IS40 - Styles??

PaulF707 · Post by **PaulF707** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:51 am

Hi

I'm looking at some of the older arrranger keyboards (budget won't stretch to the new ones!)

The IS40 looks pretty good, but i'm interested in the 'user styles' functions of this.

I think (from reading the net) that you can't create new styles on the keyboard itself - I'll need something like Style Works XT to do that (which is a bit of a pain as that adds to the cost!)
Does anyone know of any 'freeware' that allows you to create style files for the IS40?
If you create your own - can you create the full range of variations, intro/endings, fills etc?

The spec says 16 RAM styles - do you know if these can be loaded / saved to MIDI SysEx dump as well as Floppy Disk?
Is there a hard disk option for the IS40? Anyone have any idea of the spec/type of hard disk required?

What are the 64 RAM Arrangements? These mention changing the sounds for the styles - so can you change the drum and bass (etc) patches for the styles (but without changing the actual programming of the styles)?

I've found 'the is40 guide' pdf from a link on this forum - but this seems to be a 'quick start' type guide. Is there a full 'reference guide' somewhere on the internet??

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to find as much information on this keyboard as I can before I hit ebay!!!

Thanks in advance,

Paul

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:30 pm

Hi Paul
I owned the i3 and the i30 for a few years but cannot remember the differences/limitations of the IS40.

Hopefully another IS40 owner will respond - I'll try and do some research for you.

Cheers

Pete

PaulF707 · Post by **PaulF707** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:06 pm

Thanks Pete

From what I've read, the older I3 only has a few custom styles.
The I30 is listed as similar to the IS40 - did you experiment with custom styles at all when you had one?

These are pretty much the reason I'm looking for a new keyboard

I've got a N364 and was hoping to use the RPPR feature - but each pattern on RPPR can only be output to one channel (i.e. drums, bass etc) - so to build up 'auto accomp' using RPPR would mean I have to hold down 2 or 3 (or more!) keys for each chord!

I've seen IS40 for around 170-200 ish on ebay - but then there are PA50s for around £100 more (and they are considerably newer) - so I'm not sure what is for the best.....

Hopefully there are some people on here who have used the IS40 and can give me more info on the custom styles etc.....

Cheers!
Paul

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:04 am

Hi again

Yes I did customise styles on the i3 and i30 but I am straining the brain a bit to remember any detail.

What exactly do you want to know about? I think I still have my old i30 manual and could perhaps refresh my brain.....

Pete

PaulF707 · Post by **PaulF707** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:08 am

My main areas of questions are:

Can you record/define custom styles from the keyboard?
If you need PC software to do this, how much does it cost? (is there any freeware)
What 'variations' are available on the custom styles (intro x 2, main rhythms x4, fills x2, endings x2)?
How long can each of these variations be?
How difficult is it to create the bass lines / chords for the styles (do you have to define styles for each variation of chords: minor, major, seventh etc)

Lastly, can anyone give me a subjective view on the quality of sounds in these keyboards. As I said I have an N364 so I would be interested to know if the is40 / i30 is of a similar sound quality standard?

Cheers.