We spent our last session looking at high-level adjustments to K1v (and by extension K1) patches. In this post, we’ll look at K1v Common Section parameters in detail to determine what we have in our toolbox to work with. As mentioned before, there isn’t a ton of horsepower in the K1v sound engine, but there are some unique possibilities to combined the 256 waveforms in new ways to synthesize new sounds.
It’s all too common…
In this article, we will examine the K1v Common section in each patch. There’s a very convenient feature at the top of the K1v window – the voice architecture diagram. Looking at this, we see the common section parameters affect all four sources (oscillators) equally in a patch. Parameters such as the Volume, LFO Shape and Speed, and Amplitude Modulation (AM) settings are all here – let’s walk through them one-by-one.
NAME
The first parameter we encounter in the upper left corner of the K1v Common section is the NAME parameter. In K1v, you click in the NAME field area and begin typing to change the name of the patch.
LFO SHAPE & SPEED
Moving across the top of the EDIT COMMON section, we can change the LFO SHAPE to one of four shapes and assign its SPEED. The four LFO Shapes are: TRI, SAW, SQUARE, and RANDOM. Program the LFO speed as a percentage of maximum speed, from 0 to 100%. Note that 0% is not equal to turning the LFO off.
VOLUME
You can program the Volume from 1-100%, there is no zero (0), or “off” equivalent.
COMMON
Poly Mode
There are three polyphony modes in a K1v patch – POLY 1, POLY 2, and SOLO. Ha, ha, ha … SOLO (sorry, Star Wars joke here). SOLO should be self-explanatory, but just in case it isn’t – it’s a monophonic mode. Hold a note, play another, the sound changes from the first pitch to the second. One nice subtlety of the K1 implementation is that when you release the second note, the pitch reverts to the first note played, provided that it is still held. There is no portamento, sadly.
As far as the difference between POLY 1 and POLY 2, I can tell no difference in the K1v implementation. An explanation of the difference is in the Kawai K1 manual. In POLY 1 on the Kawai K1, if a note is decaying and a second instance of the same note is played, the first note is ended and replaced with the second note, thus using only one voice of polyphony – much like a physical piano. In POLY 2, the first occurence of the note continues to decay, and another voice of polyphony is used to play the second note.
I found the implementations of the two voice modes the same in K1v. I created a voice with a long release time, then first played a maximum velocity note, followed by a low velocity note. Of course, I had velocity sensitivity enabled in the modulation section. In both modes, the original, louder note continued to play while the softer one was added. Even in best practice, the difference between the two modes would be subtle, so it’s really not a big deal in my mind.
Sources
There are two settings for “Sources,” either “4” or “2”. “4” allows four sources, or oscillators, to play for each note received. “2” allows two to play, and doubles the polyphony, or the number of notes that can be played at once. In the case of K1v, it’s 8-note polyphony for 4 sources in a patch, 16-note polyphony for 2 sources in a patch.
AM S1/S2 and AM S3/S4
This parameter enables AM, or Amplitude Modulation, between Source 1 and Source 2. Program either S2 > S1 where the modulation source, S2, affects S1, or vice versa. What is Amplitude Modulation? The short answer is that the waveforms are multiplied together to create a harmonically rich result – in AM’s case, it is more like waveform distortion than anything else. We’ll dive into AM in a later post and figure out how to maximize it’s value then.
If you are using 4 sources, you can program AM between S3 and S4, just as above.
KS Curve
Select the Keyboard Scaling modulation curve to use for AUTOBEND time in the COMMON section as well as Source volume Level, Envelope Time, and Freq. Below is a scan from the K1 manual that indicates the shape of each curve availa
Vibrato Wheel
This parameter allows you to route the Mod Wheel to either the LFO output amout (Depth) or Speed.
MODULATIONS
Modulations are the settings that scale modulation source outputs – Vibrato Depth is the LFO routed to Pitch regardless of the Mod Wheel position. The Mod Wheel adds to this pre-programmed amount. You can also scale the response to Pressure routed to Vibrato through Pressure > Vibrato.
Pressure > Freq is a bipolar parameter that alters pitch when pressure information is received either up or down. Finally, you may also set a Pitch Bend response Rangefrom -0 to 12 (1 Octave). As a side observation, I don’t understand the graphic representation of this parameter – why it shows 50% of the circle green when programmed to zero, and none circle green when programmed to 6. Odd.
AUTOBEND
Okay, I’ll admit it – this parameter mainly has me stumped with regard to its functionality. I’ve only gotten it to work predictably in Solo Mode for the patch. I would expect this parameter to take the programmed Time to travel from the Programmed bipolar Depth, either -50 or +50, when a MIDI Note event is received. In other words, when the note is received, in the case of -50, start at a pitch below the MIDI pitch and take the programmed Time to ramp the pitch to the MIDI Note. This is how it works in Solo.
How it works in the Poly Modes is unpredictable to be honest – at least in my experience. It sometimes works on some notes as described above, but on other notes it does nothing. Try it your self – if you find a way to make it work in Poly 1 or Poly 2, please drop me a note and tell me what you did.
The Vel > Depth parameter scales the amount of Autobend by the received velocity, and the KS > > Time parameter scales the time it takes to reach its “target” pitch according to the KS shape and amount programmed. This parameters, in my experience are also unpredictable, but probably because the core AUTOBEND is dodgy for me.
Closing the Hood …
That’s our exploration of the K1v Common Section for a patch on Nils K1v for this time. We’ve got more K1v sound editing parmeters ahead of us. In the meantime, SoundEngine continues to share knowledge and information about great synthesis topics so that you can make the most of your creative time in your studio – whether in a bedroom corner, a basement, or a garage. We hold that you’ll continue to join us on our road trip.
If you want to keep up with everything we’re doing with the K1v – consider signing up for our K1v Mailing list – we’ll updated you with new posts, free sounds, and more “Master Mechanic” programming tips. Next time, we’ll be looking at the editing parameters in the “Source” pages, one-by-one. Until then, thank you for reading!
Resources
- SoundEngine’s K1v Owner’s Manual Start Page:
- The K1v plug-in:
- K1 Wikipedia Page:
- SoundEngine’s Pro Select: K1 (100% compatible with K1v)
- SoundEngine’s Rebuild: K1 (Mostly compatible with K1v)
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