A guide on how to expand the pitch bend range

[gazzar]

In response to a couple of questions on the KingKORG facebook forum, I worked out how to expand the pitch bend range beyond -/+ 12 semitones using virtual patching. You can also to do this asymmetrically, so that, for example, if you're playing a lead sound, you can set the bend range to -12/+2 semitones to mimic string bends and neck slides. Since posts on facebook tend to get lost over time, I'm reposting my findings here for posterity.

To expand the bend range symmetrically:
This was asked for specifically because of an attempt to recreate a Jupiter-8 patch, since that synth has a "wide" bend setting that goes to -/+ 16 semitones.
First, assuming s09:Pitch BendRange is set to +12 semitones, you using a virtual patch with src:Pitchbend, Dst:Pitch and Int:nn. To recreate the Jupiter-8 16 semitones range, use nn=20.
You can crank it all the way up to nn=63 for extreme bending.

To set the range asymmetrically:
For this you need two unused virtual patches; that is you need two virtual patches s63-s80 that start with the intensity value Int:00. Let's refer to them as Patch1 and Patch2. Just like I described before, you set Patch1 to src:Pitchbend, Dst:Pitch and Int:nn. But now you also set Patch2 to src:Pitchbend, Dst:Patch1Int, Int:mm. The following values assume that s09:Pitch BendRange is set to +02. Now, I haven't worked out exactly how nn and mm relate to BendRange and to each other to achieve -12/+2, but nn=+18 and mm=-22 seems right to my ear. If you want to bend up further than down nn=+18 and mm=+22 achieves -2/+12. There are probably other musical ranges that make sense for other instruments; I must leave those as an exercise for the reader If someone determines how BendRange and nn and mm all relate to each other, let us know.