Korg Forums

[Carbo]

New user here. Quick question. I have a Moog Voyager connected to the midi out of the Kronos.

On some songs I want the Voyager sounds to be triggered by the Kronos keys as I play. On other songs I don't want them triggered, I play the Voyager directly but want the set list and combi to trigger the Voyager to load the correct bank and program.

I've got it working fine, in that I just mute the EX2 timbre track when I play direct. The fader still works.

Just wondering if this is the best way to do it. Seems to work fine but just want to make sure that by muting it I am not boxing myself in down the road.

Peter

[Rigel]

Hi,
I control 5 other synths from my Kronos' MIDI out in a chain. I built a Combi for that, named it "ExternalSynths". I assigned each synth a separate track, and a separate midi channel to each track. For instance Ultranova is on the first track with a midi channel number 8, Blofeld is on the second track with a midi channel number 7, and so on. You can use the midi tab of the combi to assign midi channels to external synths. By the way don't forget to set the destination as EXT. You can also assign internal Kronos patches within the same combi, this time, midi channel is 1, or the global channel. I set all the tracks to mute initially, and then when I want to play an external synth or multiple synths in unison, I just uncheck its mute mode. If the tracks are set to "mute" in your external synth combi, they will not sound when you play your Kronos, be it a program or another combi. Keep in mind that you should also set your synths' receiving midi channel numbers the corresponding number you assigned in your combi.
_________________
Korg KronosX73, Kurzweil PC3K6, Roland V-Synth GT, Kawai K5000S, Waldorf Blofeld, Novation Ultranova, Behringer Neutron, Yamaha HS80M, Boss Micro BR80, Zoom H6, Sony PCM D100, Tascam DP32SD, Mackie 1202VLZ4, Zoom MS-70CDR, Rode NT1, Sony MDR 7506.

[psionic311]

Sounds like a solid approach. Keep in mind that besides muting from the touchscreen, you can also do it from the buttons on the Control Surface to the left of the display. It's under the Control Assign section, the 2nd column from the left:

Timbre/Track
Press again to toggle between Timbres 1-8 or 9-16
(for an onscreen view of this, press the Play/Control Surface tabs)

The top row of 8 buttons will then Mute/Unmute the corresponding timbre in your Combi. The 8 sliders will now control the timbre volumes, including your external synths.

[psionic311]

Similar to the way you can map your virtual synths in a DAW to a MIDI controller, the Kronos can also keep different control maps of CC's to control External Synths. For example, twisting a cutoff knob is great for filter sweeps, but what if you wanted to sweep your Voyager's filter while also boosting the resonance at the same time, all with one hand while soloing with the other?

GLOBAL mode
MIDI => External1 tab

Here you can custom assign CCs on differing MIDI channels, controlling your external synths and FX pedals using the Kronos' 8 knobs, 16 buttons (switches) and 9 sliders. You have up to 128 of these maps you can create, some are already pre-made as you can see (000-127, External Mode Setup at top). For your Voyager's cutoff, set slider1 to ch3 CC74, for resonance ch3 CC71 (or whatever the correct numbers are). Map other parameters as you like, and for safety turn CCs to Off for unused knobs/buttons/sliders. Memorize the Setup# you just created. Don't forget to Write the GLOBAL setting after you've made a template.

Now back in Combi mode, press the Play/Control Surface tab. On the physical Control Surface, under the Control Assign row, press the EXT button. You'll see on the screen that the External tab to the left is selected. To the upper right you'll see Setup; touch the arrow and select the Setup# you memorized earlier. Write (save) the Combi.

Congratulations. You now can control your Voyager's parameters from the Kronos sliders, live onstage. Save various External Setups for each combi, put the Combis into your Set List, and during a song use the physical Control Surface to control mute, volume, pan, filter cutoff, resonance, what have you.

[psionic311]

In summary, the Control Assign buttons on the physical Control Surface are super handy, don't neglect them!

TIMBRE/TRACK
mute, volume, pan timbres 1-8 and 9-16

AUDIO
mute, volume, pan of whatever's plugged into Kronos audio INs

EXT (external device)
cutoff, resonance, glide amount and on/off, LFO amount, FX on/off, etc

TONE ADJUST/EQ
pre-configured button/slider parameters (like drawbar organ)
EQ available only in Set List; 9-band graphic EQ, custom EQ per venue

[psionic311]

By the way, Rigel, that's a nice selection of synths you have there. Looks like a wide palette, not only in multisamples but also the flavors of virtual analog too.

[Rigel]