Tips and Tricks Thread

[JJP]

Kaossilator:
To return to a fixed beat via the cancel option ("Can" ) will pause the loop. If you erase the new layer instead, you'll get the same result without pausing the loop (erase on the fly by pressing loop and scale and hold until the beat starts again). By pressing loop+scale you can also add a new layer while erasing the old one.

[CFC]

Kaossilator Pro:

Loop Effect like the one on the KP3: Shift + Bank of desire and turn down the beats of the pattern during playback. Results in a pretty cool Loop Effect like the one we know from the KP3.
Strange that I just discovered this one after having the Kpro for months now.

[Batmosphere]

Hi all.

Thanks for this excellent resource. It helped a lot while I was working on my Kaossilator Pro review for EM. Here's a trick I discovered that addresses two complaints with the KO Pro -- the lack of undo and the lack of track bouncing. I call it The Secret Fifth Track:

You can use Program 199, Audio-Looper, to capture one bar of external audio. Just hold the far right edge of the touch pad. If you don't like what you captured, lift your finger. That's the undo function.

If you do like what you captured, then hold down a loop button to overdub your new audio onto that button. Details here: http://emusician.com/tutorials/option_c ... fth_track/

[cardboardcorn]

http://www.hubpages.com/hub/kaosspad I did a review and a guide to all of the unique features of the kaoss pad is there anything I should add? Please share this if anyones interested in learning about the kaoss pad before they buy it as I feel I have made a good resource from a lot of different sources :]

[Mr36]

Possibly the best and most useful tip (not so much a trick but can be magical):

Read the manual.

[balero98]

It's not pefect and sometimes it takes a few goes and the Auto BPM can still go haywire when you change the speed of the record but if you've got a steady bpm you can turn off auto bpm (push down the prog button and set it to the bpm manually).

I hope the folks at Korg read this and are embarrassed about their users are having to go through to do something that should be inherent. It's about time for a firmware update.

[cardboardcorn]

Not so pro tip: Use the drum synth and press hold on a beat then use the re-sampling feature to get individual drums on the a-b banks. This allows you to freestyle drum stuff. You can also go to drum-6 and hit it on one part of an instruments (or synths) melody. :]

[JinglesJapan]

...

[didjeko]

Found in/from this forum with some comments.

With Connection switch on [SEND], press the keys and then turn the power on.

• [1] + [TAP/RANGE] : Skip the audio measurement and pad surface inspection
  [2] + [TAP/RANGE] : Audio measurement only. The lcd displays Lul (level).
  [3] + [TAP/RANGE] : Pad all surface inspection only. the lcd displays firmware version then Pad2. Moving the finger on the pad will display the X,Y position from 1,1 to 9,9.
  [4] + [TAP/RANGE] : Full inspection (internal and external)
  [5] + [TAP/RANGE] : Skip the MIDI loop back inspection and the USB check
  [6] + [TAP/RANGE] : External inspection. Displays firmware version then all buttons light up, some orange, some red. Don't know how the interface works.
  [7] + [TAP/RANGE] : Skip the audio loop back inspection and the USB check.
  [8] + [TAP/RANGE] : Calibration pad procedure (see below)
  
  [TAP/RANGE] + [SAMPLING] : Display firmware version then [D] lights up and blinks. Press [D] to boot the KP3.
  [1] + [2] + [SAMPLING] : Reset all default values (effects on keys [1] to [8] (sure), MIDI settings (I presume), maybe all the settings done on the MIDI controller ? PrLd (Preset load ?) displays on the lcd. [C] and [D] light up, [D] blinks. Press[D] to proceed. P.off is displayed on the lcd. Turn power off.
  
  [SAMPLING] + [C] + [D] : Initial Program Loader mode. The lcd displays IPL. Allow firmware update (from KP3 V2 updater documentation).

Calibration procedure

• The lcd displays CAL.1. The 4 rectangles of the bottom left corner light up. Press the intersection (center of the 4 rectangles) with a stick.
  Then the lcd displays CAL.2 and the top left corner of the pad light up. Press... Then CAL.3 for top right and CAL.4 for bottom right corners.
  The lcd displays P.Off, turn the power off.

[MarcusCarab]

I posted this as it's own thread but then saw this one... here's how to force the KP3 to save the BPM along with all the other settings when you do a save "ALL" to the sd card:

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=72103

[sciguy]

Found in/from this forum with some comments.

With Connection switch on [SEND], press the keys and then turn the power on.

• [1] + [TAP/RANGE] : Skip the audio measurement and pad surface inspection
  [2] + [TAP/RANGE] : Audio measurement only. The lcd displays Lul (level).
  [3] + [TAP/RANGE] : Pad all surface inspection only. the lcd displays firmware version then Pad2. Moving the finger on the pad will display the X,Y position from 1,1 to 9,9.
  [4] + [TAP/RANGE] : Full inspection (internal and external)
  [5] + [TAP/RANGE] : Skip the MIDI loop back inspection and the USB check
  [6] + [TAP/RANGE] : External inspection. Displays firmware version then all buttons light up, some orange, some red. Don't know how the interface works.
  [7] + [TAP/RANGE] : Skip the audio loop back inspection and the USB check.
  [8] + [TAP/RANGE] : Calibration pad procedure (see below)
  
  [TAP/RANGE] + [SAMPLING] : Display firmware version then [D] lights up and blinks. Press [D] to boot the KP3.
  [1] + [2] + [SAMPLING] : Reset all default values (effects on keys [1] to [8] (sure), MIDI settings (I presume), maybe all the settings done on the MIDI controller ? PrLd (Preset load ?) displays on the lcd. [C] and [D] light up, [D] blinks. Press[D] to proceed. P.off is displayed on the lcd. Turn power off.
  
  [SAMPLING] + [C] + [D] : Initial Program Loader mode. The lcd displays IPL. Allow firmware update (from KP3 V2 updater documentation).

Calibration procedure

• The lcd displays CAL.1. The 4 rectangles of the bottom left corner light up. Press the intersection (center of the 4 rectangles) with a stick.
  Then the lcd displays CAL.2 and the top left corner of the pad light up. Press... Then CAL.3 for top right and CAL.4 for bottom right corners.
  The lcd displays P.Off, turn the power off.

Where did you find this info?
I couldn't find any information anywhere about these tests.
Is there any site that has more details about these, like for example why mine flashes "ErS1" when I run the full inspection? Does that stand for "ERror"?

[neotechtonics]

nothing fancy or new but a great way to add additional texture to incoming audio on the Kaoss Pad 3

I use this with my EMX and Kaossilator Pro.

*set the BPM of the KP3 to 1/4 of the BPM of incoming audio.*
set effect release to maximum. (shift + fader at max)
set dry/wet down from maximum.
tap out or hold an effect and release on end of a bar.
effected audio will "loop" after release over the top of the incoming audio signal... depending on the effect it may decay faster than others so select an effect that doesn't have a fast decay so the "loop" doesn't fade out fast.

setting the dry/wet to less than maximum you can gradually increase the dry/wet as the sound decays to hold it at the same volume.

turning the dry/wet all the way down drops the volume of the "loop" but it's still there running in the background so you can do things like cut that looping audio all the way down then drop it back in at the beginning of a bar.... also if you have the dry/wet at zero when applying the effect you wont hear the effect until you turn the dry/wet back up... so you can 'set' the loop in the background without affecting the flow of the track then fade/drop it in at any time by turning up the dry/wet. If you learn your 'sweet spots' you can do this quite effectively without having to hear what the effect is doing to the incoming audio.

This works great at filling out the KPro audio

note: "loop" will stop if you change effects. additional pad touches will build over the running loop (not overdub but replace the section of the loop when pad is touched)

*I set the BPM at 1/4 of incoming audio so the loop length is one bar. if you midi sync depending on your incoming tempo it will "loop" every quarter note which doesnt sound particularly good.
I still have to experiment with other fractions/multiples of the BPM to maybe have a triplet timed "loop" running
eg KPro: 120 BPM, KP3: 40 BPM. I'm sure there are plenty other possibilities for polyrythms aswell.

[Rottun]

by overwriting some sounds you can create really cool effects, will edit later

[sohatyi]

I was pretty nonplussed by the crappy monotonous arp on the Pro versus the pretty sweet one on the KO1 so I tried to find a workaround.

If you have an old ER-1 kicking around, they make an excellent pattern gate arpeggiator. Unlike the EA-1 and the EMX, the ER-1 has two inputs, both allowing for differing gate patterns and times.

Simply hook the outputs of the KPro into the ER-1, get the tempos matching or in compatible multiples and set the gate time for both Audio in 1 and 2 on the ER-1. You could slave the KPro to the ER-1 over MIDI if you wished, I just made sure I kept in time when starting the arp, YMMV.

Then use the 16 step keys to program in a pattern. I found that mixing the gate arpeggiator on the KPro with this technique was great for some presets, others it was better to turn the arp off and let the Electribe do the gating. Turning the gate off on the left channel and opening up the right can create some really neat stereo ping-pong.

As a bonus, you get a really aggressive delay if you wish to use it and a Ring modulator if you want to get really weird.

The Kaoss Drone was especially good with this method of play. Mixing a few loops in and out provides some great realtime variation. Also, just recording a couple of differing gate patterns and switching between them worked really well.

[kikUUiki]

There was a thread earlier this year asking about a ducking effect on a KP3, but the user didn't make any other posts, so I'll respond with a trick I discovered. Finding that thread was how I got to this forum. Hello!

Well, it isn't the same process, but here's an easy way to mimic that sort of pumping sound. It actually doesn't even use the compressor program. The effect can be achieved with FL.13 RadioIso or FL.14 Isolator.

Now, you'll need a few things. An index finger, a thumb, possibly an additional hand and sound that goes into the KP3. I connected my keyboard to the KP3 and held down a chord to test it, or you can just use the keyboard's Latch feature, if possible.

I prefer Program FL.14, because it's purely an Isolator with no other effect.

To begin, record a basic drum beat to the sample bank as a loop to stay in time with your song (if necessary.) Then switch to FL.14 and tap the pad to the desired beat. Your Y-axis controls the Level+Drive & X-axis controls Low,Mid,High, so tapping the bottom left corner square creates the most drastic effect.

Now, repeat this action after hitting the Pad Motion button to record it. I've found that recording 2 or 4 taps is most efficient for getting a uniform effect. You also have to be aware of when you let go of the Pad Motion button because it affects the spacing when it loops. It's basically just trial and error to time it.

Also, for a smooth variation that isn't as abrupt, when you record the tapped motion, try sliding diagonally from the bottom left corner toward the center and then lifting up, at 1 slide per drum beat. Unfortunately Pad Motion isn't affected by the BPM setting, so you'll have to repeat the process to change its tempo.

FL.16, FLT.1 & FLT.4 work too, but FL.16 is easier without a drum beat because it adds a delay on it, and all 3 use vertical slide motions on the left half of the touch pad.

Now you can turn on Pad Motion and play your keyboard or whatever instrument while the KP3 adds a pumping effect to your song.

I hope this helps you KP3 owners out there.