Korg M1 goes out of tune

lakeark · Post by **lakeark** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 3:51 pm

I have a Korg M1 which I bought new in 89. When powered on it is in tune for about a minute and then it goes out of tune almost a full note. I use this for my solo act for all my background tracks so now I'm not able to work. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

slug · Post by **slug** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 9:13 pm

M1 is not an analog synth, maybe try the right forum to get expertise?

monsterjazzlicks · Post by **monsterjazzlicks** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 6:22 pm

There are other M1 questions posted in this thread though?

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 10:51 am

Maybe you can check if it is the pitchbend ... try moving it and find out if it does change or not the sound in one or the other direction; might be some contact getting loose after some time (depending on temperature, whatever)?

Is it with every sound or not? If not, it's not a hardward problem likely. is it with programs/combis?

Check the global section for transpose or (de)tune ... maybe some MIDI value is changed somehow?

Unhook the synth from any other devices and foot pedals, does the problem still exist?

Ed1 · Post by **Ed1** » Mon Aug 12, 2019 7:23 pm

lakeark wrote:I have a Korg M1 which I bought new in 89. When powered on it is in tune for about a minute and then it goes out of tune almost a full note. I use this for my solo act for all my background tracks so now I'm not able to work. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

michelkeijzers wrote:Maybe you can check if it is the pitchbend ... try moving it and find out if it does change or not the sound in one or the other direction; might be some contact getting loose after some time (depending on temperature, whatever)?

Is it with every sound or not? If not, it's not a hardward problem likely. is it with programs/combis?

Check the global section for transpose or (de)tune ... maybe some MIDI value is changed somehow?

Unhook the synth from any other devices and foot pedals, does the problem still exist?

Hi there, did you @lakeark get any further on solving your problem? old thread but I just started to have the same issue.

@ michelkeijzers in my case in you can actually see how it detunes up and down in the pitch and global tune windows, sometimes and does that for just a while and "stops" after a 20 minutes or so, so when I keep it switched on it calms down but even then from time to time it fluctuates suddenly.

Ive searched the net for a good while and it doesn't seem to be a "known problem" so im not sure what to do. ill open it and do what I can which is just reattach all cables I can see and and any obvious damaged capacitors but other than that I dont suppose theres much one can do right?

a repair would be more than buying a new one and im mostly using it as a master midi keyboard. it feels a bit sad though to throw it in the trash...

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Mon Aug 12, 2019 7:35 pm

Ed1 wrote:
lakeark wrote:I have a Korg M1 which I bought new in 89. When powered on it is in tune for about a minute and then it goes out of tune almost a full note. I use this for my solo act for all my background tracks so now I'm not able to work. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

michelkeijzers wrote:Maybe you can check if it is the pitchbend ... try moving it and find out if it does change or not the sound in one or the other direction; might be some contact getting loose after some time (depending on temperature, whatever)?

Is it with every sound or not? If not, it's not a hardward problem likely. is it with programs/combis?

Check the global section for transpose or (de)tune ... maybe some MIDI value is changed somehow?

Unhook the synth from any other devices and foot pedals, does the problem still exist?

Hi there, did you @lakeark get any further on solving your problem? old thread but I just started to have the same issue.

@ michelkeijzers in my case in you can actually see how it detunes up and down in the pitch and global tune windows, sometimes and does that for just a while and "stops" after a 20 minutes or so, so when I keep it switched on it calms down but even then from time to time it fluctuates suddenly.

Ive searched the net for a good while and it doesn't seem to be a "known problem" so im not sure what to do. ill open it and do what I can which is just reattach all cables I can see and and any obvious damaged capacitors but other than that I dont suppose theres much one can do right?

a repair would be more than buying a new one and im mostly using it as a master midi keyboard. it feels a bit sad though to throw it in the trash...

I have a physical problem too with my (Kronos) joystick... for that one it's possible to buy a new 'joystick' module... Maybe there's also one available for the Korg M1 (probably not at Korg but at other sites). Otherwise, I also don't know.

Ed1 · Post by **Ed1** » Mon Aug 12, 2019 7:57 pm

michelkeijzers wrote:I have a physical problem too with my (Kronos) joystick... for that one it's possible to buy a new 'joystick' module... Maybe there's also one available for the Korg M1 (probably not at Korg but at other sites). Otherwise, I also don't know.

oh so you suspect the joystick to the one causing the problem? is that a common issue? im my case since I can see the global tune changing I assume its not the joystick, since that doesnt change the pitch of the whole synth right, I think

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Mon Aug 12, 2019 8:49 pm

Ed1 wrote:
michelkeijzers wrote:I have a physical problem too with my (Kronos) joystick... for that one it's possible to buy a new 'joystick' module... Maybe there's also one available for the Korg M1 (probably not at Korg but at other sites). Otherwise, I also don't know.
oh so you suspect the joystick to the one causing the problem? is that a common issue? im my case since I can see the global tune changing I assume its not the joystick, since that doesnt change the pitch of the whole synth right, I think

I misread that ... if it's the global tuning, I doubt it's the joystick, but I wonder what else it can be. Software cannot deviate like hardware sensors.

For joysticks I don't know if it's a general problem... My Kronos'joystick is the first out of many Korg that is broken, but on the other hand, only since a few years I use it more frequently.

voip · Post by **voip** » Mon Aug 12, 2019 9:05 pm

Do I have it right that the actual Global tuning value is changing before your very eyes?

.

Ed1 · Post by **Ed1** » Mon Aug 12, 2019 9:19 pm

@voip, yes

it goes suddenly up or down.. and one can follow it on the screen when it happens

well, its open and looks pretty clean even after what, over 3 decades..

several buttons are not working but the belonging black switches look and feel great, it all may be some loose cables.. maybe, hopefully

lidserter · Post by **lidserter** » Mon Aug 12, 2019 10:03 pm

Wow!! It's new!!
The fact that actually you can see the global tune change, leaves me thinking about an incoming midi message, sys ex or whatever... Nothing attached?

Ed1 · Post by **Ed1** » Mon Aug 12, 2019 10:13 pm

lidserter wrote:Wow!! It's new!!
The fact that actually you can see the global tune change, leaves me thinking about an incoming midi message, sys ex or whatever... Nothing attached?

yeah, I think ive used it and had that problem even when nothing attached. BUT, im sure thoug that sometimes when I attached a midi cable sometimes it started detuning, but not only then, thats the weird thing. it can be a capacitor thats given up or so, difficult to say. but im hoping it could be just loose cables under transport? didnt look so but with little luck

I love the keybed of this little thing, that is what makes me keep most of all until now

Ed1 · Post by **Ed1** » Tue Aug 13, 2019 2:38 am

well, now its put together again, and now all the buttons work. sadly enough I got a detuning after 30 min but only once.. ill get in again and clean the + - switches, im starting to suspect they could be making contact intermittently on their own and be the reason for the changing values.

to make the buttons work again I just twisted and turned the black switches under belonging to each button so they probably made contact again with the base, and that worked. I hope it doesnt detune again I dont think ill work on fixing it not really knowing what it can be, but at least I got it in better shaper than before

lidserter · Post by **lidserter** » Tue Aug 13, 2019 2:52 am

Great job, I suspect that too, malfunctioning switches that are inputting data inadvertently