By: Yash Respond to: Chitren_Indre Nursingh -------------------------------------------------------------------- K2000 Programming, PART I -------------------------- Intro. ------ 0. RTM 4 basic operations. 1. Experiment. Edit programs u like. Change keymaps, algorithms... Hear, feel the effects b4 analysing them. 2. Dissect the K2k programs available in rom and better still, the ones on ftp sites and the ones commercially available. That'll give you valuable insight as to what the pros are using. 3. No limits. If u conform to just what everybody tells u, you'll be missing singular experiences. e.g: where the manual tells u it's best 2 use a 50% wet setting at effects, bypass that. Try 100% and hear what that does to some of your sounds. 4. Think different. What makes the K2k's acoustic sounds so realistic? High quality samples, of course. But not just any kind of samples. MULTI - samples. So we know multi-sampling is better than sampling just a note and spreading it across the whole keyboard. Do exactly that on some samples and see what u come up with, preferably with analog sounds. Examine keymap Sawtooth. It's made up of several samples. Choose one of them and spread it across the whole keyboard. Then start processing with the alg. of your choice. 5. Those parts of the manual which seem daunting to you at first, go ahead and read them. Say 4 ex, until now, u've told yourself "all right, I probably don't need to know about the ENVCTL and ASR right now. Let alone the FUNS. I'll read about them l8er." Go check that and use them on a sound u like. 6. Realise that by changing alg, u r really using a different synthesizer. More correctly, u r using a different synth architecture. Thus the sonic results will be different. Inside the K2k, u r in fact constructing a synthesizer. View the K2k as a synth which lets you build other synths, stacks of other synths. This may sound metaphysical. It is . By realising the power at your hands you will really enjoy programming the beast. Once u've contructed your own synthesizer - i.e. once u've selected an algorithm and chosen your own components (DSP functions), u can choose to explore its possibilities. 7. If u want to program your own sound, it can help to think in terms of frequency. Say you want a clear sound, High frequency is what comes to mind. Thus an algorithm with a hipass filter will help carve your sample or oscillator tone to your liking. BUT don't just do as I say, this is just a guide. Try other things: non-linear additive DSP functions such as SHAPER and WRAP may also help. Experiment. OTOH if u need a dark sound, think Low frequency. Think Filter. What do the Oberheims and Moogs use? 12db and 24db Lopass with resonance, right? U can do that, of course. Good. Can do more. Read #4 again. Think different. Try an alg which lets u use 3 single-pole Lopass filters. U get 18db. Plus, push the idea to the limits. Try something no synth manufacturer tries in their machines: vary the cutoff freq of the 3 filters independently for example. 8. Synth-Guru V. Clarke says : "spread your manufacturers". Meaning, get different synths so as to tap each one's singularity and thus make your sound unique. What do I do? I use, abuse VAST. Each alg has its special uniqueness. Blend different algs. Mix different sound synthesis techniques. Merge analog with digital. Add an oscillator tone to a sample. Emulate other synths. Read other manufacturers' specs. Watch out for their architecture and try to do that on the K2k just to get a feel of the possibilities. No other affordable synth lets u do this much. 9. Even if u r into analog/electronic sounds, try programming acoustic sounds. This will force u 2 use a maximum number of the parameters and control sources of the K2k. The techniques u learn thus can help make your sound unique if u apply them to electronic sounds. 10. "Throw Off Your Mental Chains" - Howard Jones. Don't just do as I say. Try everything. Don't say "this might not work" and let it lie. Try it. If it does not work, u might get an idea about something else in the process. Which is the reason to be of this post.