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-
-
- KORG M1 TIPS!
-
- Pasi Kovanen
-
- I've owned the Korg M1 synthesizer for a little over a year now and I
- think it's now time to share my experiences with the other owners
- of this worlds-best-selling-synth. Most of these tips can be quite simple
- and some of them may even be found in the manuals, but who bothers to
- read them anyway? (Remember the RTFM-error: Read The [sensored] Manual...)
-
-
- MIDI-USAGE
-
- Lets start with the first and the least: when you use M1 with a
- computer (read: Amiga)-sequencer, don't bother to use the M1 sequencer
- section but combination-sounds. You have 100 combis. Of course you
- can put splitted, layered etc. sounds there too but the most effective way
- to use combis is the following:
-
- Select a combination sound you don't need anymore.
-
- Push edit combi.
-
- Page 1-Combination type : multi.
-
- Page 2-Program select - here you can put different progs for
- different channels. You can do it at the combi-mode too. An asterisk
- (*) after the prog-number means that the program is selected in the prog-
- mode currently (so it's nothing serious...)
-
- Page 3-Midi Ch - here you select what midi-channels your programs will use.
- A letter "G" after the channel number means that the channel is the same as
- M1's Common Channel which can be selected in the global pages pressing
- GLOBAL-5. For MIDI-usage select separate channels for each programs,
- preferrably for the first program channel 1 and 8 for the last
- channel. So you can count the program's MIDI-channel in the combination
- mode just by looking at the position of the program in the page. If
- the third program-number in the row is I56 (I=internal, C=card) the MIDI-
- channel for that program is, of course, 3.
-
- Then edit the other pages, the effects and so on. When you're
- satisfied, press 9 and write the sound.
-
- Now you can output to MIDI with your Amiga in any channel from 1 to 8 and
- your synth will play!
-
-
- SYSEX
-
- You can make your days safer with SysEx. One uses SysEx (System Exclusive)
- to transfer sounddata from synth to computer and vice versa. With Amiga
- you can use for this operation eg TSX and RSX-programs. There are,
- though, some things to notify when playing with SysEx:
-
- 1. Put MIDI-channel in your M1 to 1 by pressing GLOB, 5 and selecting
- the channel. That's because, at least with the TSX and RSX, you must
- send the SysEx with the same channel you sent it to your Amiga. Well, I
- didn't know that four months ago when I first tried RSX and TSX. So I
- used RSX (Receive SysEx) to input SysEx to Amiga. I dumped it two
- times to be sure that the length of the file was right (sometimes few
- starting bits may be lost for some reason). Then I dumped it back to M1
- with TSX (Transmit SysEx) and it worked. Now I loaded one card to M1 to
- listen the sequencer data. After that I wrote "tsx sound" in CLI.
- Nothing happened. WHAT? Oh now. This can't be true. All protections
- off, dozens of checkings. Nothing. SH*T! A call to the importer. No
- help. Then, after a few days, I loaded the SysEx-file to a text-editor
- and looked it closely. The first two bytes were B4. I dumped the card's
- including to Amiga. It said: B0. Check at the MIDI-channel. 1. I
- switched it to 5, transmitted sysex and... sighed in relief. Maybe I
- was stupid but at least with RSX/TSX you MUST send the data with the same
- channel you received it!
-
-
- Now a warning.
-
- ATTENTION! WHEN YOU SEND SYSEX-DATA TO M1 ALL FORMER DATA IN YOUR M1 WILL
- BE CLEARED! ALWAYS DUMP YOUR SOUNDS FROM THE GLOBAL PAGES TO YOUR AMIGA
- (SEND ALL DATA) BEFORE SENDING ANY SYSEX TO YOUR SYNTH OR YOU'LL BE SORRY!
-
- When you send sounds with TSX and your synth won't take them, don't
- panic. First, check the MIDI-channel in both in the M1 and in the dump.
- Send again. If it didn't work, push global and 6 and page -. Here is the
- MIDI filtering page. Set EXCL(usive):ENA. Try again. If it doesn't
- work, wait a week, eat lots of vegetables and try one more time. If
- there's no effect, I recommed a suicide or a 5-kilogram sledgehammer!-)
-
-
- UNDOCUMENTED THING
-
- From the importer (hello!) I got a "nice" tip: first, when you press two
- keys in the M1's control panel while turning the power on you get a
- number, which is #19 in my machine. Maybe it's the version of the
- operating system. And, pressing two other keys when starting up, the
- whole memory of the M1 will be cleared and there are presets which let
- you listen to all M1's multisamples without ANY effects! What these
- keys are, I don't tell them here, and I advise you not to search them,
- because when you clear the memory, you cannot get your sounds back
- without a SysEx-dump, which of course have to be made before the
- clearing! So before clearing memory or playing (I don't mean playing
- but PLAYING :) with your synth in any other way remember to dump your
- sounds to a safe disk where only viruses, coffee and cats can destroy
- them...
-
-
- Now it's your turn to send your M1 and other synths-tips to AM/FM! There
- are (at least) two things I'd like to get some information on in the M1.
- I hope somebody can help me. Here they come:
-
- 1) Are there any PD-/Shareware-/any other cheap M1-sound editors for
- the Amiga?
-
-
- 2) Why there is some humming in the straight output-lines L/R/3/4 in the
- M1? The phones-output gives good voice. Have anyone else experienced
- something like that (my output's are not broken!)? I have 2 RCA-wires
- which include a RCA->plug (I'm not sure if that's called as "plug" in
- English but it's the "phones-style interface":) "converter". If I use it
- from CD to Amplifier it works just fine, if I put it to M1's phones it
- works fine but when I put it to those straight outputs it starts to hum.
-
- If you can help me with these problems, I can be reached at the
- following address. You can also contact me for swapping sounds or any
- other M1-stuff but not for illegal stuff or for any other Amiga-only-
- swapping, please!
-
- PASI KOVANEN
- ER─MIEHENTIE 14
- SF-48400 KOTKA
- FINLAND
-
- Or call in Finland: 952-282223
-