SK-1 and 2 Tips, Tricks and Other Cool Stuff.

[hatricklov]

I use a standard fatar-type piano sustain pedal (it's the model used by almost any brand that doesn't manufacture its own pedals)

http://www.fatar.com/pages/VFP1.htm

works flawlessly without having to dig into any menu, and yes it's way better than a foot switch.

 

I think your problems depend on the settings of your SK, not on the pedal itself.

First you have to set the sustain pedal on/off for every part (organ upper manual, organ lower, organ pedal, extra voices). Go to the "Control" menu, in the "damper" section.

 

As for the sustained-stopped notes, are you sure you're connecting the pedal to the right input, that is, the "damper" jack?

If you connect it to the "foot switch" you can have all kinds of behaviours because the foot switch functions can be deeply edited, but the damper input should only work for sustain.

 

Thanks for the suggestion about Fatar. They're sure hard to find online, though... the only place I'm seeing their products so far is Amazon.

 

I agree it's likely a setting thing. I did see the menu to turn it on for the upper/lower/pedal organ and extra voices parts, so I'm good there. I'm in the correct jack for sure. I did TRY the footswitch jack afterwards to experiment, but went back to the damper jack.

 

Can you check the pedal to determine if it is a normally closed momentary switch? It is working as if you are holding the pedal closed and then releasing it. The SKs expect a normally open switch that closes when you step on it.

 

Yes, I believe what I have is a Roland DP-10.

 

If the pedal is plugged in before power up, the SK should detect what type it is. I have a Kurzweil double pedal I use for Leslie and sustain triggering, and also use a Roland DP2 once in a while, and they are opposite (one normal open ,one normal closed) and I never have to adjust any settings for it.

 

Maybe THIS is the issue... I don't recall that I was plugged in prior to turning on. This will be the first thing I try out tonight besides double-checking the menu settings, but I'm thinking I should be good there.

 

Thanks for all of the tips and feedback!

[hatricklov]

Plugging in the sustain/damper pedal prior to turning on the SK-1 made all the difference. Everything else I had set up was fine. Thanks again, fellas!

[hatricklov]

[video:youtube]

 

Going back to page 120 of this thread, gotta question for B3halt (sent you a pm too)... what kind of stand/setup are you using for your Vent and mixer in your video?

[Pa Gherkin]

Quick question regarding the SK internal Leslie sim. Probably covered in the preceding zillion pages but damned if I could find it. Trying to see how close to the Vent I can get the internal sim to sound. Question:Can upper and lower mic distances be set seperately? So far I haven't found a way. When I get a nice close miced sound on the upper,the lower roter gives me too much wowowow. Nature of the beast or is there a way around it? Of course,the OD will never equal that of the Vent. Thanks in advance for any insights.

[jpgxk3]

No, the mic distance is not separate as far as I know, but you can raise or lower the horn level and the lower rotor level independently of each other. Maybe that will get you in the zone. Also try setting up the eq levels and TC levels.

[Aussie_Chicago]

[video:youtube]

 

Going back to page 120 of this thread, gotta question for B3halt (sent you a pm too)... what kind of stand/setup are you using for your Vent and mixer in your video?

 

Not sure what stand hes using but it looks like hes using a music stand that's angled almost flat to hold the mixer / vent. I do the exact same thing , holds the vent , mixer , and any effect pedals , I have mine off to my left so I can change settings as needed. Works well, get a decent quality music stand and your all set !

[hatricklov]

Quick question regarding the SK internal Leslie sim. Probably covered in the preceding zillion pages but damned if I could find it. Trying to see how close to the Vent I can get the internal sim to sound. Question:Can upper and lower mic distances be set seperately? So far I haven't found a way. When I get a nice close miced sound on the upper,the lower roter gives me too much wowowow. Nature of the beast or is there a way around it? Of course,the OD will never equal that of the Vent. Thanks in advance for any insights.

 

Although the manual is cryptic to me and I have to read pages a couple times to absorb things sometimes, it looks like the settings for Leslie parameters are explained on page 84-85. #19 looks like it refers to a mic distance setting, but it doesn't appear to distinguish between upper/lower.

 

http://hammondorganco.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/OM-SKseries.pdf

 

Not sure what stand hes using but it looks like hes using a music stand that's angled almost flat to hold the mixer / vent. I do the exact same thing , holds the vent , mixer , and any effect pedals , I have mine off to my left so I can change settings as needed. Works well, get a decent quality music stand and your all set!

 

Thanks for the input. I was hoping for something with a bit less profile than a music stand, but that may be what it comes to. I thought it was worth starting another topic to get input since this is getting out of the realm of the SK1, so the link to that is here:

 

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2706179#Post2706179

[snakehips81]

Hi there !

 

Change of topic for a minute !

 

I had a gig this afternoon at the Edinburgh Jazz&Blues Festival. (Scotland, UK).

 

We were the 2nd of three bands on.

 

After we finished playing, there was the usual clamber to get all our gear off the stage (15 minute change-over time)

 

As I loaded my SK2 into my flight case, I noticed a screw missing from the top of the keyboard.

 

It was the left-most large Philips-head screw and washer - one that holds down the whole control panel.

 

As the final band were doing final set-up before starting to play, I had a mad-scramble on the floor of the stage to try and find the screw.

 

One of the stage guys found the washer and luckily I then found the screw about 5mins later.

 

My SK2 has not been gigged heavily and has a very good protecting flight case, so I have no idea why this screw could have loosened off so easily. The screw is quite short, so I suppose it doesn't need to unscrew much, before it falls out.

 

Just thought you SK series owners will want to know this and check that none of you guys end up a "screw loose" !!!!?!!

 

 

[DenCV]

Yep, I have one missing on my SK1, not sure when I even lost it. I now check them regularly. ANother thing I've noticed, if you carry it in a gig bag, or lean on it while working drawbars, that metal bends down over time. If you notice some buttons, like the leslie switching for instance doesn't seem to work unless you really push it, then a note sounds, it's because the metal bent. Pull it up a bit and you're good to go for a while longer. This could be a potential problem though as the metal weakens.

 

[CharlieH2]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the informative discussions.

I am thinking of getting the SK2. I now have an Xk1 and play left hand bass by splitting the keyboard and sending pedal Midi to a bass Module that goes to its own Bass amp. The organ sound goes to a Leslie 147.

With the SK2 I understand that the organ voices can go out the 8 pin connector to the Leslie and the extra voices will go out the 1/4" jacks. Do you know if I upload the "P Bass" voice, can I get it to come out the 1/4" jack instead of the Leslie and assign it to the split bottom keyboard?

Thanks

[JohnSC]

You can assign P-bass to the lower manual on the Sk2 and send the signal to the 1/4-inch jacks. But the lower manual on the Sk2 does not split like the single-manual Sk1.

[CharlieH2]

Thanks John

[garnermike]

My SK1 was purchased in July 2011, and it now has over 400 gigs on it. Once, in 2013 (at about 200 gigs), a screw fell out of the bottom. I fortunately found it and screwed it back in. I also noticed that quite a few of the screws on the SK1 were not tight. So every 6 months or so, I tighten them all up.

[JohnSC]

The stand looks like the Roland laptop stand I use:

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SSPC1

[keyskat]

Background:I went from neo-vent original footswitch and bypassing the vent manually when I need the extra sounds to...next I made two roll your own leslie out to vent in cables...the first cable lasted 2 years before it failed, I am no soldering ace. The second cable I made still works for audio but the speed adjustment got wonky...It still will turn on the vent fast but when I turn it off from the sk-1(chorale) it goes to stop.This has lead me to a rather expensive but ultimately rewarding solution for leslie speed control The Ashby solutions Gigger switch for neo and sk-1,pricey but sweet...It is not pretty but I just mounted it with some extreme 10lb velcro from HD and I am loving it!Now to make a back up audio only leslie cable for the vent...

Be aware the gigger is taller than the sk-1's rail so I mounted the box flush with the rail letting it hang down below the sk1's bottom plate about a 1/2"... the lowest c thru f are still playable and since it comes off should be no problem in the case,might even try to leave it on.

[DanL]

Tech/troubleshooting question:

 

Recently, when I power on the SK, the display shows no characters. It's lit, but no letters/numbers. If I power it off and on, most of the time it'll fix it. Yesterday, it didn't work and and one point had a bunch of garbled stuff on the screen. Power cycled again, and the display was blank as before. Everything else works fine- no issues with it playing, just the blank display. I was able to do my sets because I have my go to sounds on the favorites buttons and everything else is called up via a program change from my FA08.

 

Anyone seen an issue like this? Any ideas on troubleshooting it?

[Aidan]

It looks like I've accidentally turned on that feature which retains the top drawbar combos no matter what preset you go to.

 

While it's an interesting and potentially useful feature for some of my gigs, I cannot for the life of me find the right place to turn it back off again. Can someone point me in the right direction, please?

[JMcS]

Look in the Patch Menu (Menu Page A, PG. 76).

 

Good luck.

[Aidan]

Thanks JMcS sorted!

[hatricklov]

I've been looking through my SK1, the manual and the voice libraries from Hammond's website... am I correct that there isn't a basic Piano+Strings patch?! *facepalm

 

Long story, granted I'm not gigging currently, but I do get my performing fix by accompanying my kids' school's choir for their Christmas and Spring programs. This year, the Christmas program/play has a baseball game theme to it (don't ask me how) and the music teacher suggested doing some ballpark organ sounds and effects.

 

YES! So I get super-excited to drag out the SK1 and the Vent and rock the chapel with Charge and all the other crazy baseball organ riffs, and I even dialed up a great organ sound with nice reverb that I like... all prior to getting the music copy. Yesterday, I was going through all ten songs and reality check sets in that I'll obviously have to do some basic Piano and Piano+Strings stuff for the traditional songs, no big deal. But then I look for a Piano+Strings patch and can't find one... look on the website and am not finding a library. Seriously?!?

 

Someone please tell me I'm wrong and it's right under my nose, or there's a way to somehow mix piano and strings patches that I'm overlooking. I'm still learning the ins and outs of the SK1. Thanks in advance!

[Polkahero]

There is no way to mix the stock piano and string patches together in the SK but there is a Piano+Strings patch in one of the extra voice libraries that are available for free on Hammond's website. Only caveat is you can't adjust the level between both voices, it's fixed.

 

This leads me to another question. Is it possible to adjust the ADSR envelope for individual patches in the SK series? For certain songs I play the SK strings soloed while I play acoustic piano on my Kawai MP7. It works great for chords/pads but the attack isn't sharp enough for more intricate lines. My SK1 lives at my band's rehearsal space so I can't dive into it right now to see if there are parameters that can be adjusted.

[JMcS]

Is it possible to adjust the ADSR envelope for individual patches in the SK series? For certain songs I play the SK strings soloed while I play acoustic piano on my Kawai MP7. It works great for chords/pads but the attack isn't sharp enough for more intricate lines.

 

What may help is to bump the Velocity Offset value up some. It can be fairly hard to generate a high velocity value on the SK's and the VO adds a value to the generated value. This can really help bring out the attack and other harmonics. (Pg. 78 #24, Menu Pg. A:Control)

[Polkahero]

Is it possible to adjust the ADSR envelope for individual patches in the SK series? For certain songs I play the SK strings soloed while I play acoustic piano on my Kawai MP7. It works great for chords/pads but the attack isn't sharp enough for more intricate lines.

 

What may help is to bump the Velocity Offset value up some. It can be fairly hard to generate a high velocity value on the SK's and the VO adds a value to the generated value. This can really help bring out the attack and other harmonics. (Pg. 78 #24, Menu Pg. A:Control)

 

Thanks for the help. Is this a global parameter or can this be adjusted on a patch by patch basis?

[hatricklov]

There is no way to mix the stock piano and string patches together in the SK but there is a Piano+Strings patch in one of the extra voice libraries that are available for free on Hammond's website. Only caveat is you can't adjust the level between both voices, it's fixed.

Thanks, Polkahero... found it! I'll load it up and try it out.

[JMcS]

Is it possible to adjust the ADSR envelope for individual patches in the SK series? For certain songs I play the SK strings soloed while I play acoustic piano on my Kawai MP7. It works great for chords/pads but the attack isn't sharp enough for more intricate lines.

 

What may help is to bump the Velocity Offset value up some. It can be fairly hard to generate a high velocity value on the SK's and the VO adds a value to the generated value. This can really help bring out the attack and other harmonics. (Pg. 78 #24, Menu Pg. A:Control)

 

Thanks for the help. Is this a global parameter or can this be adjusted on a patch by patch basis?

 

It is a System parameter so it is just set once. It pretty much is intended to be set to match ones usual playing style to the velocity measurement of the processor and then leave enough room for personal touch while playing. Basically you tweak it so that when you hit keys as hard as you want to for full velocity it will generate a full velocity value.

[Steeplemouth]

Tech/troubleshooting question:

 

Recently, when I power on the SK, the display shows no characters. It's lit, but no letters/numbers. If I power it off and on, most of the time it'll fix it. Yesterday, it didn't work and and one point had a bunch of garbled stuff on the screen. Power cycled again, and the display was blank as before. Everything else works fine- no issues with it playing, just the blank display. I was able to do my sets because I have my go to sounds on the favorites buttons and everything else is called up via a program change from my FA08.

 

Anyone seen an issue like this? Any ideas on troubleshooting it?

 

This happens to my SK1 in the summer and I think it is caused by the organ overheating. I live in Perth, Australia and it gets up into the 40s during the summer and I don't have air con so my house is like an oven. I've never had this problem during winter, only when the weather is hot.

[DanL]

I don't think that's the problem, because it happened here again a couple weeks ago and it's not hot at all. What I found is if I leave it on the display will suddenly come on. Other times it will have gibberish on the screen- slash marks and other characters all over the place. Again, it will reset itself.

[hatricklov]

Does anyone know if it's possible to get a service manual for the SK1?

 

I've got an issue I'm trying to sort out and fix with the 8-pin Leslie jack/connection...

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2730962/1

 

Alternatively, the closest Hammond service center is 3 hours away, so I'm also looking for someone or a business that could possibly do the repair near Denver, CO. Anyone on the forum have a tech they know of that they use in Denver?

[hatricklov]

BTW, got my issue with the 8-pin Leslie jack resolved. However, I'm now having an issue with the drawbars and saving favorites.

 

Occasionally when I slide the drawbars, they don't change accordingly nor do they update their respective position on the display. I'm seeing this mostly with the top three drawbars, 1 3/5', 1 1/3', and 1'. Their position will update intermittently while sliding them. Sometimes power-cycling the board will fix it, but not always. Does anyone else have this happen on their SK-1?

 

As a result of the above behavior, I thought I'd just save a couple of different favorites with the different drawbar settings, right? Wrong. When I went to save changes to the second patch, both patches were overwritten. It's as if the voices are referenced by name (which were the same) instead of the favorite location number. I backed up my work, did a factory reset, tried again and made sure the names were different and it still couldn't separate/distinguish my drawbar settings... both favorite locations were the same.

 

Has anyone else seen or had these issues?

[JMcS]

BTW, got my issue with the 8-pin Leslie jack resolved. However, I'm now having an issue with the drawbars and saving favorites.

 

Occasionally when I slide the drawbars, they don't change accordingly nor do they update their respective position on the display. I'm seeing this mostly with the top three drawbars, 1 3/5', 1 1/3', and 1'. Their position will update intermittently while sliding them. Sometimes power-cycling the board will fix it, but not always. Does anyone else have this happen on their SK-1?

 

As a result of the above behavior, I thought I'd just save a couple of different favorites with the different drawbar settings, right? Wrong. When I went to save changes to the second patch, both patches were overwritten. It's as if the voices are referenced by name (which were the same) instead of the favorite location number. I backed up my work, did a factory reset, tried again and made sure the names were different and it still couldn't separate/distinguish my drawbar settings... both favorite locations were the same.

 

Has anyone else seen or had these issues?

 

 

Check how you have Favorite Access (Pg. 76 #12) set. You may have it set to Associate so both Favorites Buttons are calling up the same Patch. Locked 1 - 10 may work better or what you are trying to do.