Virus TI Keyboard: Play One Sound on Virus Keyboard, Another from External Keyboard?

[kanthos]

I'm not a Virus owner yet, and I have a question that I can't figure out from reading the manuals.

I intend to use a Virus TI of some sort for live playing, without connecting to a computer. I also would like a second physical keyboard, so to kill two birds with one stone, the Virus Keyboard seems like the best choice (I prefer 61 keys and a semi-weighted action). I just need to give some thought as to how the Virus would work with my other keyboard, a Korg M3 workstation.

I want the capability to be able to play either physical keyboard and have either keyboard produce the sound. Each keyboard using its own sound engine is trivial, and I see that I can use the keys on the Virus to play the M3 by creating a Multi on the Virus with a part that doesn't sound and turning Keyboard To MIDI on for that sound.

The case I'm not sure how to handle is if *both* keyboards are going to be used to play two different sounds on the Virus; a lead sound to solo and a pad for background, for example. I realize I could just play both sounds using the Low Key and High Key settings for each part in my Multi, but I'd rather have a larger range for both sounds by using two keyboards instead of trying to cram both into a 61-key range.

I'd set up a Multi on the Virus with two different parts (or more, if I was going to layer them, but let's keep it simple and discuss only two parts); the two parts would be on different MIDI channels. Let's say the lead is on channel 1, and is to be played by the Virus keyboard, and the pad is on channel 2, to be played by the M3.

I know how to make the M3 play the pad; what I don't know is how to get the Virus to *only* play the lead. If I go into Config mode, to the Keyboard section, I see the Mode setting; I'm not entirely clear how it works.

If I set the Mode to One Channel, does that mean that all parts sharing a MIDI channel with the active part will all sound from the keyboard (so I can layer several parts to make a rich pad?) Or does it mean that the active part is the only one that will ever respond to the keyboard? From the manual, the latter seems to be the case, but then the only way to layer sounds would be to set the mode to Multi Channels, which would, it seems, make *every* Part sound when you play the keyboard. If that's the case, then using Multi Channels would mean that I couldn't play two different Virus sounds, one from the Virus' keyboard and one from the M3's keyboard. And, since this is a global setting, I don't want the hassle of switching it during a gig.

I suspect I can use One Channel, and all parts assigned to the active channel will be layered; then, as long as my lead was the active track, on channel 1, I could play the Virus and only trigger the lead sounds, and play the M3, transmitting on channel 2, to trigger the pads. I'd just like to be sure, since the nearest music store that stocks the Virus isn't local, and testing this kind of thing in-store would get a bit tricky. I'd appreciate it if someone could clear this up.

Thanks!