Weird Sustain Pedal Bug

amosdef · Post by **amosdef** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:17 pm

Thanks for the video. What sound were you getting the stuck notes on? I'd like to see if it's only for certain engines or just certain types of sounds. Was your Kronos connected to any other keyboards via midi? I always have a keyboard hooked up to it when performing, and would like to rule out that as a possible cause (midi loop or dropped note off command). Thanks again and I hope we can figure this out and that Korg can release an update to fix it.

mortenaudio · Post by **mortenaudio** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 9:33 am

I have the same issue others are describing, have seen it primarily on lead patches in prog mode. Appears even with nothing connected to the Kronos except two audio jacks in L/R (so no sustain pedal, no MIDI). Switching to a piano or EPiano prog it works fine, back to a lead patch the problem is there again.

Kronos 61, OS version 2.0.6

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Morten

xtatty · Post by **xtatty** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:59 pm

amosdef wrote: 1. What sound were you getting the stuck notes on? I'd like to see if it's only for certain engines or just certain types of sounds.
2. Was your Kronos connected to any other keyboards via midi? I always have a keyboard hooked up to it when performing, and would like to rule out that as a possible cause (midi loop or dropped note off command).

1. The sound is from HD-1 engine. Once it starts, most of the lead patches in HD-1 stuck. The next time i will write down the names of them.

2. No, there was nothing connected to Kronos. Just KORG's DS1H sustain pedal and one audio jack L mono.
The same thing happened once without a sustain pedal connected.

P.S. I have OS v2.06

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 9:27 pm

What happens if you disable/re-enable monophonic mode? Just cause it seems the most common difference between leadsounds and others.

amosdef · Post by **amosdef** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 4:24 pm

xtatty wrote: 1. The sound is from HD-1 engine. Once it starts, most of the lead patches in HD-1 stuck. The next time i will write down the names of them.

2. No, there was nothing connected to Kronos. Just KORG's DS1H sustain pedal and one audio jack L mono.
The same thing happened once without a sustain pedal connected.

P.S. I have OS v2.06

I had a feeling it was something internal to the Kronos and not a midi/sustain issue. I'll check my combis that tend to show this bug and see if the lead sounds are indeed the HD-1 engine. It will be helpful to narrow it down further. I can switch out the sounds to another engine if that will fix things for now.

xtatty · Post by **xtatty** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:54 pm

SanderXpander wrote:What happens if you disable/re-enable monophonic mode? Just cause it seems the most common difference between leadsounds and others.

You were right!!!

Changing from mono to poly stopped the stuck notes!

The problem reappears if i change it back to mono, but i have to play the keys again in order to get a stuck note.

The problem, once it starts, it occurs to almost every mono patch.
The problem is that today, i found out that some combis get stuck too (i was playing an orchestral patch). I kept getting stuck notes from a string patch from the combi.

The only way to permanently make the problem disappear, is by rebooting the Kronos.

I have OS 2.1. Updated without any problems.
I updated the firmware too.

amosdef · Post by **amosdef** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 10:32 pm

I have been able to minimize this by using robbinhood's tip of going into Sequencer mode and running initialize song. I usually do that while setting up my set lists before a gig and it seems to be helping it from happening. I can say that I still get the stuck note (on strings mostly) problem from time to time. Usually it's when triggering the sound from a midi controller, but hard to say if it doesn't happen on the local keyboard also. I may update this week, but am giving is some time to make sure there are no major issues with the update before I commit to it.

MarkCon76 · Post by **MarkCon76** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 3:52 pm

I'm glad I came across this on the forum since I've been having this issue and was almost ready to purchase my 3rd sustain pedal, thinking it was an issue with the pedal. I've had the problem pop up randomly and it's occurred during live gigs which is a big problem. If anyone who is having the problem updates to the very latest OS and the problem goes away, please post; I'm hesitant to update yet.

bluestaff · Post by **bluestaff** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:00 pm

bump

I've been having the same problem for ages, I've done everything, and it doesn't go away... It happened again last night during a gig. I've also posted a thread myself about this, but I'm thinking to bump this one as it's more comprehensive. Anyone found a solution yet?

Davd C. Polich · Post by **Davd C. Polich** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 3:55 pm

I think V 2.12 of the Kronos software addressed this problem. But anyway, yes it is possible to have this happen, I've encountered it. Here's
how I tracked down what caused it and how I fixed it:

In my case (actually, it was during rehearsals for a well-known band), the
problem of notes sustaining cropped up when switching from one set list
combi to another one. It was always when starting from one particular Combi.

The Combi happened to have two monophonic synth leads in it, along with a pad that the keyboard player would use the sustain pedal on, so he could keep the pad sustaining while simultaneously playing the lead sounds. The next Combi he would switch to would not include any mono lead sounds - however, if he was holding lead sound notes for any length of time, and then switched to the next Combi in the set list, the notes would get stuck.

I attributed this to two things - one, there was a play mode change going on where the Korg was playing in mono legato mode one minute, and in the next few seconds was being "asked" to change abruptly to poly mode, BUT the "hold time" for the Combi in the set list cell was set
to "5s", which is the default. So the Kronos was essentially going "do you want me to keep holding the legato notes, or should I switch to poly mode?" I know its not a living creature but that's how I viewed it.

The solution was simply to set the set list cell hold time to the lowest value possible, for that particular cell. You do this by going to set list mode and then put it in "Edit" mode. You'll see a field marked "Hold" and you change the value there. The default is 5s…far longer than most situations would call for.

"Hold" is the term for letting notes previously played "extend" when you change a program or Combi so that they don't get abruptly cut off.

Try this solution and see if it helps you. And before doing that, make sure your Kronos is updated to the latest software version (2.12).

bluestaff · Post by **bluestaff** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 1:00 pm

Thanks for the tip, but that doesn't really apply in my case. My Kronos sustains whenever, with no recognisable pattern whatsoever. It will be during the same sound, in the middle of the song for example...

I updated to 2.12, and during the first two gigs after I did, nothing happened, which led me to believe that the problem was finally fixed! But last night, it did it again, randomly and many times during my gig! I'm seriously considering burning the thing or smashing it with a sledgehammer, I'm that frustrated!!!

Thoraldus · Post by **Thoraldus** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:09 pm

music_avijeet wrote:This has happened on my Kronos once and 2-3 times on my Motif. i figured it had something to do with the key rather than the sustain pedal.

Lack of a 'note off' event?

phil55 · Post by **phil55** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 6:19 pm

Happens to me too.

I was looking for reasons why, and this summer I thought it was the heat and humidity. Turns out it happens at other times too.

I've found that if I turn it on and leave it on for about 1/2 hour before playing a note, it seems to minimize happening again - however it does but less often.

Putting it into sequencer mode seems to be the most reliable 'fix' as I haven't noticed it being chronic afterwards, but on occasion when it does happen again, I just double clutch (pump twice) the sustain pedal and it clears up.

Don't ask me why. KRONOS can be QUIRKY.

Davd C. Polich · Post by **Davd C. Polich** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:43 pm

bluestaff wrote:Thanks for the tip, but that doesn't really apply in my case. My Kronos sustains whenever, with no recognisable pattern whatsoever. It will be during the same sound, in the middle of the song for example...

I updated to 2.12, and during the first two gigs after I did, nothing happened, which led me to believe that the problem was finally fixed! But last night, it did it again, randomly and many times during my gig! I'm seriously considering burning the thing or smashing it with a sledgehammer, I'm that frustrated!!!

I see no mention of whether you tried a different sustain pedal. I'd
definitely check that out. It may even be your sustain (damper) pedal
jack is loose or faulty.

Also try a different sustain pedal (like a Yamaha) and set the polarity to
"+" in Global mode.

Whatever you do, don't use an M-Audio pedal. Those are notorious for
going bad.

bluestaff · Post by **bluestaff** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:52 pm

This problem exists for more than a year. I've tried everything. Switched pedals, all brands and styles, changed the damper jack on Kronos, had it for a month and a half to the technician who was trying to figure it out, but with no luck... I'm starting to think that it is a faulty instrument, my own, but from what I read other people have faced the problem. The thing is, because I make a living from playing on this instrument and I don't have time to program hundreds of songs from scratch on another keyboard, I've thought about purchasing a new Kronos X and ditch the one I have now because I don't know what else to do. The thing is, will it behave normally, or will it do the same s**t all over again?

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Weird Sustain Pedal Bug

Notes randomly sustaining