ghost in the machine (microkorg)?

wreckx · Post by **wreckx** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:55 pm

i just recently started experiencing (maybe noticiing) a problem with my microkorg

in Program Select: Trance, Program Number: 2, Side: A (Acid Saw Bass)
*the default is for the Arpeggiator: on, but it's so annoyingly rapid i turn it off on the keyboard

it plays along fine for a while then it just seems to fade out...

what seems to be happening is that the Envelope Generator (EG) Attack seems to be taking on a life of their own

sometimes just a slight movement of the modulation will trigger this

if i switch out the program number and switch back it works fine again for a while and then it happens again...

what's really perplexing is that after doing this switching out a couple of times the problem goes away

isn't this a solid state device? it isn't possible that something old is just taking time to warm up is it?

anybody have any ideas what's happening here or how to go about fixing it?

it doesn't seem like this forum likes to take on technical questions, but please someone take a stab at this for me

thanks

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 4:57 pm

what position is your attack knob when you do this?

because the real time control knobs don't use 'catch mode', sometimes they send off signals when you haven't moved them, because of slight variations. I believe this is due to the knobs either needing cleaning, or due to temperature variations etc (don't know if they are encoders or pots).

it is kind of annoying, I remember on my MK it was the cutoff knob and the release knob that tended to send off annoying changes at annoying positions (release suddenly going high, cutoff etc....)

wreckx · Post by **wreckx** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 5:11 pm

thanks x-trade!

12:00 high, straight up!

is there a default position for those controllers?

it was a relief to hear back from you, i was about to sell all my equipment

it's interesting what you say with respect to temperature...

as i said after i switch out of program numbers a couple of times, then i can't get it to do it

but, i wonder if it's more to do with time/temperature?

so, how would i go about cleaning the knobs?

Dj Pound · Post by **Dj Pound** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:52 pm

same thing happened to me about a week ago.
It was as if someone was turning the cutoff knob to the zero position. I was listening to an incoming audio signal with the oscillator set to audio In...I cant explain it. It worked fine prior to this, and i dont recall changing the settings, it just happened inexplicably.
I eventually initialized the patch, and it hasnt done it since.

Who knows????could be condensation or something involving the knobs.

wreckx · Post by **wreckx** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:00 pm

initialized the patch?

do you mean, reset the factory settings to the particular patch?

or did you build up the patch from scratch?

how would one go about doing that?

would you just replicate the information on the software editor?

any possible explanation for why it clears itself up after about 10 minutes?

thanks for the response Dj Pound

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:09 pm

I still imagine it is most likely to do with the knobs. never done anything about it though so I can't help you there.

With regards to initialising a patch (setting it all to blank settings, sawtooth), you can hit shift + 3, then I think you need to hit 3 again in order to confirm.
Its all in the manual - you have to read the manual, It covers a lot of operation, I know its daunting but the manual is only there to help you. obviously that doesn't help with your hardware related issues.

I think that's quite common to the microkorg.

Dj Pound · Post by **Dj Pound** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:10 pm

Basically i just took a random patch, I think it was A.51 in the hiphop category. I turned on the arpeggiator and switched "latch" to on in the matrix. I turned the osc 2. down and turned the first oscillator up with the waveform set to audio in. I like to run my turntable through the audio in for listening and EQing sounds before i sample.
But in this particular instance that problem with the cutoff/filter kept occuring. The incoming audio would play momentarily, normally...but within the first minute it was as someone was turning the cutoff knob to the left totally filtering out the sound until you couldnt hear anything at all.
It was f*ckin frustrating!
So i would switch out of that patch and come back to it again, same damn thing would happen.
So i just intiliazed the patch.....i think it's shift+the third arpeggiator step button.
Check the manual..as i dont have it in front of me, but im sure thats it.

And like i said before, i havent had any problems with it since doing that.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:16 pm

Dj Pound wrote:Basically i just took a random patch, I think it was A.51 in the hiphop category. I turned on the arpeggiator and switched "latch" to on in the matrix. I turned the osc 2. down and turned the first oscillator up with the waveform set to audio in. I like to run my turntable through the audio in for listening and EQing sounds before i sample.
But in this particular instance that problem with the cutoff/filter kept occuring. The incoming audio would play momentarily, normally...but within the first minute it was as someone was turning the cutoff knob to the left totally filtering out the sound until you couldnt hear anything at all.
It was f*ckin frustrating!
So i would switch out of that patch and come back to it again, same damn thing would happen.
So i just intiliazed the patch.....i think it's shift+the third arpeggiator step button.
Check the manual..as i dont have it in front of me, but im sure thats it.

And like i said before, i havent had any problems with it since doing that.

that sounds more like something left in the settings of the patch rather than anything else. It could be again with the release or attack knob with EG being routed to cutoff (either through virtual patch, or by the EG Int parameter in filter), etc.

wreckx · Post by **wreckx** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:27 pm

all of a sudden i can't get the synth to repeat the problem i was having this morning

i turned off the synthesizer, went and ran some errands, came back turned on the synth and no problem

go figure? i fully expected to hear the glitch since in my estimation the synth was cold

however, i did initialize the patch, held shift, pressed program number 3 and then repressed the flashing program number 3, is that all there is to it?

i expected to get a blank patch, but what i got was the correct sound

it is a little suspicious that it takes care of itself after time...

the bottom line is, i'm going to read the frickin' manual, that's all there is to it

i have a notice in with Korg, but they never reply...

this sounds like something i read about before, somewhere in all my surfing, so i figure the answer is in the manual, along with everything else i need to read about and learn

thanks for all the positive feedback folks!

if someone comes up with another possible cause (and hopefully a solution) PLEASE let me know

i live in Arizona and lately it's been cold, really windy and dry, kicking up all kinds of satic electricity, do you think?

Dj Pound · Post by **Dj Pound** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:26 am

Yeah i kinda doubt it was the EG settings or the virtual patch as i was using that very same a.51 patch prior to this happening, and i believe i checked the filter settings several times when i first set the patch up.....no problems whatsoever.
Having said that, i did at the time have an ESX hooked up to the microkorg via midi....and i could of accidentally modified the filters unknowingly on the ESX with the CC midi commands.
I dunno........could of been anything, these kinds of things can be rather trivial at times!

And wreckx....if you want to restore the original factory settings to that particular patch that you want...i believe that is shift+the first arpeg button.
Check the manual though....

peace

wreckx · Post by **wreckx** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 2:15 pm

dj pound

just wanted to let you know that after initializing the patch yesterday, even after the enigma had already stopped, i got up this morning and after an hour of trying i can't get the korg to repeat the problem

right on! i was SO relieved, thanks for that advice...

i definitely didn't want to believe there was anything wrong with the microkorg, i actually really like this little monster, mini keys and all

however, i might be looking to sell it and maybe get the R3, i think i'd like the full sized keys and some of it's other enhancements

now i could sell it in good conscience

yea, i knew about resetting the factory settings, i've done it a couple of times, though i don't really think that i needed to except after i bought it

it still seems funny to me that after i initialized the patch "A12" and expected it to be blank, it wasn't, maybe something else was layered on top of it

anyway, like i said i'm hitting the manual, so i won't be so caught off guard if some other anomaly pop's up