Synthony's Synth & Midi Museum

Virtual arranger SOLTON KETRON X1

A REVOLUTIONARY STYLE CONCEPT

The SOLTON keyboard Ketron X1 heralds the dawn of a totally new era for contemporary keyboards by the introduction of a revolutionary Style concept. Unlike any other Auto-accompaniment instrument that went before, the X1 proudly presents new styles so advanced as to easily see off the competition, uniquely featuring drum and percussion parts directly sampled from the live performances of real musicians! This makes an enormous difference to the audible results, created by the real players' subtle timing, feel, dynamic nuances and stylistic articulation only the real music-making is capable of, which in sheer musical authenticity and artistry is a million miles ahead of the stiff, regimented, mechanical and hence musically lifeless patterns found on virtually all other instruments marketed every year by several manufacturers.

Utilising our exclusive " Syngroove " technology, the tempo of these sampled drum-loops can be changed without affecting the pitch of the sounds. These real performances, cover a wide range from up to five Latin percussion players creating pure magic with a Salsa pattern to a real jazz drummer following your piano improvisations, and offer so much breathtaking realism that the Ketron X1 is bound to startle even the most discriminating player and refresh any jaded palate with the realisation of this long-standing dream. (The " Grooves " have been used to great effect in the new, advanced and highly sophisticated " Factory Styles " made up of up to ten parts, described in more datail further on).

UNRIVALLED QUALITY NATURAL SOUNDS AND MUCH MORE...

The Ketron X1 achieves the ultimate in sound quality using a massive 24 Mbyte PCM ROM data, including a totally new selection of orchestral instruments, pianos, brass, guitars, accordions, vocals, drums and special effects that exude class as well as peerless sampling quality and realism which puts many a dedicated sampler to shame. Furthermore, additional delights are in store in the form of our much acclaimed state-of-the-art Solo Voices, offering the same unsurpassed in-your-face realism which have to be heard to be believed. Listen to the expressive Tenor and Alto saxes, Classical and Andes flutes, Trumpet, Trombone, Mute Trumpet, Clarinet and many other voices, which will not only blow away all the rival pretenders to the throne but even strain the credulity of the best ears upon auditioning the sonic thrills on offer.

Not content with providing this rich and mouth-watering collection of sounds, the keyboard goes one better by also featuring the popular and established analogue synth sounds, much sought after by afficionados of Techno and Dance music, as well as the raw materials and synthesis parameters to create your own as explained further on.

This means that, with the X1, having the best of both worlds or even " having your cake and eating it too " is no longer a pipe-dream but a fact of life.

PRINCIP.JPG (24489 byte)
OBSOLESCENCE ELIMINATED
In the current technological and marketing climate the vast majority of keyboards are overtaken by new advances to such an extent that annual launching of keyboards with cosmetic changes ( and a few new features ) replacing previous models is commonplace due to the inability of these products to be updated, having been built down to a price and not quality or expandability, fulfilling the adage that " you get what you pay for ".

The X1 overcomes this common fate in an elegant fashion by providing an external Card slot where it can read optional Flash Ram Cards containing new Sounds and Drum Grooves, as well as using them for storage, and the ability to take internal additional Ram using Simm, which should all but eliminate any worries about being left out by any future developments. This makes the keyboard a sound long-term investment, banishing obsolescence in one master stroke. A new Library of 8 Mbyte over-writable Flash Cards are available, facilitating instant access to a large number of extra sounds. Even a greater potential for storage is also available when an internal optional 1Gbyte hard disk is fitted ( up to 8Gbyte accepted ) from where Sound Banks of up to 16Mbyte can be transferred to the Simm Ram or up to 8Mbyte blocks to Flash Card. Wave Files are also supported.

The Ketron X1's Sound Bank Library offers a wide selection of new Sounds and Grooves including Acoustic and Electric Pianos, Winds, Guitars, Strings, Choirs and a full selection of HammondÆ Organs and Accordions, covering everything including Grooves for Techno, Funk, Hip Hop,Rock, Latin and Jazz with corresponding Styles. The Ram Sound Bank can store up to 128 new Sounds as well as 4 User Drum sets and Samples or Wave files transferred from Disk.

64 VOICES / 128 PROGRAMS / DIGITAL DRAWBARS

The Ketron X1, boasting a true 64- note polyphony and 32 part multitimbrality is a superb instrument and the last word in music production as well as live performance. The powerful Program mode with 128 Programs enables the user to store layers or splits using up to 4 Voices with their own effect settings, giving full reign to your imagination to create huge sounds or explore many other possibilities. The Programs can also be played real-time when a Midi song file is running. No keyboard would be complete without the ubiquitous sound of Tonewheel Drawbar Organs, still in high demand today after four decades, and the X1 does this idea full justice by featuring 16 Organ preset sounds which are user-programmable, utilising 8 Digital Drawbars together with key Click,2nd and 3rd Percussion, Vibrato, Chorus and LeslieÆ effects. Even richer organ sounds are available since the drawbars can be combined with sampled organ sounds to great effect.
DRAWBAR.JPG (21245 byte)

MULTIEFFECTS / SAMPLING / VOCALIST

The keyboard is equipped with 2 completely independent digital Effects processors offering Reverb, Chorus, Flanger, Distortion, Wha Wha, Overdrive, Rotor Slow/Fast, 3- band Equalizer and 60 Effect variations. Incredibly, as well as the two system effects like Reverb and Chorus, the Ketron X1 pushes the boundaries much further by offering an astonishing range of extra insert effects, up to 5 of them ( depending on the effects used ) apart from a separate 3-Band EQ, all of which are available simultaneously! Four assignable audio Outputs are available ( 3 with no loss of effects ) as well as 2 stereo line inputs which can be used to plug in an external sound module or CD/Tape player and then routed through the internal sound system to appear at the main output together with the internal sound mix.
LOOP2.JPG (18535 byte)

A stereo Microphone/Line input is also provided, with controls for Gain, Pan, Echo, Reverb and Pitch Shift. Up to 2 Microphones can be connected with a simple adaptor each one having separate effect and level controls. If the Vocalist unit (optional) is installed into the X1, one of the 2 microphones can drive the Vocalist while the other goes straight through as it is : an ideal vocal performance set-up for a duo. The instrument also additionally offers a high quality 16-Bit sound Sampling facility at 44,1 KHz via the microphone input. The available internal Ram for sampling is able to store up to 8Mbyte samples or Wave files, which can be edited and then easily saved on Hard Disk creating a personal, custom Sound Library. The Multisample feature ( MSP ) allows up to 32 Splits / Multisamples to be created , with advanced editing parameters such as Loop, Reverse, ADSR, Filter, Level, Effects. The Simm Ram can be divided into 2 x 8Mbyte sections, each one used for storing Sound Banks or Samples respectively. A professional Harmonizer unit, the Vocalist, can also be installed inside the keyboard which features a large number of various vocal effects like Vocoder, Midi Vocalist track and Vocal Harmony controlled by the Arranger section or by the right hand part of the keyboard. A very useful PC/ Mac Computer interface is also built-in, for connecting to a computer via an optional cable. This permits a Midi dialogue with computers not equipped with Midi interface and also makes possible data backup for the Ketron X1's Hard Disk into the Computer's Hard Disk.

INNOVATIVE SONG TEXT, LYRICS and HARD DISK FUNCTIONS

With the new exclusive " Song Text " function you can simply type Song lyrics into your word processor, export to a text file, and instantly read it on the display screen of the X1, which is a large 240 x 128 pixel back-lit LCD able to display a considerable amount of information that makes any editing job a breeze, no matter how complicated. Alphabetical characters of most European languages are supported, and the text can be easily scrolled from the keyboard or the optional footswitch. A new directory architecture is provided for the Hard Disk when installed, allowing up to 99 folders to be created, each one holding up to 999 files, making the searching and locating of any file a doddle. The locating of a file can be also instantly achieved by typing directly the first letters of the Song from the keyboard. The Song Lyrics are displayed on the LCD screen using colour, underline or marking for Karaoke applications. The instrument is fully compatible with the SOLTON Song and Style Library and other General Midi products with Lyrics and Vocalist tracks.

AVANCED PROGRAMMING CAPABILITIES

The Ketron X1 has a powerful 36.000 note/16Track onboard Sequencer, expandable to 300.000 notes with an optional 4Mb Simm- at your disposal, enabling you to create your own " masterpieces " or modify a Midifile. The built-in 198 top-notch Factory Styles ( nearly double the number found on many other comparable keyboards ) are simply several cuts above the competition, both in quality as well as quantity, each of which can be customized and saved into the 198 Custom Styles memories.
DRUMIXER.JPG (24882 byte)

The Factory Styles alluded to earlier, contain up to 10 parts including 5 Chord parts, Bass, Drums, Grooves and 2 Lower (left-hand manual parts ). 3 Intros, 4 main Arrangements, 3 Endings, 4 Fill-ins ( including a " Break " type ) per Style provide more than enough variety to add musical interest while keeping boredom a long way off for a very long time! You are also offered the pleasure as well as the challenge to modify existing Styles or more interestingly create from scratch up to 99 of your own Patterns, which is a far larger number compared to the paltry single figures offered on many other keyboards, proving yet again that the X1 means business when it comes to serious programming capability. If all this fires your imagination to create even more, the already massive User Pattern memory can be trebled by installing our optional 2Mb Flash Ram expansion. In the Voice mode, as well as the 128 User Voice memories enabling the editing of ADSR, Filter, Resonance, LFO and Effects, up to 8 User Drum kits can also be created and stored for instant recall. In addition to the PCM Voices, the sound palette is greatly increased by the inclusion of Analogue Waveforms - Saw, Sine, Square, as well as FM algorhythms with harmonic control, opening up a vast potential for the creation of vintage Synth sounds, which is another significant weapon in the X1's sonic armoury conspicuous by its absence on many rival keyboards, regardless of price.

VERSATILE AND COMPREHENSIVE CONTROLS

Considering the vast amount on offer, the immediacy of the user-friendly operating system of the Ketron X1 will astound even the weary musician suffering from " Technophobia " by its surprising ease of use. The One Touch facility lets you store and instantly recall up to 48 of your favourite sounds ( choosen from among the Preset and User Voices or Programs) at the touch of a button , while 2nd Voice function adds a suitable second sound to the one being played by the right hand , creating an attractive combination thus enhancing your musical performance .
USER.JPG (19898 byte)

The Modulation wheel and Aftertouch can be assigned to control the Filter, Wha Wha , Expression, Bend and Portamento. The very powerful provision of User programmable Registrations enable the user to store and instantly recall up to 198 Internal Block Registrations and up to 999 Single Disk Registrations which includes all the panel settings and global parameters related to the operating functions. The optional programmable Footswitches FS 6 or FS 13 facilitates quick remote operation of the Arranger and Drum functions, as well as special effects like Glide, Brass Fall and Shake ( a typical kind of Brass instrument Vibrato unique to jazz). The instrument features an improved new Accordion mode with velocity range for Left and Right, new manual drums assignment to Bass and Chords, as well as Expression control by the wind pressure from the bellows. An Arabic scale mode is included with up to 6 programmble set ups for Arabic Scales. By connecting the optional Midi Pedalboard, the X1 can be transformed into a fabulous portable Organ of no mean stature. The guitar players can also use the keyboard by plugging in the Midi Pedalboard to trigger the chords and the Footswitch to change the chord name.

A REVOLUTIONARY STYLE CONCEPT
The SOLTON keyboard Ketron X1 heralds the dawn of a totally new era for contemporary keyboards by the introduction of a revolutionary Style concept. Unlike any other Auto-accompaniment instrument that went before, the X1 proudly presents new styles so advanced as to easily see off the competition, uniquely featuring drum and percussion parts directly sampled from the live performances of real musicians! This makes an enormous difference to the audible results, created by the real players' subtle timing, feel, dynamic nuances and stylistic articulation only the real music-making is capable of, which in sheer musical authenticity and artistry is a million miles ahead of the stiff, regimented, mechanical and hence musically lifeless patterns found on virtually all other instruments marketed every year by several manufacturers. Utilising our exclusive " Syngroove " technology, the tempo of these sampled drum-loops can be changed without affecting the pitch of the sounds. These real performances, cover a wide range from up to five Latin percussion players creating pure magic with a Salsa pattern to a real jazz drummer following your piano improvisations, and offer so much breathtaking realism that the Ketron X1 is bound to startle even the most discriminating player and refresh any jaded palate with the realisation of this long-standing dream. (The " Grooves " have been used to great effect in the new, advanced and highly sophisticated " Factory Styles " made up of up to ten parts, described in more datail further on). UNRIVALLED QUALITY NATURAL SOUNDS AND MUCH MORE... The Ketron X1 achieves the ultimate in sound quality using a massive 24 Mbyte PCM ROM data, including a totally new selection of orchestral instruments, pianos, brass, guitars, accordions, vocals, drums and special effects that exude class as well as peerless sampling quality and realism which puts many a dedicated sampler to shame. Furthermore, additional delights are in store in the form of our much acclaimed state-of-the-art Solo Voices, offering the same unsurpassed in-your-face realism which have to be heard to be believed. Listen to the expressive Tenor and Alto saxes, Classical and Andes flutes, Trumpet, Trombone, Mute Trumpet, Clarinet and many other voices, which will not only blow away all the rival pretenders to the throne but even strain the credulity of the best ears upon auditioning the sonic thrills on offer. Not content with providing this rich and mouth-watering collection of sounds, the keyboard goes one better by also featuring the popular and established analogue synth sounds, much sought after by afficionados of Techno and Dance music, as well as the raw materials and synthesis parameters to create your own as explained further on. This means that, with the X1, having the best of both worlds or even " having your cake and eating it too " is no longer a pipe-dream but a fact of life.
OBSOLESCENCE ELIMINATED In the current technological and marketing climate the vast majority of keyboards are overtaken by new advances to such an extent that annual launching of keyboards with cosmetic changes ( and a few new features ) replacing previous models is commonplace due to the inability of these products to be updated, having been built down to a price and not quality or expandability, fulfilling the adage that " you get what you pay for ".
The X1 overcomes this common fate in an elegant fashion by providing an external Card slot where it can read optional Flash Ram Cards containing new Sounds and Drum Grooves, as well as using them for storage, and the ability to take internal additional Ram using Simm, which should all but eliminate any worries about being left out by any future developments. This makes the keyboard a sound long-term investment, banishing obsolescence in one master stroke. A new Library of 8 Mbyte over-writable Flash Cards are available, facilitating instant access to a large number of extra sounds. Even a greater potential for storage is also available when an internal optional 1Gbyte hard disk is fitted ( up to 8Gbyte accepted ) from where Sound Banks of up to 16Mbyte can be transferred to the Simm Ram or up to 8Mbyte blocks to Flash Card. Wave Files are also supported. The Ketron X1's Sound Bank Library offers a wide selection of new Sounds and Grooves including Acoustic and Electric Pianos, Winds, Guitars, Strings, Choirs and a full selection of HammondÆ Organs and Accordions, covering everything including Grooves for Techno, Funk, Hip Hop,Rock, Latin and Jazz with corresponding Styles. The Ram Sound Bank can store up to 128 new Sounds as well as 4 User Drum sets and Samples or Wave files transferred from Disk.
64 VOICES / 128 PROGRAMS / DIGITAL DRAWBARS The Ketron X1, boasting a true 64- note polyphony and 32 part multitimbrality is a superb instrument and the last word in music production as well as live performance. The powerful Program mode with 128 Programs enables the user to store layers or splits using up to 4 Voices with their own effect settings, giving full reign to your imagination to create huge sounds or explore many other possibilities. The Programs can also be played real-time when a Midi song file is running. No keyboard would be complete without the ubiquitous sound of Tonewheel Drawbar Organs, still in high demand today after four decades, and the X1 does this idea full justice by featuring 16 Organ preset sounds which are user-programmable, utilising 8 Digital Drawbars together with key Click,2nd and 3rd Percussion, Vibrato, Chorus and LeslieÆ effects. Even richer organ sounds are available since the drawbars can be combined with sampled organ sounds to great effect.
MULTIEFFECTS / SAMPLING / VOCALIST The keyboard is equipped with 2 completely independent digital Effects processors offering Reverb, Chorus, Flanger, Distortion, Wha Wha, Overdrive, Rotor Slow/Fast, 3- band Equalizer and 60 Effect variations. Incredibly, as well as the two system effects like Reverb and Chorus, the Ketron X1 pushes the boundaries much further by offering an astonishing range of extra insert effects, up to 5 of them ( depending on the effects used ) apart from a separate 3-Band EQ, all of which are available simultaneously! Four assignable audio Outputs are available ( 3 with no loss of effects ) as well as 2 stereo line inputs which can be used to plug in an external sound module or CD/Tape player and then routed through the internal sound system to appear at the main output together with the internal sound mix.
A stereo Microphone/Line input is also provided, with controls for Gain, Pan, Echo, Reverb and Pitch Shift. Up to 2 Microphones can be connected with a simple adaptor each one having separate effect and level controls. If the Vocalist unit (optional) is installed into the X1, one of the 2 microphones can drive the Vocalist while the other goes straight through as it is : an ideal vocal performance set-up for a duo. The instrument also additionally offers a high quality 16-Bit sound Sampling facility at 44,1 KHz via the microphone input. The available internal Ram for sampling is able to store up to 8Mbyte samples or Wave files, which can be edited and then easily saved on Hard Disk creating a personal, custom Sound Library. The Multisample feature ( MSP ) allows up to 32 Splits / Multisamples to be created , with advanced editing parameters such as Loop, Reverse, ADSR, Filter, Level, Effects. The Simm Ram can be divided into 2 x 8Mbyte sections, each one used for storing Sound Banks or Samples respectively. A professional Harmonizer unit, the Vocalist, can also be installed inside the keyboard which features a large number of various vocal effects like Vocoder, Midi Vocalist track and Vocal Harmony controlled by the Arranger section or by the right hand part of the keyboard. A very useful PC/ Mac Computer interface is also built-in, for connecting to a computer via an optional cable. This permits a Midi dialogue with computers not equipped with Midi interface and also makes possible data backup for the Ketron X1's Hard Disk into the Computer's Hard Disk.
INNOVATIVE SONG TEXT, LYRICS and HARD DISK FUNCTIONS With the new exclusive " Song Text " function you can simply type Song lyrics into your word processor, export to a text file, and instantly read it on the display screen of the X1, which is a large 240 x 128 pixel back-lit LCD able to display a considerable amount of information that makes any editing job a breeze, no matter how complicated. Alphabetical characters of most European languages are supported, and the text can be easily scrolled from the keyboard or the optional footswitch. A new directory architecture is provided for the Hard Disk when installed, allowing up to 99 folders to be created, each one holding up to 999 files, making the searching and locating of any file a doddle. The locating of a file can be also instantly achieved by typing directly the first letters of the Song from the keyboard. The Song Lyrics are displayed on the LCD screen using colour, underline or marking for Karaoke applications. The instrument is fully compatible with the SOLTON Song and Style Library and other General Midi products with Lyrics and Vocalist tracks.
AVANCED PROGRAMMING CAPABILITIES The Ketron X1 has a powerful 36.000 note/16Track onboard Sequencer, expandable to 300.000 notes with an optional 4Mb Simm- at your disposal, enabling you to create your own " masterpieces " or modify a Midifile. The built-in 198 top-notch Factory Styles ( nearly double the number found on many other comparable keyboards ) are simply several cuts above the competition, both in quality as well as quantity, each of which can be customized and saved into the 198 Custom Styles memories.
The Factory Styles alluded to earlier, contain up to 10 parts including 5 Chord parts, Bass, Drums, Grooves and 2 Lower (left-hand manual parts ). 3 Intros, 4 main Arrangements, 3 Endings, 4 Fill-ins ( including a " Break " type ) per Style provide more than enough variety to add musical interest while keeping boredom a long way off for a very long time! You are also offered the pleasure as well as the challenge to modify existing Styles or more interestingly create from scratch up to 99 of your own Patterns, which is a far larger number compared to the paltry single figures offered on many other keyboards, proving yet again that the X1 means business when it comes to serious programming capability. If all this fires your imagination to create even more, the already massive User Pattern memory can be trebled by installing our optional 2Mb Flash Ram expansion. In the Voice mode, as well as the 128 User Voice memories enabling the editing of ADSR, Filter, Resonance, LFO and Effects, up to 8 User Drum kits can also be created and stored for instant recall. In addition to the PCM Voices, the sound palette is greatly increased by the inclusion of Analogue Waveforms - Saw, Sine, Square, as well as FM algorhythms with harmonic control, opening up a vast potential for the creation of vintage Synth sounds, which is another significant weapon in the X1's sonic armoury conspicuous by its absence on many rival keyboards, regardless of price.
VERSATILE AND COMPREHENSIVE CONTROLS Considering the vast amount on offer, the immediacy of the user-friendly operating system of the Ketron X1 will astound even the weary musician suffering from " Technophobia " by its surprising ease of use. The One Touch facility lets you store and instantly recall up to 48 of your favourite sounds ( choosen from among the Preset and User Voices or Programs) at the touch of a button , while 2nd Voice function adds a suitable second sound to the one being played by the right hand , creating an attractive combination thus enhancing your musical performance .
The Modulation wheel and Aftertouch can be assigned to control the Filter, Wha Wha , Expression, Bend and Portamento. The very powerful provision of User programmable Registrations enable the user to store and instantly recall up to 198 Internal Block Registrations and up to 999 Single Disk Registrations which includes all the panel settings and global parameters related to the operating functions. The optional programmable Footswitches FS 6 or FS 13 facilitates quick remote operation of the Arranger and Drum functions, as well as special effects like Glide, Brass Fall and Shake ( a typical kind of Brass instrument Vibrato unique to jazz). The instrument features an improved new Accordion mode with velocity range for Left and Right, new manual drums assignment to Bass and Chords, as well as Expression control by the wind pressure from the bellows. An Arabic scale mode is included with up to 6 programmble set ups for Arabic Scales. By connecting the optional Midi Pedalboard, the X1 can be transformed into a fabulous portable Organ of no mean stature. The guitar players can also use the keyboard by plugging in the Midi Pedalboard to trigger the chords and the Footswitch to change the chord name.