How to switch the different style variations.

In PC-keyboard 2 mode all the available variations (intro's, endings, fill-ins) in a style are labeled on screen with the associated PC-keys to trigger them. Variations can also be switched with midi messages from your midi keyboard controller. If you have enough keys, sliders, buttons, pedals etc. available (they must send a midi message or OMB will not recognise them) then you can assign them to trigger all these different variations. This is done in the menu settings>keyboard control.

If you don't have enough midi-sending buttons/slider/wheels/keys available for each separate variation then you can assign 4 keys in between the chords area and the melody area of your MIDI keyboard controller to 4 basic functions: fill-in, variation-higher, variation-lower and intro-ending.

If you want to start with Intro C then press the variation-higher key twice. You will see Main C on the screen display. Then press intro-ending and you will see Intro C on the display. When you now press a chord the Intro C will start and proceed to Main C.

If you press fill-in the Fillin CC will play and proceed back to Main C. Press intro-ending again and Ending C will play. If you want to go from Main C to Ending A then press variation-lower twice and then intro-ending. If you press these three keys within the time of one bar then you will go directly from Main C to Ending A without playing Main B and Main A.

Switching variations "in the heat of the song" is mostly done just by pressing the fill-in key to get a fill in and stay in the same variation or by pressing the fill-in key together (simultaneously) with either the variation-higher or variation-lower key to get a fill in and move to a higher or lower variation.

Using keys to switch variations may seem odd, but if you get used to it you will find it even easier then using the small buttons that arranger keyboards provide for this. Keys are bigger, you don't have to move your hands forward to reach for them and they are close to both your left and right hand.

If you absolutely can't give away 4 of your keys for this purpose then there are lots of other options to switch variations. The PC keyboard of course. And if you have buttons, sliders and wheels on your keyboard that send MIDI out then you can assign these to switch the variations. The buttons on a arranger keyboard that are made to switch variations mostly don't send MIDI so those can't be used. But buttons to select voices (patches) and the modulation and pitch bend wheel can be used. And some keyboards have programmable sliders. A very comfortable tool to use as variation switcher would be a set of MIDI pedals or foot switches. But these are quite expensive. An affordable option is to use your sustain pedal just for the fill ins. You can select more than one MIDI-In port in OMB to connect both a keyboard and a set of pedals.

The assignment of a key note or a controller type or a patch(voice) number to a variation trigger or other action is done in the menu settings>keyboard-control.

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