Korg Forums

[synthterborg]

This may be something really easy, but I can't figure out how to do it. I play a lot of contemporary worship and one of the staples is a background drone. Generally a pad or arpeggio of the 1,5 and 8. No problem creating a sound and or holding it down with one hand, but I would like to create a way to have the sound in a certain keyboard zone, where I could hit a note and have it sustain until I either hit it again or trigger a different pitch in the zone. I know I can set the EG to just sustain forever, but that doesn't give me control to shut it off or to trigger a different pitch. Also since I am playing piano, synth and other parts around the drone at the same time, I don't want note polyphony or priority to shut off the note after a few chords. I am usually building the sound for the song in a Combi and as mentioned above will split the board into as many zones as I need for separate sounds and also be using the faders to bring layers in and out.
So any thoughts on approaches to doing this and how to assign a controller for latching and releasing (I do need to keep the damper pedal free as generally I am playing a piano type pad at the same time and need the damper for that).
Hope this describes the situation well.
Thanks.

[geoelectro]

I do this in Church all the time. I assume you know how to set sounds to zones.
I create a Combi with the lo C set in its own zone. (K61)
Go to the control surface tab and select Tone Adjust. Select the Timbre (top right) to the one assigned to your "drone zone". There is a HOLD parameter that may not be showing but can be selected from a drop down menu by selecting an unused parameter. While here in tone adjust, you can also set many other aspects of your sound like attack, decay, release, and even filter sweeps etc. A slow filter sweep will add some animation to the sound to keep it from getting stale. I usually mix two sounds and filter sweep one of them making it more subtle.

Recently I have been experimenting with another approach.
I set 5 sounds to the "drone Zone" and expanded this zone to one octave.
I set the sounds OSC MODE to mono. This way I can select the pitch of the drone by pressing any key in that octave.
The five sounds are set to different pitches to create a chord. I have a ROOT FIFTH playing constant. I have a THIRD and SECOND set in a higher octave and set to fade in and out using the tone adjust. Set a slow LFO to control the AMP. I set the LFO frequencies different to cause more randomness. Lastly, a even higher pitch also fading in and out set to a major 7th.

I run all this to a set of FX with delay, some pitch shift and very long reverb. Now, If I select a new pitch in this octave zone, the old sound stops (because of the mono setting) but fades out slowly with the reverb tail. The sounds are set in tone adjust to have a slow attack so just as the old pitch is fading out, the new pitch is fading in. Makes a very smooth transition.

I have this combi as a buffer between songs. While someone is talking etc. I can have a drone to fill the background and play the piano along with it. I can change from one key of the song just finished, to another key of the upcoming song very smoothly.

All my songs have their own Combi. I like to program each song individually. Sometimes I start a drone at the beginning of a song but I want it to go away by the chorus for example. In Tone Adjust, I can set the Decay/Sustain parameter and time it to fade out at the appropriate time.

In some cases I remove the drone manually by using the Vector Joystick. In fact, Most drones are programmed to the Vector Joystick. I know if I hear a drone and want it gone, I can simply move the VJ down and all sustaining sounds go away.

Good luck!
Geo
_________________
Kronos 61 : 3GB RAM 120GB 2nd Drv.
Kronos 2 61
Synthesizers.com Custom Modular
N.I. Komplete 11, Omnisphere 2, VB-3.
HP i7 8GB Win 10
Yamaha P-80 Weighted Keyboard. NanoPad2

[synthterborg]

All of this sounds awesome. I will. give it a shot and let you know how it comes out. Thanks so much for the tip.

[synthterborg]

I'm sorry but want to see if you can clarify where the "Hold" option is on the Control Surface tab. I don't seem to be able to find it. Thanks.

[geoelectro]

I PM'd you.

Geo
_________________
Kronos 61 : 3GB RAM 120GB 2nd Drv.
Kronos 2 61
Synthesizers.com Custom Modular
N.I. Komplete 11, Omnisphere 2, VB-3.
HP i7 8GB Win 10
Yamaha P-80 Weighted Keyboard. NanoPad2