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My Kronos Sequencer Tips
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SeedyLee
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Location: Perth, Australia

PostPosted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 4:15 pm    Post subject: My Kronos Sequencer Tips Reply with quote

For a number of reasons, I continue to be attracted to the Kronos’ sequencer. Over the past few years, I have eschewed computer-based sequencing options, despite their perceived power, over what many believe to be a less powerful alternative in the Kronos.

So why do I continue to use the Kronos’ sequencer when I have the likes of Cubase, Studio One and Logic at my disposal? There’s a few reasons (excluding masochism):

    Timing accuracy and latency: I find MIDI latency and jitter with modern PC-based solutions to be extremely variable. Manufacturers have come up with all kinds of clever ways to try and improve MIDI timing on modern machines (e.g. MIDI Time Stamping), but these often only work well with particular combinations of hardware and software. Additionally, they’re not very well documented. The jitters and latency on the Kronos are both extremely low. At the end of the day, most modern pre-emptive multi-tasking operating systems do not place a priority on timing accuracy.


    Ergonomics: This might sound like a strange reason, but everything is right there in front of you: control surface, touch screen, keyboard. I’ve never found a good solution ergonomically for using a controller with a computer. Also, I simply find myself being more productive with the tactile nature of the Kronos, rather than transitioning between keyboard, PC keyboard and mouse. Now, I know you can customise most sequencers to work well with a controller keyboard, but as a programmer I inevitably end up down a rabbit-hole of writing macros to get everything to talk to one another, rather than making music.


    Integration: Everything is nicely integrated into one, cohesive package.


    Simplicity: Sometimes, less is more - not having 4,000 different ways to quantise a take can actually be a blessing.


    Stability: This thing, especially on the latest firmware, is pretty much rock-solid. I can count the number of crashes on it in seven years with one hand.


So is the Kronos sequencer perfect? Far from it! And this is what I like about it. I spend less time installing updates in the hope of a minor workflow improvement (at the risk of breaking everything else), and more time learning to work within its limitations. Certainly there are features I would love to see added, but I accept it for what it is.

There’s also a stack of things you can do on the Kronos that are simply impossible on most PC-based sequencers, which can help mitigate some of the other limitations.

What I wanted to go through are a few of the tricks and techniques I’ve learned over the years to help you get the most out of the sequencer in the Kronos. Some of these may be really obvious, particularly if you’ve used the sequencer extensively before. But hopefully there might be something in here that’s useful to you if you’re just starting out on the Kronos, or if you’re giving the sequencer another try. Would love to hear your tips and tricks too!

Tip #1: Think Different
The Kronos is not a PC sequencer. It is not designed to be used with a mouse. Trying to edit visually on the Kronos in the same way you would on a PC is an exercise in frustration. Instead, get into the habit of using the keyboard and control surface to make edits.

The other key difference with the Kronos compared to PC sequences is that almost everything you can adjust on the Kronos generates Sysex - and Sysex can be recorded. This means that effects routings, transposition settings etc can all be adjusted whilst recording, and the adjustments can be played back as part of a sequence.

Tip #2: Getting Started
Global Setup: When using the internal sequencer, make sure the following options are set in Global. These are based on my own experiences and preferences:

Global -> MIDI: Song Track = For Master
KARMA External Routing: Make sure both of these are selected. (See tip #38 below.)
Param Edit: Controller.
Controllers/Scales -> Controllers: Make sure that there are no MIDI Continuous Controllers assigned to any of the KARMA functions - you can do this via the page menu. Having CCs assigned here will cause all sorts of funky behaviour if you’re suing KARMA with the sequencer.
Enable Sysex: Off (Enable only as required - see below).

Sysex Filtering
Most operations on the Kronos generate and receive associated System Exclusive (SysEx) commands, which allows virtually all parameter changes to be recorded and automated - even if you don’t want them to be! This can be particularly problematic because SysEx messages aren’t “channelized” - that is, they don’t have a particular channel assigned to them and will be recorded to a track even if the parameter you’re changing is completely unrelated to that track.

For example, I often find that if I adjust the volume for an audio input whilst recording a MIDI track, the change is recorded as part of my sequence - often not what I want.

Fortunately, the solution is simple: in Global -> MIDI, turn Off “Enable Exclusive”. This will prevent SysEx from being recorded into the sequencer. It won’t affect the recording of audio automation, nor continuous controllers. It also won’t affect the recording of MIDI volume and Pan changes if you’ve changed the “Param Edit” option on the same page to “Controller”. It will however prevent changes made in the Tone Adjust page being recorded, so keep that in mind. Of course, it can be enabled as required but it’s generally advisable to leave this turned off.

Tip #3: Select the current track easily
In Sequencer -> Control Surface there’s an option to “Link KBD/Rec Track to Control Surface”. Use it (it’s off by default). It allows you to change the currently selected track that you’re recording to/playing/editing by using the 8 switches on the control surface.

Tip #4: Shortcuts save time
Learn to use the Page Menu shortcuts. For those unaware, you can hold ENTER and [0-9] on the numeric keypad to quickly access that item in the page menu (for example, clearing a track, quantising a track etc). Combined with Tip #3 and the hardware transport buttons, this can actually make common editing tasks really quick.

Tip #5: Find where you belong
You can set the time location that the “Locate” button seeks to at any time, simply by pressing [ENTER] and [Locate]

Tip #6: Tone Adjust
The Tone Adjust page of the Control Surface isn’t just for configuring the control surface: it can be used to make fairly detailed edits to an underlying program as part of the sequencer, without having to actually edit the underlying program. You can actually modify the vast majority of a program’s parameters using this method - and modulate them as part of a sequence.

(Here's a cool one - you can change the multisample assigned to a HD1 program and record this as part of your sequence for some really interesting effects ...)

Tip #7: Moving Around
You can use the [Pause] button in the transport section even when a sequence isn’t playing. This is really useful to navigate around your song using the transport keys [<<] / [>>] without playing it back. When you’re finished, just press [Start/Stop] (Try increasing the FF/RWD speed in the page menu too).

Tip #8: Recording Tempo Changes
You can record tempo changes whilst you’re song is recording. to do this just set “Tempo Mode” to REC in the “MIDI Prog/Mixer” page. The secret here is to select this when recording is armed, but before pressing [Play/Stop]

You can record tempo changes using the tempo knob, or even the [Tap Tempo] button.

If you just want to record tempo change sin an existing song, just select on empty track first before commenting recording (the Kronos will insist that you record something other than just the Master Track).

Tip #9: Measure To and From for editing
The currently selected track, along with the “From Measure” and “To Measure” settings in Track Edit, will be used to set the editing range when using any of the functions in “Track Edit”. This actually makes it quite quick and easy to perform edits:

Select the track you want to edit, using the eight buttons on the control surface (See tip #3)
Set the From Measure / To Measure visually in the track edit page. You can also use Tip #7 to cue up this point audibly.
Press [Enter] and [0-9] to select the edit operation you want to perform. Here are some common ones:

[Enter] - [2]: MIDI Step Recording
[Enter] - [3]: MIDI Event Edit
[Enter] - [5]: Clear Track / Pattern
[Enter] - [8]: Erase Measure
[Enter] - [9]: Delete Measure

Tip #10: Track Edit is useful for recording, too.
When recording and arranging, I find it useful to stay on the “Track Edit” page predominantly, even though it’s not the default. This gives you a visual overview tf your song whilst you’re recording and allows you to quickly perform edits such as clearing a take (Bad take? Just hit [Enter] - [5] to clear the track and start again)

Tip #11:
Sometimes, you want to have a note that is held for the complete duration of the track. Obviously recording a note of that duration is tedious, so there are two main ways to deal with this.

One is to use the “Hold” function of the underlying program - but you don’t need to edit the underlying program to achieve this! You can do this through “Tone Adjust” and set one of the controllers to toggle “Hold” on or off. The cool thing about this approach is that you can record changes to this parameter, so you can toggle it on or off as part of your sequence.

The second way is to use MIDI Event Edit to alter the duration of a recorded or inserted note. Again, there’s a trick that makes this slightly counter-intuitive. The length of each track is independent and is determined by the last note that was recorded there. If you try and create a long note on a virgin track using MIDI Event Edit, it will only let you se the duration to a maximum of one bar. the trick is to go to the measure you want to end at, record any random thing on that track there, then go back to MIDI Event Edit and change the duration of the note you want held. Obviously you can then delete the random note too.

Tip #12: Recording KARMA
KARMA only ever receives input from the Keyboard or MIDI inputs - it never receives input from a track. The output of MARMA can obviously be recorded to a track, or even an RPPR.

The same applies to RPPR and Chord Pads - it can only be triggered from the keyboard or from external MIDI, and the resulting note sequence can be recorded to a track.

Tip #14: Marker Tracks
There are no marker tracks in order to keep track of different events in your song. I tend to either just write down the measure numbers and a description in a notebook. Alternatively, you can sacrifice a MIDI track for the same purpose (e.g. MIDI Track 16). Simply use the “Create Control Data” page menu command in “Track Edit” to create some control data (doesn’t matter what) at the bar you want to note. this will create a green block in “Track Edit” that you can use as a visual marker.

Tip #15: Record Resolution
You can change the “Record resolution” whilst recording. This is really helpful when used in conjunction with loop recording, as you can lay down a quarter-note bass drum for example, then change the record resolution on the next pass for say, hi hats.

Tip #16: Sixteen Track Limit
The limit of sixteen MIDI tracks isn’t as bad as it might seem - think of it more as a limit sixteen simultaneous MIDI tracks. Unlike a PC sequencer, you can easily completely change the selected program / timbre and all effects routings halfway through a track without having to have a dedicated track for each.

Tip #17: In-Track Sampling is cool and useful
In-track sampling is really cool. At first I wrote it off as being a hold-over from the Triton series which was made redundant with the addition of multitrack audio recording. However it is so easy and easy to use, and gives much greater flexibility with editing and effects than the hard disk recorder gives (at the expense of polyphony).

One of the nice things about using in-track sampling is that you have access to ADSR envelopes, which makes crossfading and repeating audio loops much easier than using the hard disk recorder.

Note that to use In-Track sampling, the sequencer only needs to be playing, not recording.

Tip #18: SysEx and Multirecord
When recording Sysex with “Multi Record” enabled, the Sysex is always recorded to the first record-enable track. I’m not sure this is documented anywhere.

Audio Automation is always recorded to the corresponding audio track - unless no audio track is enabled for recording in which case it is recorded to the first record-enabled MIDI track as Sysex. This has caught me out a few times!

Tip #19: Changing RPPR Parameters
Many of the RPPR parameters - such as transpose - can be adjusted whilst the pattern is playing. This is really useful for creating drum fills or otherwise finding new variations.

Tip #20: Karma to RPPR
KARMA can be recorded to RPPR.

Tip #21: SysEx and RPPR = macros
It’s not only notes and continuous controllers can be recorded to an RPPR pattern - SysEx can also be recorded. This is particularly;arly useful for recording “macros" that can be used across multiple tracks - e.g a “Fade Out” macro, or a modulated sustain pedal, Tone Adjust, mixer adjustments etc are all fair game. I have an RPPR setup and assigned to a key to mute and unmute the external audio inputs, for example.

Tip #22: We Love Polyrhythms!
The time signature of an RPPR pattern is independent of the time sequence of the sequence. This is great for creating polyrythms etc.

Tip #22: Abusing the Quantise Function
There’s no Track Edit command to move events around by fractions of a measure. There is a workaround though in the form of the “Quantise” command. Just make sure that “Resolution” is set to “Hi”, “Swing” is at 0% and adjust the “Shift” parameter accordingly. +240 is equivalent to moving events by half a measure, -240 back by half a measure etc. This is great for changing the feel of a track, creating ghost drum parts etc. Combined with the Track Bounce and Track Copy options, it’s possible to do some pretty cool things.

Tip #23: Wouldn't have (half) a bar of it ...
Many of the “track edit” operations don’t allow a range to be specified in part bars. For example, it’s not possible to repeat half a measure. There are a few ways to work around this:

The easiest method I’ve found for repeating one or two beats of a measure is to use RPPR. The workflow is essentially to create a pattern with a time signature half or a quarter of the project’s time signature. Use “Copy from Track” to take the first one or two beats of the measure into the pattern. Then, use RPPR to play the pattern back into the track.

If the portion you wish to repeat is at the end of a measure, you can use the Quantise function as described in Tip 22 to shift the events of interest to the start of the measure.

As for deleting part of a bar, frankly the easiest way I’ve found is to use the MIDI Event Edit page and manually delete the events.

Tip #24
With a few minor exceptions, changes to almost all MIDI Track Parameters - such as transpose, delay, portamento, wave sequencer swing and scale - can all be recorded in realtime for some pretty cool effects. Make sure “Enable Sysex” is enabled in Global.

Tip #25: Crescendos and Diminuendos
The Kronos doesn’t have a native mechanism for creating crescendo and diminuendos whilst retaining relative velocities. If you use the “Modify Velocity” command in “Track Edit” to do this, there will potentially be an abrupt jump between the section you applied the operation and the remainder of the track. However, there is a work-around.

First, using the “Modify Velocity” command, get your crescendo / diminuendo sounding as you want it, paying particular attention to the strength and start or end velocity. Then execute the same command on the rest of the track. However this time, ensure the start and end settings are both the same and match the settings used in the first step. This will ensure a smooth transition between the two sections.

Tip #26: In-Track Sampling Triggers
When using “In-Track” sampling, the normal options regarding when to trigger sampling still apply: when the sequencer is started, when a note is played, when [Sampling Start / Stop] is pressed and threshold. This makes it really easy, for example, to sample a few bars that have been recorded and edited in the sequencer. Using the “Threshold” mode also makes it easy to capture an external source at just the right time and automatically create the corresponding event.

Be aware that I have however experienced a possible bug once or twice with this where In-Track sampling has always started as soon as [Sampling Start/Stop] is pressed regardless of the setting above. However this has been very rare and after playing with many settings, so it may be operator error.

Tip #27: Use RPPR as a sketchpad for creating audio loops
When the Sampler recording trigger is set to “Sequencer Start/Stop”, this works in the “Pattern/RPPR” -> “Pattern Edit” mode as well. This makes it really easy to record a short pattern (either for an internal synth part or an external MIDI instrument), arm the sampler and hit “Sequencer Play/Record”. This will sample the loop without having to assign the RPPR to a key or edit any of the sequencer tracks, essentially making it a great scratchpad for creating audio loops.

Tip #28: Get in time
When using In-Track sampling, it’s often helpful to make sure the metronome is set to Play & Rec to give a time reference. If sampling from an internal source, make sure to use the Record Busses to prevent the metronome being recorded into your loop.

Tip #29
Whilst RPPR is great for creating MIDI loops and assigning them to keys, I’ve found using the sampler really fun for creating audio loops and assigning them to different keys.

A full multi-sample set can be built up really easily by successively pressing “Sample Start/Stop”.

Rather than painstakingly loop each sample, I’ve found it easier to create RPPR patterns to re-trigger each sample at the appropriate time. For example, if you have an audio loop that should be four measures long on C2, just create an RPPR pattern that triggers C2 for four bars. This ensures your loop stays nicely in sync, whereas looping the actual sample can cause sync issues over time if they’re not exactly in sync. You can also then use the ADSR envelope of the sample to ensure a nice smooth crossfade.

It sounds more complex than it is, but once you get the hang of it, it can be really fast and lead to great results.

Tip #30: Drum kits are great for loops
Creating a custom drum kit isn’t just for drum sounds - it’s really great for multisamples you’ve created of various audio loops. There are a couple of key advantages to using drum kits for loops and effects:

You can use “Exclusive Groups” in conjunction with the “Hold” option in the HD1 engine to define loops that should stop when another starts playing.
You can give each sample (key) unique parameters for filter cutoff etc.

Tip #31: Kronos as a digital mixer
Like everything else, any adjustments to the “Audio in” settings can be recorded directly into the sequencer, essentially making the Kronos a 6 in, 6 out digital mixer with automation! I use this regularly in sequences where i have external audio sources connected and wish to automate volume changes, but don’t necessarily wish to record them to the hard disk recorder yet. Another use case might be having house music playing over USB from iTunes and have it automatically fade up by assigning a sequence to a set list slot that does that.

Tip #32: [Rec Write] can be used to delete ...
When performing loop recording, either in Pattern Edit or in the main sequencer with “Loop All Tracks” enabled, you can hold [Sequencer Rec/Write] to delete the currently playing events. Really useful for fixing mistakes without starting and stopping recording.

Tip #33: Erase Selected notes in loop record
When performing loop recording, either in Pattern Edit or in the main sequencer with “Loop All Tracks” enabled, you can use the “Erase Data” checkbox to delete specific notes. When this box is checked, whichever keys are played on the keyboard will be erased from that part of the pattern or track. This is an easier way to remove bum notes than using “Event Edit” (IMHO), and it’s also great for working with drum patterns as it makes it easy to remove a specific part.

Tip #34: Keyboard velocity in step recording
When performing Step Recording, you can set the note velocity to be the same as played by selecting “Note Velocity” (which will be 64 by default) and scrolling all the way up past “127” until it’s set to “Key”.

Tip #35: Chords in Step Recording mode
In Step Record mode it’s possible to enter chords one note at a time - just keep holding the first note of the chord down whilst you add the additional notes, making it possible to create some pretty complex chords.

Tip #36
In Step Record mode, notes of a chord can have different lengths - experiment with holding different notes of the chord and using the “Tie” button. The chord will be completed once all notes are released.

Tip #37: More advanced editing on the PC
It's possible to export a Kronos Sequence as a SMF (MIDI File), load it into a PC based DAW for advanced editing, re-export it as a MIDI and load it back into the existing song on the Kronos. If you load a MIDI file into an existing song, all the parameters remain unchanged - it's only the track data that changes. IFX routings, tone adjust settings, track names etc all remain unaffected.

Coupled with the inbuilt FTP server, this makes it quite easy to perform the odd advanced editing operation on the PC without breaking your workflow too much.

Tip #38
There appears to be what I suspect is a bug, or at least undocumented behaviour, regarding the interaction between KARMA, the Global Channel and External MIDI. If "Enable MIDI In to KARMA Module" is disabled in "Global" -> "MIDI", there may be issues receiving external MIDI on the Global Channel if the Global Channel also coincides with one of the source channels in "KARMA" -> "MIDI IO". This applies even if KARMA is turned off.

This behaviour has led to many long nights of trying to diagnose MIDI routing issues!

For this reason I tend to leave both options enabled when "Local Control" is on, even though the manual selects only having one of the two options enabled. Your mileage may vary depending on you particular configuration though.




That's all I have time for now - but I have more to come! In the meantime, would love to hear what tips and tricks you've found useful when using the awesome Kronos sequencer!

Lee
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Current Equipment:
Korg Kronos 2 88, Reface CS, Roland JV-1080, TE OP1, Moog Subsequent 37, Korg ARP Odyssey, Allen & Heath Zed 18, Adam F5, MOTU MIDI Express XT, Lexicon MX200 & MPX1, Yamaha QY700, Yamaha AW16G, Tascam DP008ex, Zoom H6, Organelle, Roland J6 & JU06A

Previous: Triton LE 61/Sampling/64MB/4GB SCSI, MS2000BR, Kronos 1 61, Monotribe, NanoKontrol, NanoKeys, Kaossilator II, Casio HT3000, Roland VP-03, Reface DX, Novation Mininova, MPC One


Last edited by SeedyLee on Tue Aug 21, 2018 10:27 am; edited 1 time in total
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Mike Conway
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 9:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fantastic post!
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pete.m
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 9:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is a wonderful post - thank you for taking the time to share all those tips. You've given me a few things to look at, especially with regard to in-track sampling and RPPR.

I also love sequencer mode in the Kronos. The fact that it is relatively simple compared to a DAW is a big draw for me - it means that the technology doesn't get in the way of the music-making, and in any event I get sick of having to stare at computer screens all the time.
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Liviou2004
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What a great job you did there !
Many thanks and congrats. Applause
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Lightbringer
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 12:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks a bunch for typing this up - super useful for me!
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ksi
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank You for providing this enormous amount of tips on the sequencer, which I use intensively. It'll take me some time to dig into all of it.

One short comment concerning Sysex:
I found that a Sysex message includes info on the global MIDI channel, that was set when it was recorded, and the Sysex only has an effect, if the global channel is set to the same at playback.

You could exploit this for filtering Sysex messages by switching the global MIDI channel. However, there might be other side effects when doing this.

Not sure how practical this is in the end, because the global MIDI channel is confirgured in the Global Setup, of course.
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Liviou2004
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seedylee, I've red all your big work and I've a question for you about Tip #25. In Modify Velocity window we can choose a curve. Isn't it enough to get a smooth transition ?
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SeedyLee
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great tip ksi, that's something I was definitely unaware of and I'm sure others will find useful!

Thinking about it further, one possible reason that the channel number is included in Sysex strings is to cater for multiple Kronii being connected tot he same MIDI buss. Usually the Sysex device ID would be used for such purposes, but the Kronos doesn't allow the Device ID to be changed. I suspect using the global channel number instead is a reasonable workaround, though as you point out it means that changing the global channel will cause already recorded Sysex messages not to be recieved.
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Current Equipment:
Korg Kronos 2 88, Reface CS, Roland JV-1080, TE OP1, Moog Subsequent 37, Korg ARP Odyssey, Allen & Heath Zed 18, Adam F5, MOTU MIDI Express XT, Lexicon MX200 & MPX1, Yamaha QY700, Yamaha AW16G, Tascam DP008ex, Zoom H6, Organelle, Roland J6 & JU06A

Previous: Triton LE 61/Sampling/64MB/4GB SCSI, MS2000BR, Kronos 1 61, Monotribe, NanoKontrol, NanoKeys, Kaossilator II, Casio HT3000, Roland VP-03, Reface DX, Novation Mininova, MPC One
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SeedyLee
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Liviou2004 wrote:
Seedylee, I've red all your big work and I've a question for you about Tip #25. In Modify Velocity window we can choose a curve. Isn't it enough to get a smooth transition ?


Hi Liviou2004,

Not as far as I can tell. The curve will affect the rate of change from minimum velocity to maximum velocity, but at the end of the curve there will still be some difference in the velocities relative to the section that hasn't had the effect applied. If you're using the "Modify Velocity" function on a complete track, or a section that doesn't have adjoining musical data, then it's not an issue.

If you've got any ideas on how curve can be used to avoid this problem, I'd love to hear them as it's been a bit of an issue for me Smile
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Current Equipment:
Korg Kronos 2 88, Reface CS, Roland JV-1080, TE OP1, Moog Subsequent 37, Korg ARP Odyssey, Allen & Heath Zed 18, Adam F5, MOTU MIDI Express XT, Lexicon MX200 & MPX1, Yamaha QY700, Yamaha AW16G, Tascam DP008ex, Zoom H6, Organelle, Roland J6 & JU06A

Previous: Triton LE 61/Sampling/64MB/4GB SCSI, MS2000BR, Kronos 1 61, Monotribe, NanoKontrol, NanoKeys, Kaossilator II, Casio HT3000, Roland VP-03, Reface DX, Novation Mininova, MPC One
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krossuser4
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

>Tip #3: Select the current track easily

Thank you!
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Lightbringer
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 22, 2018 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So I have been going through these tips and learning each one. And it is doing a 180 on my perception of the K's sequencer. It has gone from "that's a pretty nice scratch pad, since it's built in and all" to "this is my new favorite thing and I can't believe I didn't realize it's power!"

I suppose this stuff is for the most part covered in the parameter guide. Coming at it from a background of using PC DAW sequencers, and reading the manual, it has just never quite clicked how it all comes together and makes for a massively flexible and integrated tool. Until now.

I am pondering on the song templates, since there are 16 user definable ones. The manual says they save "pretty much everything in the song except the audio and MIDI data itself." It then goes on to say that they don't save things that affect how the song is played back like meter, metronome, play/mute. Seems like these could also be really useful for setting up templates for audio recording, etc. Would be interested in any tips on the song templates as a way to change the starting point.
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soundspossible



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PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 1:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great post and just the motivation I needed to re-examine the Kronos sequencer as a viable alternative to my DAW.

I'd like to share a tip of my own... I had been noticing that when in SEQ mode, I could play the program on whatever track I had selected (expected behavior), but whatever program was on Ch.1 sounded as well. This wasn't the global channel, because I keep that at 16. Well, I finally figured it out... Karma > GE Setup / Key Zones had "Track Thru" selected for Ch.1. Uncheck and voila... only the selected track sounds when I play the keyboard.

And of course, it works in reverse. If you want to hear the program on multiple tracks simultaneously as you play, select "Track Thru" for the appropriate output channels.
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SeedyLee
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 3:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lightbringer wrote:

I am pondering on the song templates, since there are 16 user definable ones. The manual says they save "pretty much everything in the song except the audio and MIDI data itself." It then goes on to say that they don't save things that affect how the song is played back like meter, metronome, play/mute. Seems like these could also be really useful for setting up templates for audio recording, etc. Would be interested in any tips on the song templates as a way to change the starting point.


I'm pleased you found the tips helpful! For me, I think DAWs are wonderful for audio editing and working with recorded sound, but I don't find them to be good creative tools. I still use a DAW for that purpose, but use the Kronos for composition.

The User Templates are a useful feature - I have one setup that has all my external MIDI equipment configured as tracks, as well as default audio routings from my mixer back into the Kronos. Makes it really quick and easy to get started on a new track.

My latest trick is I've setup my PC to translate MIDI volume and pan CCs from the Kronos Sequencer for external synths to control my mixer (a MOTU 828mk3) via OSC. This means I can do external mixer automation straight from the main faders on the Kronos - virtually no latency.
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Previous: Triton LE 61/Sampling/64MB/4GB SCSI, MS2000BR, Kronos 1 61, Monotribe, NanoKontrol, NanoKeys, Kaossilator II, Casio HT3000, Roland VP-03, Reface DX, Novation Mininova, MPC One
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SeedyLee
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Joined: 13 Sep 2006
Posts: 1367
Location: Perth, Australia

PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 3:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

soundspossible wrote:
Great post and just the motivation I needed to re-examine the Kronos sequencer as a viable alternative to my DAW.

I'd like to share a tip of my own... I had been noticing that when in SEQ mode, I could play the program on whatever track I had selected (expected behavior), but whatever program was on Ch.1 sounded as well. This wasn't the global channel, because I keep that at 16. Well, I finally figured it out... Karma > GE Setup / Key Zones had "Track Thru" selected for Ch.1. Uncheck and voila... only the selected track sounds when I play the keyboard.

And of course, it works in reverse. If you want to hear the program on multiple tracks simultaneously as you play, select "Track Thru" for the appropriate output channels.


Great tip! The Global Channel generally shouldn't have too much bearing in Seq mode as to what channels sound, but the KARMA MIDI I/O settings do. One thing the documentation doesn't make clear (IMHO) is that the KARMA MIDI I/O settings aren't just for KARMA and are constantly engaged regardless of the status of KARMA.

Of course, you can always simply put two or more sequencer tracks on the same channel to have them sound at the same time as you would in Combi mode. This is great for building splits and layers for realtime recording. The KARMA MIDI I/O options offer a bit more power and flexibility though.
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Current Equipment:
Korg Kronos 2 88, Reface CS, Roland JV-1080, TE OP1, Moog Subsequent 37, Korg ARP Odyssey, Allen & Heath Zed 18, Adam F5, MOTU MIDI Express XT, Lexicon MX200 & MPX1, Yamaha QY700, Yamaha AW16G, Tascam DP008ex, Zoom H6, Organelle, Roland J6 & JU06A

Previous: Triton LE 61/Sampling/64MB/4GB SCSI, MS2000BR, Kronos 1 61, Monotribe, NanoKontrol, NanoKeys, Kaossilator II, Casio HT3000, Roland VP-03, Reface DX, Novation Mininova, MPC One
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krossuser4
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Joined: 13 Nov 2014
Posts: 111

PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 7:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

>>Tip #21: SysEx and RPPR = macros

Hello, how did you record SysEx data to RPPR ?
thanks
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