For the last 25-30 years, I've accumulated nearly 800 songs on my Ensoniq ASR-10. Its becoming unreliable due to its age, plus its heavy and only 20 note poly, i had to use outboard sound modules. so I bought a MOXF6 a few months ago and have been transferring the songs one by one. I'm able to re-tweak each song and fix little things that bugged me all these years.

i've read where some were having issues with the memory filling up only after 6-8 songs. in the beginning, I was able to transfer 20-22 songs before the moxf memory was full. Then I found out that I didnt need key pressure events, CAT, PAT. that free'd up more memory. then i was able to get 28-32 songs in memory. It wasnt till i recently found out that the patterns take up memory too. i cleared the patterns and it allowed me to store an extra 5-6 songs. so, now i can get 36-38 songs in memory. that is the same amount of files i could store in my old ASR-10 in each directory.

As far as how detailed my songs are....most are 4-6 tracks. Drums, Bass, Piano, B3, Horns, Strings, and a few odds and end sounds to complete the song. i play guitar live and sing. plus i added an extra track to send midi info to my harmonizer, which is in vocoder/midi note mode. that way, i just play the notes i want the harmonizer to harmonize. if i dont play notes, then there is no harmony. that eliminates the need for a footswitch. set it and forget it.

i'm debating on setting up the folders on the USB drive alphabetical order, like a rolodex. each folder holding 36-38 songs. label the folder so i know what songs are in that folder.

the hardest part is, on a gig. I dont go by a set list. With my ASR-10, I usually put 5-6 songs into memory to kick start the set, then add songs as needed, depending on how the set is going. every night is different. i need to be able to access a song between songs.

??? maybe have a startup folder that has my "go to" songs to start the night. that's 38 of my main songs. then i can add songs as needed when i get requests or if the night takes a change of mood and i need to go another direction. or...maybe have 3 folders that have my top 100 songs. that way, if i need a song in another folder, i have access to the other songs in that folder to pick from???

its going to take a little time to get use to picking songs after the sequencer stops. i dont have this issue with my old ASR-10. I can search for songs while the sequencer is playing. as soon as the song ends, i can push enter and start the next song. its virtually nonstop. plus i never seem to run out of memory. i can add songs all night long and never fill the memory. so there was no need to pre-load the asr sequencer

average gig is 3 sets. usually 40-50 songs. seems like it shouldnt be an issue since i can start the night with nearly 40 songs in memory already. but if the set takes a sudden change 5 songs in, you need to access songs quickly. and having nearly 800 songs to access, the trick is, getting to the songs quickly without wasting time and losing the dance floor crowd.

what would you suggest as the best approach? any other ideas that i havent mentioned that worked? how do you guys manage a gig?