Table of content
Style display
Section/OTS customisation

Mixer

The mixer emulates the hardware units everyone is well accustomed to. It consists of 16 channel strips (8 accompaniment parts, 4 lead voices, 4 aux voices) and 3 bus channels, hosting the global system effects (Variation, Chorus, Reverb).

For space constraint reasons, only 8 channel strips at a time are shown (8 accompaniment parts OR 4+4 lead and aux parts). You can toggle between the 2 halves with a button. The buses are always shown.

Additionally the mixer is also partitioned vertically, with the strip controls subdivided in two different screens. In this chapter they are named the "main" and the "alternative" strip views. You can toggle between the 2 screens with a button. The most used controls are replicated in both screens, so that they are always available.

Mixer panel

Mixer.

  1. Channel strips.

  2. Bus strips.

  3. Master channel. Hosting effects and general volume.

  4. Channel strip labels and selection buttons.

  5. The selected strip has a lighter background and an highlighted selection button.

  6. Click this button to toggle between the 8 accompaniment and the 4+4 lead/aux channel strips.

  7. Click this button to toggle “vertically” the controls shown on the strip. The resulting different views are described here below.

Main strip view

Mixer main strip view.

  1. Volume fader and meter. If the channel is muted the meter is dimmed.

  2. Balance knob. This is an additional volume control, in series with the main Volume fader. Its purpose is to customise volume on a section by section basis (for accompaniment parts), or for every OTS (for lead parts).

    It is explained here in more detail.

  3. Pan control.

  4. Insert/system/master effect switch and bus volume meter (for system buses only). A flashing led marks the effect currently shown (and editable) in the DSP Editor. Right clicking (long pressing) an active switch will recall the corresponding dsp in the editor and show the editor.

    Right clicking an unactive insert switch will switch it on using the variation dsp routed as insert, thus increasing the number of insert effects you can use. For this to work, the variation dsp must not be already in use elsewhere (either as insert or system effect).

    If you run out of insert DSPs, the switches will be dimmed and are unselectable. In this case, to use an insert on a channel, you have first to release another one elsewhere (including the system variation effect).

    A DSP can by bypassed (insert, master) or muted (system) so that you can instantly hear its effect (A/B comparison). Bypassing/muting a dsp will keep it assigned to the channel, switching it off will release it for use elsewhere (insert and variation DSPs).

  5. Every channel strip has the usual mute and solo buttons. Please notice that these are organized in 3 independent groups (accompaniment, lead, aux). They do not affect channels outside the group they belong to.

  6. The channel strip can be enabled/disabled with this button. A disabled strip will not play.

    It is a sort of mute/unmute button that may be optionally customised on a section by section basis (for accompaniment parts), or for every OTS (for lead parts).

    It is therefore possible to selectively and automatically exclude parts from the mix when you switch sections or OTSes (explained here).

    Alternatively, for Main sections, it is also possible — and preferable — to mute them through the pattern customisation feature.

Dsp data persistence

Switching on/off dsps (maybe to temporarily try an insert effect on another strip, when all the available inserts have already been used) will NOT cause any data loss.

When you switch off a dsp, all its data (effect algorithm and parameters) are retained within the dsp switch. When you switch the dsp on again, it will be initialized with all the data previously stored, so that everything is exactly as you last left it.

Then, if desired, with the Dsp Editor you can change everything.

Adjusting all parts volume while preserving the relative audio level

If any of the style parts volume faders is moved while keeping pressed the ALT key, all of them will move of the same amount. Since the scale is logarithmic, this means that the ratio of the volumes (and hence their perceived relative level) is kept constant. If you want to make a finer regulation just press the SHIFT key while moving the slider.

With the same procedure, you can also adjust altogether the Aux and Lead parts. Acmp, Lead and Aux parts form 3 blocks that can be collectively adjusted independently of each other, but keeping constant the ratio of the parts within each group.

Alternative strip view

The alternative strip view is toggled with the SHOW FX SENDS button.

Mixer alternative strip view.

  1. The SHOW FX SENDS button highlights when the strip’s send controls are shown.

  2. These controls are common with the main strip view.

  3. These controls are unique to this strip view.

  4. Through these knobs, the audio signal from each strip can be sent to the corresponding (color coded) system effect buses.

  5. Through this volume knob, the dry signal (dry from system effects, but taken after the insert effect) is sent to the master bus.

    Please notice that the dry knob is available only when the Variation effect bus is active; when there is no Variation system effect the dry level is always 100%. See the box below for further insights.

  6. Variation and Chorus buses have sends too: to other system effects.

  7. The audio signal from a system effect returns to the master bus (mixed with the strip channels) through these knobs for volume (Ret) and pan.

Dry level and Variation effect

The variation effect can be used in 3 differente ways:

  • As a third system bus, in addition to the more conventional Chorus and Reverb buses. In this scenario the Dry level knobs are (usually) set to the max (127).

  • As a shared insert effect among different strip channels. This scenario is sometimes needed on PSR and Tyros keyboards, since they have a limited number of insert DSPs available. Genos has insert DSPs on every channel, and hence this use is unnecessary.

    When you want (or are forced by the lack of dedicated DSPs) to apply the same insert to many channels, you set up the Variation system effect as the common insert. You then adjust, for the desired channels, the send to the Variation effect. Finally you set the dry level to (usually) zero. This way the channel's audio signal goes through the variation effect and from there goes to the master out. If the dry level is zero, no dry (= without variation effect) signal will be heard to the master out.

    You might also decide you want a mix of dry and effected signal. In this case you adjust the “dry” and “send to variation” knobs as desired for each channel strip.

  • As an additional insert (and hence no Variation system effect is available). The dry level of each channel strip is automatically set to 100% and the knob is dimmed. This behaviour is hardwired in the XG tone generator. To adjust the dry level of each strip you have to use the volume and/or balance control.