Yesterday I got a call from an owner of a Korg CX3 looking for a lower manual to use with it, and was curious about the Ventura TX-5 Lower Manual. Since the Korg BX3 (which I’ve heard is discontinued) is a fixed double-manual combo organ, a lower manual attachment would need to be used.
I was fairly sure the TX-5 LM would work, but wanted to make sure all the functionality would be there, so I asked him if I could have some time to investigate it. I have access to a CX3, so I connected both of them together, and the short answer is: it works fine!
Connection is easy – MIDI out from the TX-5 LM to the MIDI in on the CX3.
No setup is needed on the TX-5 LM, however it needs to be taken out of TX Mode by holding the TX Mode button down until the blue light fades away. If you want to transpose, you can, but it’s better to do that with the CX3. (More on that later.)
The CX3 would need to be set up, but it’s not difficult.
The first thing to do is to set the CX3 so it will receive MIDI from another source for the lower manual part; this effectively takes it out of split mode (where the lower range of the keyboard plays the lower manual part):
Global > MIDI IN to Lower: ON
Next, you’ll need to establish which MIDI channel you want the CX3′s lower manual sound to respond to (the default is channel 2):
Global > Lower Rx ch: (1-16)
At this point, you’ll need to go back to the TX-5 LM and make sure it’s transmitting on the same channel. Hold the Transpose button down until the light flashes, then choose the channel with the appropriate white key starting with low C (it’s labeled on the panel).
And that’s it – you’ve successfully paired the TX-5 LM to the Korg CX3! Now, regarding other functions …
Transposing
The TX-5 LM will transpose on its own, but it doesn’t transpose the whole CX3; lower manual notes will be transposed, but not the upper manual notes. If you bump it up two semitones to D, you’ll hear D from the CX3 when pressing C on the TX-5 LM, but playing a C on the CX3 will play just a C. Outside of some interesting prog rock experimentation, having two manuals transposed separately doesn’t seem very useful.
So if you want to transpose, use the CX3′s internal transposition settings, which work on both the upper and lower manuals.
How Does it Look?
The CX3 and TX-5 LM are almost exactly the same width, so the organ doesn’t hang over the edge or look too small for the TX-5 LM. The wood finish on the TX-5 LM is a little darker than the CX3, but it doesn’t look too mismatched.
The TX-5 LM does have some holes bored out that match the TX-5 Organ’s feet, so the TX-5 doesn’t slide around. Those holes don’t match the CX3′s feet, but for anyone who decides to get a TX-5 LM for their CX3 could conceivably drill their own holes, so long as they don’t go too deep below the top panel.
- Jason Stanfield
Ventura Keyboards
