Until now we have discussed style creating, where the instruments source (MIDI) channel is equal to the keyboard (destination) channels, e.g. the bass instrument pattern is in MIDI channel 11, and is played through the Bass channel at the keyboard. Using this approach we will only use 8 of the 16 available MIDI channels (channel 9-16).
However all 16 MIDI channels can be used for all instruments except channel 10 which by definition is a drum channel. This means that the channel designation does not have to follow the above method. This can not be set up in the keyboard, but has to be done in software, e.g. CASM Editor. Here you set up a redirection schema for all the MIDI channels used.
Furthermore more than 8 channels can be used. This is an especially interesting feature, which can be used to create alternative accompaniment patterns, depending on the played chord. E.g. different patterns in the Chord 1 channel (Style Channel 12), when playing Major, Minor, and 7th chords. Neither can this be set up in the keyboard, but has to be done in software, e.g. CASM Editor.
To obtain this effect the procedure in this software:
• Create the 3 different patterns in the MIDI Part, e.g. Major pattern in channel 4, Minor pattern in channel 5, and 7th pattern in channel 6
• Redirect these 3 MIDI channels to the SAME keyboard channel
• In MIDI ch. 4 remove ALL check marks in "Active Chords Minor" and "Active Chords 7th"
• In MIDI ch. 5 remove ALL check marks in "Active Chords Major" and "Active Chords 7th"
• In MIDI ch. 6 remove ALL check marks in "Active Chords Major" and "Active Chords Minor"
When this approach is used, most often 3 alternative patterns are created as demonstrated above. However the alternative patterns can be assigned to any number and combination of the 35 chord types (check your manual for a list of these) the keyboard recognizes, e.g. a pattern solely for the "minorb9"-chord. However, as each group of chords requires one MIDI channel in practice you will soon run out of free channels.
As mentioned above you can use up to 16 channels, which means that the number of MIDI channels is too small for creating alternative patterns for all the 8 instruments. Most often this feature is used for bass and chord instruments.
By definition the length of Fill In parts must be 1 measure long. To create a Fill In (Break) of any length we can use one of the Intro parts (which can be any length) instead.
When playing we have to think ahead, as an Intro part will start AFTER the current measure, while a normal Fill part will be run IMMEDIATELY when the Fill button is pressed. After the intro the keyboard will resume playing the same Main part as were used when the Intro was called.
Often a song requires a short break (e.g. a half measure). As a style file can have one Time Signature - and consequently one measure length - only, you will have to create a "hack". Use the Style Half Bar Fill Creator software to create this feature.
As the keyboard can handle only one Time Signature, the changing of Time Signature can be faked through a combination of tempo changes and note movements. To obtain this effect use the Style Time Editor software.
The style parts can have unequal tempo. This can be set when creating the MIDI part of the style file. However the keyboard will continue to play in latest tempo given. To avoid wrong tempo in parts, a tempo "resetting" in the very beginning of ALL style parts has to be added. Use the Style Tempo Editor software to add different tempos.