RADIAS tips and tricks

[rfoshaug]

Hi, everyone!

There are a lot of newbies in here (myself included although I've owned a Karma for a few years). So I thought it would be a nice addition to this forum to have a thread for tips and tricks that can be done on the Radias. The tricks don't necessarily have to be only possible on the Radias, and can also be more general tricks and tips for analog modelling synths.

When I use the Radias, I discover new possibilities all the time, and I'm sure others experience the same. By sharing this knowledge, we could all become better synth programmers.



So here goes my first tip:
Have you used up both step sequencers on other timbres and need another one? Set up one of the Modulation sequencers (you have 3 of these for each timbre) to control pitch. Set it to control the pitch in a stepped fashion instead of gliding between notes. Check out page 92 in the manual for info about the mod sequencers. You can then enter a pitch value for each step in the mod sequencer. This can be used to create entire looped riffs without the use of step sequencers.

To create a very simple analog drum sound to go with this loop, you can set one of the LFO's to a Saw waveform (check page 90 in the manual for info about LFO's). Turn on TempSync to synchronise the speed of the LFO with the speed of the modulation sequencer used for the riff. Set the KeySync parameter on both the LFO and Mod sequencers to Timbre to make sure they are synchronised all the time. Using a Virtual Patch (page 91), you can set that LFO to control Noise level. Because you chose a Saw waveform for the LFO, the noise will come in suddenly and fade out for every cycle the LFO does. Adjust the speed of the LFO and the control amount of the virtual patch until it sounds good.

The same LFO technique can be used to control the volume level or filter cutoff on the oscillator or oscillators used for the looped mod sequencer riff, so you get a little bit of punch for each "note" played.

Add a little bit of distortion or tube pre amp sim as insert effect 1 for that analoge sound and some tape echo on insert effect 2. Voila - you are in analog heaven using no step sequencers and only one note of polyphony in only one timbre for a synth riff with a drum to go with it!


Here's a youtube demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQCDXRs3O7A

[rfoshaug]

Another tip is to select Synth PCM as the wave for oscillator 1, and then use a mod sequencer to control oscillator 1's knob 2 (waveform select knob) to add looped rythmic changes in waveform. This can have some incredibly cool results.

[rfoshaug]

Can't get a virtual patch to control a parameter enough? Use two!

For example, if you want to use LFO1 to control pitch over a very large pitch range, you can set up Virtual patch 1 so that LFO1 controls pitch. If this isn't enough for you, set up Virtual patch 2 in the same way so that both use LFO1 to control pitch. Still not enough? Do the same for Virtual patch 3, 4, 5 and 6, and your LFO can control pitch from the very lowest to the very highest pitches that the Radias can produce.

[Daz]

One from the MS2000 "old school"

When editing Programs it's definitely worth hitting the Edit button and going into Edit mode, even though you edit so many of the sound parameters using the front panel in Program mode.

There are two reasons for this :

1) Firstly each time you move a knob or press a button you will see the value of the parameter on the LCD. Additionally for parameters like Control 1 and 2 of oscillator 1 you will what parameters those knobs are assigned to.

2) When you're in Edit mode it is much more difficult to accidentally switch programs. Switching programs whilst editing is bad, 'cos you will lose all your current edits !

Daz.

thanks rfos for starting this! I stickied the thread

[Daz]

The Waveshaper is not just for dirtying up your sound or creating pseudo FM effects, it also provides simple Sub Oscillator (1 8ve below OSC1) when you select the Waveshaper types whose names start SubOsc. When you use this feature you'll probably want to set the Waveshaper Position parameter to PreFilt1, so the Suboscillator goes through the filters in the same way as OSC1 and OSC2.

Note that using the Waveshaper steals polyphony from the 24 poly max.

Daz.

[Daz]

Another one from MS2000 days :

When creating/editing a program, if you assign LFO2 in the Virtual Patch Bay (VPB) to modulate a parameter, don't forget that LFO2 is also hardwired to modulate pitch to create the Vibrato effect you get when you move the modulation wheel.

If you edit the LFO2 settings to better suit the modulation routing you've setup in the VPB, don't forget to check the effect those settings have on the default vibrato routing if you're intending to use the mod wheel for vibrato with the program.

Conversely if you want to use the modwheel as a modulation source in the VPB to modulate something like the filter cutoff, don't forget to set the parameter VibratoInt to 0, so the modwheel only modulates your custom assignment.

Daz.

[Daz]

When editing a program always decide IN ADVANCE where you will be saving that program, if you are hoping to save the program to a location other than the program's original location.

For example if you're editing factory Program A007, to make your own version of it, when you hit the Write button you will be asked where to save the Program. In the screen that appears you will be asked to select a location to save the program to, however that screen only shown the program location to overwrite (e.g. M006) and not the name of the name of the Program in that location, so it's difficult to tell what you're about to overwrite. Identify a location that you're happy to overwrite before beginning your edit.

Do not try to change programs whilst editing a program to identify a location that you'd feel happy to overwrite ... you'll lose your edits !

Daz.

[Daz]

New users of the Radias might be tempted to use the Virtual Patch mechanism to setup Velocity modulation of Volume or Filter 1 Cutoff Frequency.

However there is no need to sacrifice two V.Patch slots for these commonly used modulation routings. You can use the "LvlVelInt" parameter of the Filter and Amp envelopes (EG1 & EG2 respectively) instead. In the case of the Filter EG you'll need to have dialed in some EG1 Intensity in the filter section first, of course

Note also that EG3, the spare envelope generator is also 'velocity sensitive', so if you assign that to a parameter such as Filter 1's resonance in the VPB there is no need to also assign Velocity to Filter 1 Resonance in another slot in the VPB, use the LvlVelInt param of EG3 instead.

Daz.

[waytho]

Hi, Daz:
Thank you for the great tips/tricks. I am going to love this thread. Of course, I've learned some of them via the school of hard knocks
rfoshaug = it blew me away when I found KORG did the "sequence" on Dark Moon via the Mod Seq You both have definately given me some new directions to explore and I've had my baby board for a couple months now and haven't even gotten into velocity stuff. Being the owner of a JD-800, mod'ing this with an EG makes perfect sense!

Couldn't we all just take the next year or so off from work and just PLAY Afterall. . to "justify" the purchase and make KORG proud . .
Wayne

PS Look for 3rd party DVD tutorials in a few years (I could dig up the place I ordered my fairly useful KARMA DVDs if anyone wants to watch/contact the company . . )

[gdh]

for playing live I patch the Radias into my ART PAC, it sits nicely on that little ledge and what a difference a tube pre and some compression makes to the sound. These things are fantastic for @$50 US used - talked the lead singer into buying one as well. I don't patch my Voyager through the ART as there are other tricks used for that beast.

[micko]

hey, sorry for this stupid question, but what do you mean with ART PAC?

::::edit::::
ah, ok. i found it . thanks for the tip.
http://www.zzounds.com/item--ART131

i also think that it's necessary to push the sound of the radias up. at the moment my microkorg has more power than the radias - really disappointing... - but this is worth a new thread...

[gdh]

they are great little boxes especially for the price. I found that I can add a lot of warmth to the Radias for live use. They have stereo ones as well but for me this little box is all I want to haul around for live gigs. Just for fun I have a Vox Tonelab btn the Voyager and the PA

[rfoshaug]

Time for another little trick (not Radias specific but cool anyway).

Want to create that 70's Jarre "squeaky drum" used extensively on Oxygene parts 2, 4 and 6 as well as several other tracks from Equinoxe and Oxygene 7-13?

Here's how:

Select saw as your waveform. It needs to be played at extremely low frequencies, so transpose it way down. Use a high-pass filter to cut everything but the highest frequencies from that low-frequency saw wave. Add some resonance to that high-pass filter to add some tone and character to the sound. Adjust the saw pitch, filter cutoff and resonance until you get that 70's feel.

Adjust the volume (amp) envelope so that the drum sounds right and hey presto you're ready to play some vintage songs.

Edit:

Here's a simple demonstration on YouTube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=n9dA4anq790

[rfoshaug]

I've just added a couple of simple demos on YouTube.

Monophonic modulation madness (from my trick in the first post of this thread):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQCDXRs3O7A


And in the post above, you'll find a small demo of how to create Jean Michel Jarre's trademark percussion sounds from his early albums.

[nvisibl]

i like your video clips dude
they inspire