Ketron Audya 5 Review > by Mitchell Wooster (The Rooster) > > This is written for mostly singles or duos that use an arranger type device to > create a full "band" backup sound. As a guitar player I do not play piano > except for slooow programming. I kick bass pedals and use tonality/volume > pedal for chord variations. I've made a decent living providing > dance/listening music in my local area for over 33 years ( man....where'd the > time go???). > As a solo act guitar player/entertainer, it was hard to find equipment that > would help me be a complete "band" on my own. I started in 1977 and I > tried many set-ups including Multi-vox drum machines, Roland, ABC bass > computer/synth etc.etc. I kept trying to get that "live" feel and sound. While > running my music store around 1981, I found Solton in a trade magazine ad > and I became both a distributor and buyer/owner. > My first machine was the Programer 24S. What a miracle it was to > have ONE unit that could be controlled by my feet and give such a live > professional sound! Then I moved to the T4 Top Session. Again, a brilliant > machine for singles and duo acts. Then......The MS-5. Wow what a board > and sound. And Then, the MS-100 which was the "Cadillac" of arranger > boards. AND THEN! The SD1 which took the live sound of Solton/Ketron to > a completely new level. Much superior to the older equipment, it brought > new life into my show. The drums alone made this the choice for working > muscians. It was nice that when I upgraded through the years, I could > expect very little learning curve as advancements in tech did not alter the > basic operating systems of Solton/Ketron too much. > I used to immediately put new Solton/Ketron Arranger boards to work > but not this bad boy. With all the possibilities to choose from, the Audya 5 > will take a while before it hits the stage. > First Impressions: > This ain't your daddy's keyboard! Sitting on my table is my brand new > Audya 5. I've had it for 3 weeks now (now 2 months) and still discovering > the fantastic things this board will do. Yep, right out of the box , the best > "live" sounding styles I've ever heard and pretty darn easy to run without > cracking the manual (which I rate about an 8, much better then the old > ones). I used to be able to immediately put new Solton/Ketron Arranger > boards to work... but not this bad boy. With all the possibilities to choose > from, the Audya 5 will take a while before it hits the stage (looking forward > to this Saturday night...big party at the Eagles club). So far, no problems > with operating system. Everything working correctly as far as I can tell. > I keep looking around to find the live drummer and guitar player that > is in the room with me..;) Playing styles that have live wave drum and guitar > recordings is a real joy. With the addition of Changable "Arp&Licks" and on > the fly bass pattern changing, The Audya will give almost unlimited choices > for a musician to build and save THIER version of styles. Slowing or > speeding the tempo offers many variable "feels" to the styles. With the > styles that come with the board, there isn't much music out there that you > can't cover. Writing your own user patterns from scratch or by copying > hunks and chunks of styles that already exist, you should be able to make > styles/patterns for ANYTHING you can imagine. Since there is so many > background chords/instruments that complete a full style you can turn down > individual instruments or emphasize others for a "new" style without > changing original programming. You can vary your pattern/style to create a > very live and real sounding background without the repeats of limited 4 bar > patterns. I think you can go up to 48 bars and thats almost 1/2 of a > complete song. As always, the registrations are the way to save the > ENTIRE setup that you've worked so hard to create. Just save as > registration as you make changes and call back that setup with just > the touch of a couple buttons. I use the numerical settings on stage > and for each song I do, I have a number to show the set up for that > song. Do the style set ups, writing your own styles, mix in MIDI files, > MP3's, Wave files, Special effects, Microphone set ups, Vocalizer > harmony set ups and save everything so you don't have to find it later. > With a 80 gig hard drive you should have enough room for thousands > of song savings. > I don't know where to start with the other features...:) The right hand > sounds are as amazing as always with some welcome goodies such as > guitars that if played correctly on the keyboard, come as close to live guitars > as I've ever heard on an arranger keyboard. The new saxaphones actually > take a breath if you play extended lines of music. I only use the right side > when I'm programming as I'm not a good enough piano/organ player to take > full advantage of the goodies here. > The Vocalizer has excellent harmonies that you can use right out of > the box or play around to find the perfect settings. You can save these in a > registration of course. Choose your Reg. and your complete settings for > styles WITH perfect choice of harmonies....nice! No more fumbling with > outside devices changing vocals or harmonies everytime you switch songs! > The MIDI, Wave, Mp3 player is nice to have. seperate controls make > it easy to playback almost anything you might want. From special effects to > regular songs from CD. Also, RECORD yourself instantly by playing a MIDI > files, using styles/arranger, microphone, Harmonies etc. and play back on > Audya or drop to a thumb drive to computer and upload to web and let your > customers/clients/groupies hear. I pulled all of the styles, both custom and > factorys from my SD1 and put them on the Audya so I can utilize the > styles/patterns I have built up through the years. I do find myself in the > process of remaking these settings as the new Audya sounds are well worth > changing things up. You can mix in the live guitar sounds to remake your > older styles for a completely new sound. > I use a nine switch Ketron device velcroed to my guitar for > arrangement changes and fill-ins. With the new buttons and choices > available on the Audya, I can get more use from my limited button choices > then ever. By using the new 16 button panel on Audya 5, I can tell the board > to play fill when I press arrange change. A nice fill then arrangement change > keeps things real. Now four buttons can do dual purpose! One button will be > dedicated for harmony on and off while rest are arrangement and/or fills. > Other buttons for intro/ending 2 , breaks, snare on/off. You can set up > almost anthing to work with outside pedals/switches. > I've already uploaded a nice selection of mp3's to use as break fillers when I > schmooze the crowd. I've also setup in the keytunes switch a nice selection > of special effects. The keytunes will allow you to play any wave file you have > by playing a key on the keyboard. > As you can tell I'm pretty excited about this board. I figure that with all the > choices and things I can do, It will take quite a bit of time before going on > stage with it, but in the end, I will have a KILLER show, both musically and > performance wise. > Remix your MIDI files with live drums, live guitars. Control them with > individual volumes (if channels set correctly) by drums, bass, chords, and > lead then save it all to a registration. Oh heck, record it live while you're at it! > The Audya also has a sampler and MIDI sequencer built in also. > SOME TIPS: > LISTEN to all styles with just the drums running. You can make any > changes you want to the bass line, background instruments, live guitar, etc. > and save to registration, but by just listening to the drums you can get a feel > for if its going to work for your song. Then go to the addtion of the bass line > and so on. By carefully considering what each style can be used for you can > make ONE style go a long ways. If necessary make bass line changes or > change sound of bass. Write YOUR own bass line and add to drums of > factory style. It's quick and easy to make a factory style work for your song! > Play with all the arp&Licks. play any styles and by using the style view > button, choose and adjust ALL of the background instruments > I may find more things to say after I've owned it awhile longer but thats it for > now....I got to stop somewhere! > Major PROS: > Choices choices choices, Easy user interface, The BEST live sounds on the > market today. Most of the other boards out there have "studio" polish that > may be good for lounge background but the Ketron puts out the most > realistic, in your face LIVE sound I've ever heard anywhere! > Minor CONS: > Choices, choices, choices. It will take awhile to get on stage because its > hard to know where to start!...:) Some of the endings of the styles seem a > trifle overbearing, but tweaking the styles will take care of that. Otherwise its > hard to find fault. hmmm...expensive? yes but! Considering what this board > will do for my performances and personal desire to sound the way I > do....ahhhh what the hell...its only money! > Last but not least: > Since I no longer own my own store, I've had to find a source that I can > trust. Jay Salam from www.ketronus.com is both my friend and my choice of > distributor. Jay has helped me through the years and has put together one > of the most helpful websites for Ketron owners out there. Please support > him as the music business is cutthroat to say the least and the good guys > need to win a few. We all know that the support level for Ketron is spotty at > best. Jay WILL be there for you if you have a problem.