Korg Poly800/EX800 Users

Yes, I thought you would all love to hear that today I implemented a
sequencer key transpose function.

Now you can shift your recorded sequence up according to the highest
note currently on.

I will expand this feature some more before doing a demo of it but it
does sound very cool and makes the Poly much more useful as a sequencer.

Mike.

--- In korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com, "korgpolyex800" 
<korgpolyex800@...> wrote:
>
> Yes, I thought you would all love to hear that today I implemented a
> sequencer key transpose function.
> 
> Now you can shift your recorded sequence up according to the highest
> note currently on.
> 
> I will expand this feature some more before doing a demo of it but 
it
> does sound very cool and makes the Poly much more useful as a 
sequencer.
> 
>

Yeah that's a useful feature.  I havent used the Poly 800 sequencer 
yet, but if you can tweak it here's something to consider: if it has 
a tempo limitation you should remove it!  I have no idea why most 
sequencers limit tempo to around 300bpm.  One of my favorite old MIDI 
sequencers for Atari ST allowed tempo up to 2400bpm, essentially the 
speed of a bulk transfer.  Using that sequencer I discovered that at 
tempos above 1000bpm, longer sequences can become short sound-effects 
that sound pretty cool.

thats awesome news...

i would like to see development continue in this area.  i think since
the poly its self is a vanilla instrument so to speak, the more you
can make it do back flips with sequencing and filter tricks etc, the
more interesting you make it, potentially.

i have a couple questions:  will you be able to control this sequence
transposition via midi input in the case of the ex-800?  and when you
give a new note input, will it restart the sequence, or just transpose
it wherever it is time wise within the phrase?  will it output midi so
the sequencer can be used with other midi equipment?  how will you
load a sequence (sysex, perhaps?)?  will there be the way cool 'wrap
around' effect you get with the chord function (at least with the
internal sound source)?

oh yeah.  will there be a chord function with the ex-800?

lastly, i made an audio input at the noise source that to my mind
increases the interest potential of this instrument many fold in my
opinion.  is there a way you could include this with the second part
of the kit?  i think its an appropriate addition while we are making
mods to the filter.

i got my kit yesterday, ill have her up and runnin in no time!

touche!

jb



--- In korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com, "korgpolyex800" <korgpolyex800@...>
wrote:

>
> Yes, I thought you would all love to hear that today I implemented a
> sequencer key transpose function.
> 
> Now you can shift your recorded sequence up according to the highest
> note currently on.
> 
> I will expand this feature some more before doing a demo of it but it
> does sound very cool and makes the Poly much more useful as a sequencer.
> 
> Mike.
>

It would be great to be able to increase the tempo to 2400BPM but the
8 bit CPU would never be able to keep up.

So unfortunately, this is one feature we just won't be able to squeeze
out of the Poly 800.

Mike.

--- In korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com, "zoinky420" <zoinky420@...> wrote:

>
> --- In korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com, "korgpolyex800" 
> <korgpolyex800@> wrote:
> >
> > Yes, I thought you would all love to hear that today I implemented a
> > sequencer key transpose function.
> > 
> > Now you can shift your recorded sequence up according to the highest
> > note currently on.
> > 
> > I will expand this feature some more before doing a demo of it but 
> it
> > does sound very cool and makes the Poly much more useful as a 
> sequencer.
> > 
> >
> 
> Yeah that's a useful feature.  I havent used the Poly 800 sequencer 
> yet, but if you can tweak it here's something to consider: if it has 
> a tempo limitation you should remove it!  I have no idea why most 
> sequencers limit tempo to around 300bpm.  One of my favorite old MIDI 
> sequencers for Atari ST allowed tempo up to 2400bpm, essentially the 
> speed of a bulk transfer.  Using that sequencer I discovered that at 
> tempos above 1000bpm, longer sequences can become short sound-effects 
> that sound pretty cool.
>

John,

First of all, congratulations on receiving your kit. Since you might
be the first person other than myself to attempt the construction and
installation of the kit you have my full support at any time you need
it. Of some importance is the fact that I've not completed the
instructions yet, especially the "how to" of the mounting of the board
in your EX800 is not in there.

So with that said, it is important that you pre-drill the four
mounting holes before you begin building the board. And you won't know
what size holes to drill until you obtain the standoffs that you need.
In the EX800 it is very important to get the right length of standoffs
because the board has to be mounted at an angle over the top of the
little board with the two trimpots and the MIDI thru board. Too high
and the board will get in the way of the front panel PCB, too low and
it won't clear the little boards.

So I'll make certain that I've got all of the detailed instructions
and pictures up in the online instructions PDF this weekend. So you
could start work on your EX800 but I would not start building the
board itself until I've provided you with the precise details on the
board mounting.

Now regarding all of your questions on the sequencer tranpose features.

Q) will you be able to control this sequence transposition via midi
input in the case of the ex-800?

A) At the moment the Poly 800 transposes via the keyboard. But it is
just a matter of time before I include MIDI. When that is done, then
both the EX800 and Poly 800 will transpose via MIDI.

Q) and when you give a new note input, will it restart the sequence,
or just transpose it wherever it is time wise within the phrase?

A) at the moment, the sequencer just keeps going from wherever it
currently is with the transpose shifting according to the last note
on. But, it could be restarted each time a new note is hit. I'll have
to look into that.

Q) will it output midi so the sequencer can be used with other midi
equipment?

A) If you have the MIDI sequencer transmit set to a channel 1 thru 16
then the sequencer will MIDI transmit the transposed sequencer note
events accordingly. The only problem with that is that you can end up
with stuck notes occurring on your downstream MIDI device because the
sequencer won't send out the note off's required to cancel out any
previously on notes. I haven't actually tried this yet so I will do so
tonight and let you know how it behaves.

Q) how will you load a sequence (sysex, perhaps?)?

A) right now, you just use the sequencer editor as normal but I am
going to add a sysex function to dump and load the sequencer data.
This is just a matter of time. Also, I am looking into having banks of
sequencer data that you can switch the sequencer to. So you could
record say 8 different sequences and use the keyboard to switch from
one to the other. Also, I am definitely going to implement an arpeggiator.

Q) will there be the way cool 'wrap around' effect you get with the
chord function (at least with the internal sound source)?

A) I am not sure what you mean by wrap around effect.

Q) oh yeah. will there be a chord function with the ex-800?

A) Yes! This already exists. If you have a Poly 800 you can set it to
sync mode and it will send out a controller command to the EX800 to
change it to Poly, Chord, Hold or Portamento and sends the chord
memory too. So your EX800 will always be in sync with your Poly 800.
Or you can send a MIDI CC direct to the EX800 to set the mode of the
EX800 and you can send a sysex to set up the chord progression (which
is done on the Poly 800 by using hold mode to select the notes you
want and then switch to chord mode. 

Q) lastly, i made an audio input at the noise source that to my mind
increases the interest potential of this instrument many fold in my
opinion. is there a way you could include this with the second part
of the kit? i think its an appropriate addition while we are making
mods to the filter.

A) I intend to design the second board to include as many
possibilities like this as possible. I will take a note of this
feature and make sure it gets added to the list for the second kit.

At the end of day, quite a few of these features are going to take me
quite a while to implement. As I told my wife last night, who was
(rightly) complaining  "when are you going to be finished Korging
Schmorging!", I replied, "I will probably still be adding more
features two years from now, and perhaps I'll go to my grave still
writing more features". My point is, some of these features will take
a while to get to but I have so much fun adding them that they will
just keep getting added to until I get bored which is not likely. I
just enjoy this too much.

Mike.

So the question was:

Q) will you be able to control this sequence transposition via midi
input in the case of the ex-800?

And my answer this morning was:

A) At the moment the Poly 800 transposes via the keyboard. But it is
just a matter of time before I include MIDI. When that is done, then
both the EX800 and Poly 800 will transpose via MIDI.

And my answer now is:

A) The Poly 800 transposes via the keyboard and you can set the EX800
and Poly 800 to also do sequencer transpose via MIDI. So it is
possible to use any computer, keyboard, MIDI controller etc to control
the sequencer tranpose on both the Poly 800 and the EX800.

I tested it this evening and it works just as we hoped for.

Mike.

As of this evening, the Poly 800 transposes via the keyboard and MIDI
if desired and the EX800 can also do sequencer transposition via MIDI.

Mike.

--- In korgpolyex@yahoogroups.com, "korgpolyex800" <korgpolyex800@...> 
wrote:
>
> Also, I am definitely going to implement an arpeggiator.
> 
>

THAT would be awesome.  As I was reading the Q&A I thought about how 
cool it would be if you could rig a simple arpeggiator into the 
sequencer and then a moment later I came across the answer that you are 
already on top of that!  Be sure to make it syncable to midi beat clock 
if at all possible!