CASIO PX-5S PROMO PACK

 

I’ve created this set of five Stage Settings as a small token of my appreciation for both Casio and the Casio user community. I’m thrilled to be working as both a programmer and DEALER with a company that gets it right in so many areas.

For this set I tried to strike a balance between practical sounds (like the guitars) and ones intended more for exploration/fun. For those who wish to do their own programming, these programs are set up to be reverse-engineered. They can serve as templates and starting points, with sliders and velocity layers already assigned and ready to tweak.

Here’s a quick description for each:.

Brimstone Calliope
Based on a few sounds I use on Broadway and touring shows like Les Mis and Mary Poppins, this one is meant to be large and menacing, full and loud. It’s a big pipe organ, with harpsi in the left hand for bite and celeste in the right hand (triggered on key-up) for some sparkle.

Phocoder
With multiple band-pass filters responding to envelopes and velocity, this one is meant to emulate the sound of a vocoder, a classic gadget that combines the sound of a synth with tone controls being driven by a vocal mic.
(Think Mr. Roboto by Styx or Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.) Works well in any songs where you’d normally play sampled horn or poly synth parts. Touch response drastically affects the sound, responds to the full range of soft and hard dynamics.

Semi-Hollow
The first of two “triple strike” guitar sounds, this one is based on a Gibson ES 335. The softest velocity strike triggers an un-pitched mute, medium velocity triggers a pitched mute, hard velocity triggers a full sustained note. The lowest notes on the keyboard trigger additional un-pitched mutes. The un-pitched components might take a bit of getting used to, but they are key to providing realism by introducing “happy accidents” and a random element. This helps offset the static quality inherent in guitar samples played from a keyboard.

The right most sliders control effects - chorus, delay, reverb. The chorus sends a chorus signal to delay and reverb (as a real guitar rig would, so you’re hearing chorus in the echo and reverb and not a dry signal) - these sends cannot be mapped to sliders. So when chorus is enabled you’re also going to get some delay and reverb. These can be disabled by hitting EDIT > Stage Setting > System Effects > Chorus > reverb and delay send levels.

TouchStrat
Another triple strike guitar, this one is based on the Fender Stratocaster. It’s twangy in the lower notes, with a more rounded tone above C5 better suited for soloing. All of the above notes on un-pitched and muted layers and chorus/effects behavior apply to this one as well.

Tricorder
A spacey sort of synth-string sound that triggers a major triad on key-down and a different inversion of the triad on key-up. Loosely inspired by the score from the animated sci-fi film Light Years (written by Isaac Asimov). Be sure to play with the first two sliders that affect filter frequency and resonance. One cool trick is play single notes with tri-tone intervals (for example: C4 - F#4 - C5 - F#5) across the keyboard.

I hope you enjoy the sounds! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need anything keyboard-related. Click below to download the sounds.

 

 

 

My other sound sets for PX-5S (FREE for customers who purchase the PX-5S through Weisersound):