This makes it easier to find the PSR instruments you want from the SX900 voice data list.

I hope this helps. Kind regards,
Plutogenie

[svpworld]

Hi

I use Logic Pro X with both a Yamaha Genos and Yamaha PSR-SX600.  You can record both audio and midi in Logic Pro, but in the case of the SX900 or Genos you will have to either record the entire sound of the instrument on one track, or record individual audio tracks separately by isolating individual instruments played on the PSR.

You can record the midi data from the PSR-SX900, but setting up individual PSR-SX900 instruments in MIDI via Logic Pro X takes a lot of effort. This is because of the various bank and program changes needed to access the sounds.

For my workflow I usually set up all the sounds and effects I want to use on the PSR/Genos using the built-in song recorder of the Yamaha keyboard.  I record maybe a few bars on each track with the built-in recorder and then save that to USB disk as a midifile (song). It doesn't matter what notes are played as I will be deleting those afterwards.
I next copy that midi song to my Mac and then import it as MIDI into logic.  This by default creates several tracks in Logic for each of the PSR tracks and assigns one of the Logic's own preset voices to it.  I then create a series of empty external midi instrument tracks in Logic assigned to the PSR/Genos and copy and paste the imported tracks in the same order to those. This preserves the various midi sys ex data and program changes necessary to set those sounds up on each track of the PSR/Genos. Finally I use either the event/step editor or note editor to remove any notes I don't need, and use those tracks to record with the PSR/Genos instruments in Logic.  It's important not to overwrite the sysex/program change data at the start so I usually set my start locator a bar or two in.
You can then either switch LOCAL ON to off on the PSR and play each of the tracks from the PSR keyboard in Logic - or use a separate MIDI controller keyboard to play the PSR sounds.
What I then do after I've got my midi tracks recorded in Logic, is to record the audio output of the PSR/Genos back into Logic as Audio tracks alongside those midi tracks.   Since the PSR/Genos only have a single audio output, I solo each track of my recording (midi track) and record them to audio tracks in turn. 
So finally let's say I recorded 16 separate tracks using the PSR/Genos sounds (including an accompaniment), I would end up with 16 midi tracks and 16 audio tracks, each corresponding to one of the respective midi tracks.  This enables me to always go back and edit or rerecord the midi track and then rebounce it to audio if I need to.
If you don't need to record midi (note info) tracks, you could just record your PSR as audio tracks into Logic.  For this you will need an audio interface, unless your PSR has audio over USB.

Hope that makes sense.

Simon