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Stupid Synth Tricks


Dave Bryce

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this kinda qualifies, but not really. I used to work music retail. When the Roland JD-800 came out I loved showing how easy it was to program it to anyone willing to listen. I got a kick out of setting the key range to -100, which would reverse the direction of the keyboard. I'd then play some Bach on it because it would work.... it would sound quite different (majors became minor) but it would still work. I remember reading about Zawinul improvising with a reversed kbd scale on his ARP 2600. I'm sure his use of the the effect was much more interesting than mine. :P

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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?

 

Easter eggs mean they could've spent that time to squash bugs, which are probably far more prevalent. Also, it's an undocumented feature, and every line of code is one too many (this sounds weird until you realize that every line of code can contain bugs).

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I remember reading about Zawinul improvising with a reversed kbd scale on his ARP 2600. I'm sure his use of the the effect was much more interesting than mine. :P

 

Black Market's theme has been composed casually on a reversed keyboard and you can see in live W.R.'s dvd's how it was still played that way.

Guess the Amp

.... now it's finished...

Here it is!

 

 

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Here's a few tricks for the Triton, from the Tritonhaven website. At boot-up, press:

 

[Enter]+[0]: resets all the memory (blanks progs and combis)

[Enter]+[2] or [Enter]+[3]: self-test mode. You have to connect midi in to out to see "MIDI OK". Use [start/Stop] [REW] [FFW] to progress through the tests.

[Enter]+[9]: gives more info about the OS. For example, an OS 2.0 gives:

Triton Version 2.0.0B80

date february 22 2000

core Version 2.0.0B80

preset Version 1.0.3

[Enter]+[Locate]: Starts OS upgrade

[Menu]+[9] during 15 seconds: initialize memory.

[Menu]+[1]: changes boot screen to "Triton Pro"

[Menu]+[2]: changes boot screen to "Triton ProX"

[Menu]+[3]: changes boot screen to "Triton"

 

Kinda fun, even though they are not really that useful.

 

DRD

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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

 

In the K2600 series, go into the search string, and type 'game'.

 

Have you hit the panic button on your PC3 yet? (obviously Chuckers has...) :thu:

ivorycj

 

Main stuff: Yamaha CP88 | Korg Kronos 2 73 | Kurzweil Forte 7 | 1898 Steinway I

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  • 4 years later...
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?

 

Easter eggs mean they could've spent that time to squash bugs, which are probably far more prevalent. Also, it's an undocumented feature, and every line of code is one too many (this sounds weird until you realize that every line of code can contain bugs).

 

Well, we are still speaking about easter eggs for instruments of the 80s, right ?

So, on the communication/marketing side, i would consider it a premium feature of a keyboard (seriously :).

 

Maurizio

Nord Wave 2, Nord Electro 6D 61,, Rameau upright,  Hammond Pro44H Melodica.

Too many Arturia, NI and AAS plugins

http://www.barbogio.org/

https://barbogio.bandcamp.com/follow_me

 

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