Dave Bryce Posted October 17, 2000 Share Posted October 17, 2000 What I am looking for here is an archive of little known obscure things that synthesizers can do - for example, I used to know how to make my K2000 play Pong...I forget how to do it now...for all I know, the current rev of the software doesn't even have it anymore...anyone remember the button presses for this? Okay, here's a stupid synth trick that I'm pretty sure that I remember correctly. A Roland JX-3P actually had six banks of sounds, not four as it appeared. The other two had some engineering use - you could see the voices firing on six of the patch select buttons in this mode. There were usually some pretty strange sounds in the banks as well. To get to these banks, press D, then 5, then Tape Memory, then 5 and hold it and press Tape Memory again. You're in. the A and B buttons will now select the sounds in the 5th bank, and the C and D buttons will select the sounds in the 6th bank. To exit this mode, press Tape Memory 4 or 5 times. There's all kinds of obscure stuff like this. One synth manufacturer that I know of has the last few notes of the theme from "Pinky and the Brain" embedded (using different instruments) on each of their expansion ROMs...no, really... dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksynths.net Posted October 17, 2000 Share Posted October 17, 2000 Whelp, on my Juno-60 which is a 6 voice polyphonic DCO based synth one can kick it into unison mode by holding down the 'Transpose' button while turning on the machine. Now be sure to hold on to your pants because the bass will rattle your bones! Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 17, 2000 Share Posted October 17, 2000 Originally posted by mark@synths.net: Whelp, on my Juno-60 which is a 6 voice polyphonic DCO based synth one can kick it into unison mode by holding down the 'Transpose' button while turning on the machine. Now be sure to hold on to your pants because the bass will rattle your bones! Cheers, Mark AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH! I did this by accident with my Juno at a gig one time, and it sounded so damn cool, and I didn't know how I did it then and was never able to do it again! Glad you posted this, even though my Juno 60 has been gone for about 15 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted October 17, 2000 Author Share Posted October 17, 2000 Originally posted by mark@synths.net: Whelp, on my Juno-60 which is a 6 voice polyphonic DCO based synth one can kick it into unison mode by holding down the 'Transpose' button while turning on the machine. Now be sure to hold on to your pants because the bass will rattle your bones! Cheers, Mark Excellent. This is exactly the sort of thing that I'm looking for! Thanks, Mark! I actually said (in another thread) that if I remembered correctly, the Juno-60 was a VCO synth. Apparently I didn't remember correctly (d'oh!). Thanks for the correction! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Norlander Posted October 17, 2000 Share Posted October 17, 2000 No "stupid synth tricks" thread would be complete without at least a brief mentioning of the Emu Emax "bird run" function. It was actually labeled on the front panel (along with all the rest of the "real" functions). When you scrolled down to this one and pressed enter, a little animated emu bird would run across the 2x16 display. That was it. Well done, guys. And I also was quite careful to never drop a penguin from an airplane onto my Emax rack. Cheers, Erik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Norlander Posted October 17, 2000 Share Posted October 17, 2000 Now maybe I shouldn't be revealing this, but I can't resist. This forum is just too cool. There is an audio "hi mom" message in all of the Alesis QS synths. At the very end of the sampled sound ROM, each sound designer speaks his name. I forget exactly how you get to it. I think it is something like MIDI note 127 with a velocity of 0 on the woodblock instrument (not the Drum Mode instrument, but the one in Keyboard Mode)which is the last instrument in the ROM. You have to set the keyboard velocity to Maximum in order to hear it, or course. Also, most (if not all) of the QCards will play the theme from the Warner Bros. cartoon "Pinky and the Brain" when you select Card Sequencer 42. Ah, those were the days. Cheers, Erik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted October 28, 2000 Author Share Posted October 28, 2000 So, I'm still hoping that someone remembers how to get the K2000 to play Pong...anybody? Bueller? dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthfoolsynthfool.com Posted October 29, 2000 Share Posted October 29, 2000 The early Roland sampler software had a version of Tetris in it. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthmatic Posted October 29, 2000 Share Posted October 29, 2000 DB, I dug this out of the Synth Zone: How to play a re-creation of the old video game, Pong, on a K2000/K2500: Press the [MASTER] button, then the (UTIL) soft button, then the ( ) empty space soft button and finally, the [sETUP] button. You will see "Welcome to the K2000 game!" Use your data wheel to move your "paddle" to meet the bouncing ball. When you're done, press the [EXIT] button several times to quit. What's also cool about K-Pong is that it actually outputs notes from a MIDI channel depending on the ball's position while you play, so set Channel #16 as the Drum Channel (on the [MASTER] page) and choose a suitable drum program for that channel too! Also, when in doubt try the manufacturers site: http://www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com/html/hidden_functions.html Hope this helps. Dave Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted October 29, 2000 Author Share Posted October 29, 2000 Originally posted by synthfool@synthfool.com: The early Roland sampler software had a version of Tetris in it. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif In which machines - the S-50/S550? How do you access it? dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted October 29, 2000 Author Share Posted October 29, 2000 Originally posted by Synthmatic: Press the [MASTER] button, then the (UTIL) soft button, then the ( ) empty space soft button and finally, the [sETUP] button. You will see "Welcome to the K2000 game!" That's where I thought it was too, but it's not! Master and Utility work correctly, but when I press the empty space, the display fills up with hex strings. Pressing one or two of the soft buttons from this screen gives me some interesting results, including a directory of the user memory, but no Pong! I wonder if they got rid of it in a later version of software... dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthfoolsynthfool.com Posted October 29, 2000 Share Posted October 29, 2000 >The early Roland sampler software had a version of Tetris in it. >In which machines - the S-50/S550? >How do you access it? I don't think it was as dependant on which machine as much as it was version 1 of their software. I don't know the key sequence, but it was a stupidly-long series of keystrokes that invoked what Roland called "Hacker mode" K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthmatic Posted October 31, 2000 Share Posted October 31, 2000 This is for those who own a Moog Memorymoog and have forgotten or lost the combination for the system lock. Press the A, OSC 1 FREQ(in the Modulation section)and OSC 3 Sawtooth buttons at the same time. This resets the system lock combination to 0000. After unlocking it you are free to write over the stored programs. Dave Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvster Posted November 1, 2000 Share Posted November 1, 2000 Erik wrote: No "stupid synth tricks" thread would be complete without at least a brief mentioning of the Emu Emax "bird run" function. Rumor has it that the Emax release was delayed by two weeks because the engineers were so intent on getting this in. Can anyone confirm or deny? SynthFool wrote: The early Roland sampler software had a version of Tetris in it. Yep. I may be mistaken, but I *think* this was S-770 only. And you're right, it was super-convoluted. Something like: Create a blank sample, name it "Dragon," move your mouse cursor down to the bottom right of the monitor until it disappears, double-click, and then you were in Hacker mode and could find Tetris. Actually, it was a really good version as I remember. Marv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted November 2, 2000 Author Share Posted November 2, 2000 Originally posted by Synthmatic: This is for those who own a Moog Memorymoog and have forgotten or lost the combination for the system lock. Press the A, OSC 1 FREQ(in the Modulation section)and OSC 3 Sawtooth buttons at the same time. This resets the system lock combination to 0000. After unlocking it you are free to write over the stored programs. Excellent! This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for - not necessarily a glamorous trick like the K2000 pong or the S770 Tetris http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif, but very useful. Thanks, Dave! Maybe I should've called the thread Helpful Synth Hints? Naaahh...way too Heloise... dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alon Posted November 2, 2000 Share Posted November 2, 2000 Here's a no frills trick for the JX-3P... On the very early models, the synth received midi on all 16 channels (Omni), not very useful... Shut the machine off, Take a Midi Cord, and connect it from the MidiOut of the JX3P to the MidiIN of the JX3P, then power up the Synth... Now connect the midi cords, in your normal fashion... The JX-3P now receives only on CH 1... . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthfoolsynthfool.com Posted November 2, 2000 Share Posted November 2, 2000 Well this isn't a Stupid Synth Trick, but that JX-3P post reminds of something: Some of the PG200 programmers were shipped with a silk screen legend that said "Enverope" Anyone ever see/have one like that? Pesky Rorand company.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted November 3, 2000 Author Share Posted November 3, 2000 Originally posted by Alon: Take a Midi Cord, and connect it from the MidiOut of the JX3P to the MidiIN of the JX3P That reminds me of one! If I remember correctly, connecting the MIDI out to the MIDI in on an original DX7 caused the unit to double trigger sounds with a slight delay, which fattened it up a bit (reduced it to 8 voices, though)... Does anyone else remember this, or is it just some kind of a bizarre flashback on my part? http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/eek.gif dB [This message has been edited by Dave Bryce (edited 11-02-2000).] ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvster Posted November 3, 2000 Share Posted November 3, 2000 If I remember correctly, connecting the MIDI out to the MIDI in on an original DX7 caused the unit to double trigger sounds with a slight delay, which fattened it up a bit (reduced it to 8 voices, though)... Wouldn't that happen with any synth provided Local was on? Marv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Klopmeyer Posted November 3, 2000 Share Posted November 3, 2000 Originally posted by synthfool@synthfool.com: Some of the PG200 programmers were shipped with a silk screen legend that said "Enverope" Anyone ever see/have one like that? Pesky Rorand company.... Slightly off topic... I didn't see the PG200 thing, but a certain Japanese company (ahem) in a reference to their web site actually put out some documentation that read "crick here for more info". So much for "Hooked on Phonics". - Jeff, TASCAM Guy Marketing Communications for MI/Pro Audio My solo music and stuff They Stole My Crayon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted November 3, 2000 Author Share Posted November 3, 2000 Originally posted by Marvster: If I remember correctly, connecting the MIDI out to the MIDI in on an original DX7 caused the unit to double trigger sounds with a slight delay, which fattened it up a bit (reduced it to 8 voices, though)... Wouldn't that happen with any synth provided Local was on? I've only seen it done intentionally with the DX7. I seem to remember it being a relatively well known trick among DX7 owners because it was a quick and easy method to fatten up a synth that was A) a bear to program for most folks and B) really seemed in need of some fattening up - especially for the people who were trying to do brass and analog synth sounds with the DX so it could replace their older gear. dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Wallace Posted November 3, 2000 Share Posted November 3, 2000 Again, slightly off the thread... I guess everyone has heard the tale of the 'Japanese company' who used to send their manuals to Holland to get translated into English (very clever). This sometimes led to a few interpretation problems. There was a classic example which involved the assembly instructions of the stand for one of their electric pianos. These pianos were very popular with churches so it led to an embarrassing situation when the instruction to "screw" leg A into hole A, that accompanied the latest model, got slightly mis - translated into another well known English word (which I shall not repeat here !) Apparently, copies of this instruction manual are highly saught after. Bassment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted November 4, 2000 Share Posted November 4, 2000 Some of the PG200 programmers were shipped with a silk screen legend that said "Enverope" [/b] I'm pretty sure that the PPG Wave 2.2, that I owned for about 6 years, had a function misspelled on the front panel. I also used an Emax for a while; I seem to remember that the "bird run" function had a dedicated front panel button! Talk about saving on "precious" hardware. Manuals: The Rhodes Chroma manual had a section where it explained the "hidden" function obtained with combinations of button presses. It was quite convoluted. It went on and on: this *followed by* that does this, this *followed by* this does that.. and the last entry was... "OVERLOAD followed by HEADACHE". And then they apologized for all that being so complicated! A nice touch of "humanity". Japanese manuals: Don't get me started! I live in Italy, and in the old times the Italian manuals were TRANSLATIONS OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION, and those were often pretty dreadful to begin with...then the Italian translator usually did his best to add to the tragicomic incomprehensibility. But that's how I learned English AND synth programming at the same time! marino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Ventura Posted November 18, 2000 Share Posted November 18, 2000 Once I had a Yamaha SY-85 that knew how to catch a floppy thrown at it in mid-air, load it and spit it out at high-speed against a target on the wall. Max Ventura, Italy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted November 18, 2000 Author Share Posted November 18, 2000 Originally posted by marino: I'm pretty sure that the PPG Wave 2.2, that I owned for about 6 years, had a function misspelled on the front panel. Yep. It says Velosity-Sensor in the Source menu. dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc_dup2 Posted November 20, 2000 Share Posted November 20, 2000 Originally posted by Dave Bryce: That's where I thought it was too, but it's not! Master and Utility work correctly, but when I press the empty space, the display fills up with hex strings. Pressing one or two of the soft buttons from this screen gives me some interesting results, including a directory of the user memory, but no Pong! Hex display is good. Now press "setup" on the left. I have a K2000vp ver 3.54, Pong is still included. Here's some hidden K2x00 functions postet on the KurzList some time ago: To perform a Find/Replace function on some objects in your K2500, go to Master/Object/Name. Select the objects upon which you wish to perform the Replace function. At the "Object Name:" prompt, enter a backslash and the string you wish to find and replace. For example, to replace all instance of the letters "Guitar" with "Gtr", enter /Guitar and hit OK. You will get a "Replace with:" prompt. Enter Gtr and hit OK. There you go. And while you're naming Objects, or anytime you are inputting an object name, check out the Keyboard Naming feature by pressing the Chan/Bank buttons to select the naming mode (Off, On, Adv). Off is... off. On means that all the alphanumeric characters in the K can be entered via the keyboard, and the cursor does not advance with each keypress. Adv means that all the alphanumeric characters can be entered via the keyboard and the cursor advances, as on a typewriter. A#4 is the Backspace key. Both F2 and G6 are the Shift keys, for capitalizing or switching symbols, also as on a typewriter. Both G2 and F6 are Space. The letters a/A through z/Z run from A2 (!) to E6, on the white keys. The black keys from F#2 to D#6 are all the symbols (except for the backspace--the backslash mentioned above is at A#5.) F#6 is equivalent to pressing Enter. Cursor movement keys, as well as Delete and Insert keys, are provided at both extremes of the layout, which runs from C2 to C7. Don't ever, ever, i mean EVER, say that you know everything that your K can do. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif --aakara-- Greetings Marc [This message has been edited by Marc (edited 11-20-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianK Posted December 17, 2000 Share Posted December 17, 2000 JX-3P - There are other ways to get those "voice display" and "extra bank" modes. Power up while holding down one of the 1-16 program buttons. Different numbers create different results... Relax and float downstream... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 Bump! I thought this thread was entertaining and have not seen anything like this in recent years. Are keyboards still being loaded with Easter Eggs or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Talk about resurrecting a dead thread... I remember when the Korg Polysix came out and I was checking it out in a store. This store had some jerks working there and one of them made some snide comment about my playing. Being ever so p!ssed off, I re-programmed every patch in one bank with the filter cutoff all the way down and left the store. My favorite easter egg is the Memorymoog "light show", an LED test routine that looked like the marquee on a movie theater. Between breaks at club gigs I used to leave the "light show" running and when patrons filed in, it really got their attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgoo Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Again, slightly off the thread... I guess everyone has heard the tale of the 'Japanese company' who used to send their manuals to Holland to get translated into English (very clever). This sometimes led to a few interpretation problems. There was a classic example which involved the assembly instructions of the stand for one of their electric pianos. These pianos were very popular with churches so it led to an embarrassing situation when the instruction to "screw" leg A into hole A, that accompanied the latest model, got slightly mis - translated into another well known English word (which I shall not repeat here !) Apparently, copies of this instruction manual are highly saught after. Bassment ah yes, that would be the Yamaha CP-70 I believe. Custom Music, Audio Post Production, Location Audio www.gmma.biz https://www.facebook.com/gmmamusic/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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