KETRON SD9 User manual

KETRON SD9 Manual & Tutorial
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KETRON SD9 PRO MANUAL, HINTS & TIPS (V 1.0)
Written by AJAM Inc. USA
In collaboration with KETRON Srl Italy

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Number Topic Page
1 Navigating the SD9 PRO 3
1 Playing in Full Keyboard mode 4
2 Sounds & Voices 6
2.A
Playing and using Sounds 6
2.B
Accessing and using more voices from Random Access Memory 8
2.C
Playing 2 Lead Sounds / Voices at once (2nd Voice) 9
2.D
How to change the 2nd voice 10
2.E
Using / Layering more than 2 sounds / Voice Edit 12
2.F
Playing up to 2 voices with the left hand 16
2.G
Changing the Sounds / Voices played by your left hand 18
2.H
Other parameters that control the Lower Voices 18
2.I
Playing Left hand bass - Manual Bass 20
2.J
Saving your Keyboard Settings / Registrations 22
2.K
Recalling your Registrations / Song Settings 23
2.L
Adding harmony to your sounds / Voices 24
2.M
Assigning Harmony types to your lead sounds/Voices 25
2.N
Instantly double a lead voice 25
3 Adding Professional Effects to your voice as you play (Live Effects) 26
3.A
Assigning what gets affected by the Live Effects 27
3.B
List of favorite voices - Voice List 27
3.C
How to create your own Voice List 28

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4 STYLES 31
4.A
Selecting styles/beats & Arrangements 32
4.B
Various parts of the styles - explained 34
4.C
How to Select a style for a song 36
4.D
How to play and enjoy using styles 38
4.E
One Touch Settings & Variations 45
4.F
Voice to Arranger/Variations 46
4.G
Creating your own One Touch Settings 46
4.H
Style
Variations
(More or Less busy) 48
4.I
Modifying Styles (STYLE VIEW) 49
4.J
Unique Arranger Features 52
4.K
Adding & Syncing Arpeggios to Styles 61
4.L
Assembling your own style - Modeling 64
4.M
Creating a new Style & Beat 69
5 Microphone and Vocal Harmonizer (Voicetron) 75
5.A
Microphone Preset settings 76
5.B
Vocal Harmonizer - Voicetron
80
5.C
Vocalizer Tips and Tricks 85
5.D
Using a Guitar and on board Stomp Boxes / Microphone 2 Input 85
6 Saving and Recalling Keyboard Settings / Song Settings / Registrations 88
6.A
Creating a Song Setup / Registration 88
6.B
Determining what a Song Setting/Registration saves/recalls and ignores 89

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6.C
Recalling your Song Set up/Registrations at the show/gig 92
7 Audio and Midi RECORDING 95
7.A
Song and Phrase 95
8 Audio, Video and Multi Media Player 97
Using Audio Drums & Arranger with Midifiles (Drum Restyle) 100
Playlist 103
Placing my best tunes in one place (MY FOLDER) 108
Using MARKERS in Songs 109
Removing Lead Instrument Sounds from Songs (Lead Mute) 110
Adjusting Midi file Instrumentation with Volume Sliders on the panel
(Midi Mix) 110
9 Play Modes 114
10 MIDI Modes and Settings 120
11 Audio Editor (Wave Files) 123
12 Digital Copy of User manual 124
13 Set up / Preferences 125
Backup (Export entire system, Playlist, My Folder) 128
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Keyboard Controls & Settings
130
Output Assign (Assigning Drum, Bass or Chords to separate output Aux /
Headphone) 131
15 Footswitches & Assigning them 132
16 External Video Monitor Setup 134
17 1/4 Note Tuning ( Arabic Settings) 136
18 Registration / Song settings and Controls 138

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Congratulations on your purchase of the KETRON SD9 PRO Arranger & Player Electronic keyboard. Unlike
any other keyboard that has gone before it, this multi-media musical work horse is the first in its class of musical
instruments to combine modern features you actually need and will use for and during your performances, such as
•High quality natural sounds which sound just like the instruments it emulates. Close your eyes and you
would think a musician playing say the sax was right there in front of you
•A vast new library of Live audio Guitars and Live Audio drums which places before you ‘musicians’ you
control right at your finger tips with innovative tools such as Style Modeling and LaunchPad with the
capability to change the tonality of the audio elements in real time
•Loop Maker taken to the next level with LaunchPad which provides style modeling and real time
sequencing of midi and audio elements which can be synchronized and used in live or studio performances
•A new Sample Editor that now provides the means for you to utilize your own samples as instruments or
create your own drum sets which can in turn be used with styles/tracks or used to enhance Midifiles
•A simple and easy to use operating system which can easily be utilized through a very intuitive and wide
touch color screen
•Multi player capabilities with extensive control over audio, including the new Audio Multi Tracking feature
•Four Playbox banks which now allow you to customize and store 999 of your favorite songs (Mp3, wave,
Midifiles) within each one.
…. all of this built into a very affordable package, and one that was designed by musicians and for musicians. Right
out of the box, the SD9 PRO is ready for any artist, performer, studio engineer or entertainer to use on stage, at a
place of worship, or in the studio – with incredible Audio Drums, authentic live bass and backings suitable for
almost any song, thanks to the vast library of professional sounds and rhythms and the flexibility to be able to
control them all quickly in real time.
Depending on your purpose of purchasing the KETRON SD9 PRO, you can set it up for various PLAY MODES
based on your needs (as a Pianist, Organist, Accordionist, Guitarist …etc) simply by pressing the MENU button on
the right side of the panel - and touching the PLAY MODE to display the following screen from
which you can select the play mode you’re interested in.
This PLAY MODE feature is discussed in more depth below under the
MENU section in PLAY MODE Page 154.

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1. GETTING AROUND THE SD9 PRO QUICKLY – NAVIGATION
Before we get started, let’s see how to set up the SD9 PRO by taking a look at the connections on the back (as
shown in Fig. A. below). This will enable us to better understand how the SD9 PRO interacts with the outside world.
Fig. A.
Thanks to its clean design, the SD9 PRO has most of its connectors tugged away in the back, allowing it to easily
interface with various optional devices. Let’s take a closer look at the back … from left to right.
•ON/OFF:-This is the power switch used to power the instrument on or off. Please note that once you turn
on the instrument, it may take about 30 second for it to completely boot up as it loads the various data
needed for operation. Also, when you turn off the keyboard, allow about 10 seconds for it to properly save
all relevant material and power down. Do not disconnect power to the instrument while it is powered on or
powering down!
•DC9V/4A:-Mains power supply socket. For proper functioning, connect only the supplied power adaptor
to the instrument (which is an automatic 110v ~ 240v adaptor). Warrantee could be voided if a different
power adaptor is used!
•SUSTAIN:-Connect the optional KETRON sustain pedal to this jack. The Sustain pedal can be used to
play the piano or other Sounds (as on a standard piano), but can also be programmed to be used as a Rotor
switch to switch the rotor Leslie organ speed between fast or slow when using Organ sounds, or to prevent
the arranger from recognizing and changing chords when playing as a solo pianist (PIANIST MODE –
Sustain Pedal turned on).
•USB:- Connect the SD9 Pro to a computer using a standard USB printer cable. This port can be used for 2
purposes (which are discussed in more detail under “MIDI” on page 160):-
oMIDI IN/OUT:- Rather than using 2 standard 5 pin Midi DIN cables to connect to the MIDI IN1
(GM) and MIDI OUT port, the SD9 Pro is capable of communicating with external MIDI devices
via the USB port using just one USB cable (when MENU – MIDI – USB MIDI is turned on).
This facilitates using the sound engine of the SD9 Pro from Midi based software like Cubase or
Cakewalk or Sonar … etc.
oDATA:- The SD9 pro can be connected to a computer via this port such that the contents of its
internal Solid State Drive (or optional SSD drive if installed) can be managed via an external
computer. This allows you to quickly and simply drag and drop files between the SD9 Pro and
your computer’s storage devices (when MENU – MIDI – USB MIDI is turned off!)
oUSB Pen Drives:- There are 3 USB ports located at the front – top of the panel (as shown in Fig.
B. below) for use with USB devices such as sticks, Pen drives, external Hard drives … etc

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Fig. B.
•VOLUME:-Connect an optional KETRON Volume pedal to this connector. This pedal can be used to
control the entire volume of the keyboard as you perform, or it can be programmed to control only the
volume of the style or the Player (when playing Audio, video or midifiles) – (MENU – CONTROLS –
EXPR. PEDAL). It can also be programmed to act as a wha wha pedal to insert wha wha effects into say
guitar sounds (VOICE EDIT – PAGE 4 –WHA WHA MODE=PEDAL). More of this in the “MENU-
CONTROLS” section on page 172.
•FOOTSWITCH:- Connect the optional KETRON FS6 or FS13 Effects pedals to this multi-pin connector.
These pedals can be use to control many functions that exist in the SD9 Pro such as Start/Stop, Fill ins, Pdf
Page change, voice change, vocalizer on/off, mic on/off, chord tonalities … etc. A complete list of these
functions and how to program the effects pedals are under MENU – FOOTSWITCH on page 174.
•DVI:-Video monitor output to connect the SD9 Pro to an external TV screen or monitor. Using the
appropriate adaptor, you can connect the SD9 Pro to an external monitor with HDMI or VGA input jacks.
You can also determine if all data shown on the SD9 Pro’s screen is projected onto the external monitor
(MIRROR on) or only lyrics, pdf and data related to songs (MIRROR off). The details of this can be seen
under MENU – VIDEO – MIRROR on page 176.
•MIDI PORTS:- The various 5 pin DIN midi ports are used as follows (more in the MIDI section found on
page 160):-
oTHRU:-This connector is used to pass onto another device all information received at the MIDI
IN (GM) jack. So if you daisy chain your instruments such that you have a controller connected to
the SD9 Pro and another instrument connected to the SD9 Pro which you also want controlled
from your controller, connect your controller’s MIDI OUT to the SD9 PRO’s MIDI IN 1 (GM)
and then the other instrument’s MIDI IN to the MIDI THRU of the SD9 PRO. This way, all data
the SD9 PRO receives at it’s MIDI IN 1 GM is automatically passed (with non interference from
the SD9 PRO) onto the next instrument in the Midi chain.
oOUT:-Connect the SD9 Pro’s MIDI out to another MIDI device (slave) you want the SD9 PRO
to control (master). You can use this to get other sounds out of other sound modules or to control
other musical devices from the SD9 PRO.
oIN2 (KEYB):-If you want to control the SD9 PRO from another MIDI controller and be able to
control/play with its internal styles and lead voices, connect the device’s MIDI OUT to the SD9
PRO’s MIDI IN2 (KEYB).
oIN1 (GM):-Use this to control the SD9 Pro from an external Midi Sequencer program on a
computer or equivalent. This gives you access to the entire Sound engine of the SD9 PRO.
•OUT (Right & Left):- Used to connect the SD9 PRO to a Sound system or equivalent. It is strongly
recommended you use both Left and Right outputs (stereo) to get the best sound quality and take
advantage of the built in effects. Using only one (mono) may not yield the same high quality results.

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•HEADPHONE (AUX):- This connector is used to connect a good pair of headphones to the SD9 PRO. It
can also be programmed to be used as an additional output (AUXILARY) which can be programmed to be
the output of just bass, drums, lead/right hand voices or other tracks per software upgrade.
•MICRO:- The dedicated microphones are described and used as follows (more details in the
MICROPONE section found in page 117:-
oOUT:- This is used to connect the output of the microphone and vocal harmonizer to an external
mixer. This ensures total control of just the voice of the musician (e.g. using an external unit to
add special effects to just the lead vocalist), while keeping the voice out of the general mix of the
instrument.
oGAIN:- This knob is used to set the input/gain level of the signal coming into the MICRO
(1/4”/XLR) Combo input jack. A good starting point it to turn the knob completely anti-clockwise
(0) and then turn ½ way up (line should be at the 12 o’clock position) to avoid feedback.
oCOMBO MIC INPUT JACK:- Connect a dynamic microphone (either with XLR or ¼” jack) to
this connector.
o¼” INPUT JACK:- Connect a line in (e.g. external music player or Ipad … etc) or a GUITAR
into this ¼” jack. If you connect a GUITAR, the SD9 Pro also has ‘stomp box’ editable guitar
effects already built plus a guitar tuner for your electric or acoustic electric guitar to always be in
tune (more under INPUT – MICRO2/GUITAR on page 125).
Navigating the SD9 PRO is very easy and can be done in a number of ways using these useful key buttons:-
1. TOUCH SCREEN:-The bright touch screen allows you to touch icons directly on the
screen. To access contents within folders, simply touch the folder twice (as you would double click on a
mouse) to open it.
2. DATA/VALUE DIAL/WHEEL:-This wheel allows you to change the values of selected items.
So, if you touch a numeric icon on the screen (for an example), you can turn this wheel to change its value
quickly. You can also change the pages in certain screens (like style, voice etc).
3. EXIT button:- This button is very useful to get out of sub menus or folders and get back to the
main operating screen of the SD9 PRO during operation.
4. ENTER button:- This button is used to enter and display the content of folders in the screen or
to confirm operations on the screen such as pop up messages.
5. SAVE button:- Depending on which screen is being displayed, this button is used to SAVE
current settings, custom start up, User styles, Registrations etc. This will be explained in details within the
manual below

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2. PLAYING THE SD9 PRO - FULL KEYBOARD (PIANIST) & SPLIT (ARRANGER) MODES
When you turn on the SD9 PRO, it initially turns on in the SPLIT/ARRANGER MODE, where the key bed has a
SPLIT POINT. To the left of the split point are the keys used to control the arranger or play separate LOWER
voice(s), and the keys to the right side are used to play Right/Lead voice(s). The DEFAULT VOICE for the RIGHT
side is the GRAND PIANO, while the default voice for the LEFT side is the ELECTRIC PIANO & SOFT PADS.
To assign a new split point on the keyboard, press and hold down the SPLIT button on the panel as shown above.
The current split point will be displayed on the screen (right side) as shown below:-
Fig. 1. Split point shown on display
While still holding down the SPLIT button, you can now assign a new split point by pressing the key on the key bed
where you want the split point to be. So if you want the split point to be at F#2, as you hold down the SPLIT button,
press the F#2 key and this will become the new split point (which will also be part of the right/lead voice) and it will