Re: SonikSynth2 - concerns/help with your Karma...

Hi Rob,
   Dorian has provided a few answers to your questions and 
concerns.  I can understand your position.  Way back in my intial 
days with the Karma, I did very much what you did.  The sequencer 
was a mystery to me and forgetting to save to disk really pissed me 
off.  However, I didn't stay in that mode very long. I'm not one to 
just play with the presets on any synth, so I dug deeper into the 
Maroon Monster.  I did so with manual in hand right at the 
keyboard.  I copied out the FAQ and tutorials and took them to the 
keyboard as well. In addition, knowing that I could easily restore 
the factory settings, I decided to experiment with designing new 
combis and programs. I learned from my mistakes and my successes.

I'm not a master of Karma yet, but I've come a long way from the 
beginning. It was my willingness to take risks and to plug away at 
my learning. And through all the late nights and frustrating 
sessions, I can say it's been worth it all the way.

Initially, your learning will seem like it's moving at worse than a 
snail's pace.  Then, you stumble on to something, either through 
following the forums or rereading the manuals or by serendipity and 
you begin to make quantum leaps with your advances.  Some of my 
early clients have tracked the effectiveness of my programming from 
the beginning to today.  It's no secret that I am putting out a much 
better product because I have learned a hell of lot.  And I continue 
to learn. It came with a price - time, committment, risk, and 
patience.

I have quite an array of equipment in my studio, but it's the Karma 
that commands most of my attention and joy.  My investment has paid 
for itself, not so much in the monetary sense but in the intrinsic 
value of accomplishment and creation.  It can be done.

Have you opened and read the tutorials?  There are a number of them 
that take you right to the basic essential steps to get what you're 
looking for.  Check back at the links to these that I provided.  The 
answers are there.

Here are a few suggestions for putting your own signature to a combi.

1.  Change the tempo.  This simple act can alter the character of a 
combi quite easily.  It can take a fast paced rave combi and turn it 
into an urban pop riff.
2.  Substitute different programs within a favorite combi.  Just 
open the Prog Tab F2, then scroll down to the program you wish to 
change. Have your Voice Name List manual handy for this. The first 
place to start might be to change the drum program.  Then go on to 
the lead part.
3.  Change the KARMA MODULE GEs. The Voice Name List has these 
already categorized for you.  Again, start with the Drum Module: Hit 
KARMA Tab F4, locate the Drum GE, then type in (using the numeric 
keypad) a Drum Pattern (see p. 25 of the VNL).
4. Continue in the same fashion to alter the pads, basses etc. 

Continue experimenting in the above manner, BUT DON'T FORGET TO 
WRITE to an empty location; and above all, SAVE TO DISK.

Now, as for my collections or freebies, just make sure that you back 
up your own work.  Always keep copies of the 3rd party PCGs in two 
locations - your computer hard drive in specified folder(s) and on 
floppy disk. The latter is a must for swapping files.  This is 
something that you can get used to very easily.  I have tons of in 
progress PCGs that I need to swap from time to time.  The procedure 
is easy to learn.  In addition, try to learn how to load a single 
program or combi at a time instead of overwriting banks.  Finally, 
try to keep one combi bank location free for writing or compiling 
your own favorites.  I use Banks C, D or F (you can store combis in 
this bank if you don't have EXB MOSS).

Hope that helps for now.
Cheers,
Eric,
+------------------------------------------------+
+ EJ2 BLOG - http://spaces.msn.com/members/EJ2/  +
+------------------------------------------------+

--- In [email protected], Dorian Mars <dorianmars@e...> 
wrote:
> on 7/1/05 9:45 AM, Robb at rburn1@c... wrote:
> 
> > I also am finding the karma quite difficult to create songs on. 
Actually I
> > have never been able to and have given up trying. I used to have 
a VFX-SD
> > and I could record songs very easily on it. Push the button 
marked Track 1
> > (or 2 or..), push record, and play. Also whatever you were 
working on was
> > always there when you turned it back on. The karma loses 
everything you were
> > doing when the power goes off. It can keep the sounds in the 
banks so why
> > couldn't it keep the songs you are working on too? I bought the 
Karma
> > because the combi effects, runs, whatever were so cool. But I'm 
not a lounge
> > lizard so I can't use them when playing with others. What I 
need/want out of
> > a keyboard are to be able to add a sound (violin, breathy, 
organ, etc) when
> > playing in a group and to create multi track songs in my spare 
time. Perhaps
> > the Karma isn't the right tool for this? Anyone have any helpful 
feedback?
> 
> 1. maybe you should try http://www.karma-lab.com/forum
> this is where stephen kay (karma designer) and a lot of karma 
owners have
> gone.
> 
> 2. are you using karma os 2.0? it has a feature called "auto song 
setup"
> that makes it pretty easy to take any combi or program and copy it 
into the
> sequencer for instant recording.
> 
> 3. there's nothing difficult about saving a song to a floppy disk, 
and
> reloading it when you turn the unit back on. i think every karma 
owner
> should learn how to do this simple task.
> 
> - dorian -




 
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