I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – we enjoy Nils’ K1v VST a lot. It’s a spot-on recreation of the class Kawai K1 / K1m / K1r synthesizer, first released in 1988. Despite its diminutive feature set, I’m still a fan of the sounds that can be wrung out of this VST. It’s got 256 ultra-short waveforms, and despite not having digital or analog filters, clever programming can produce some pretty cool sounds. Nils has implemented a very close emulation in at VST. The beauty, though, is that because it’s a VST, he had some flexibility and capability to enhance the feature set. So, beyond adding effects in your DAW to this little VST synth, there’s more that can be done – even more than can be done on a hardware K1. Let’s take a look at turbo boosting K1v in a DAW.
Background
When I started delving into K1v and understanding programming capabilities, I soon found its limitations. They are exactly the same as those in the Kawai K1 – no effects, no filters, limited modulation matrix. In spite of this, I think I’ve made the case in the K1v Owner’s Manual series of articles that if one is thoughtful and clever, some neat stuff can come of programming K1v. Creative limitation is a well-known concept, and for me, K1v can offer limits through its feature set, making it a great platform for learning new synth programming practices. So while K1v is restricted in its synthesis capabilities, just like the Kawai K1, Nils added a feature that isn’t visible on the surface, but adds a ton of potential under the hood.
In writing another post for this series, I was looking at what MIDI Controllers the Kawai K1 responded to – just to see how I could route knobs on my MIDI controller into the engine. The answer? Not many, as you can see, and for the most part, Nils has faithfully recreated this dearth of MIDI Control options in K1v.
→ → → Except for three very nice controller implementations.
Nils Rules
There are three additional MIDI Controllers that K1v responds to, which the Kawai K1 family does not. First, K1v responds to the MIDI Pan (#10 – 0A Hex) controller. This means that panning a K1v sound using a MIDI Controller automation track in your DAW can be done mid-song. Very handy, and the result can be interesting, adding some sonic ear candy to a mix. Remember that when using this controller, 0 is hard Left and 127 is hard Right. A value of 64 is the Center position. More important than the pan controller routing to Pan are two other controllers – their ability to receive MIDI Control can help us wrench the most we can out of K1v.
What are these controllers that work in tandem? General Purpose Controllers #1 and #2 – controller numbers 16 and 17. These MIDI controllers, in Nils K1v, are routed into the K1v Joystick. General Purpose (GP) #1 is routed to the X-Axis controller, and GP #2 is routed to the Y-Axis. This allows us to control the mix of the four K1v sources in real time using a physical MIDI controller and/or an automation track.
Why it’s Better than the K1 itself
On the Kawai K1, you could play notes, then grab the joystick (the K1m also had one) and change the mix of the waveforms during playback. Over MIDI, however, you could not to this. So, if you wanted to dynamically change the mix of the four sources on a program, you were out of luck – other than perhaps making iterations of a program, then sending program changes in between notes (oof – we’re not doing that).
Before we get to making this happen in a DAW, there are a couple of things to note. There is a typographical error in Nil’s MIDI Implementation note. In the Recognized Received Data table, he has GP #1 controller correctly noted as Controller 10H, or 16. His notation of the GP #2 controller is wrong, however. He has it noted as 17H, but it is actually 17 decimal, or 11H. The synth receives GP Control #2 as 11H, or 17D, to control the Y-Axis of the joystick
Let’s make it happen in a DAW
I’m going to use Logic Pro as an example, but this process is similar in any DAW. There are two primary ways to use these controllers to modify K1v sounds in real-time. The first method is to just assign a physical controller on your keyboard or pad controller (or any other MIDI Controller Device) to transmit a knob or slider as MIDI controllers 10H and 11H, respectively. In the short video below, I map two sliders on my Novation controller to send those messages. By working the controllers together, I can get the hang of the two controllers acting as a joystick somewhat quickly. If you have a controller that has an X-Y pad or a joystick, good on you. You can use those to improve the efficiency of interactions.
The second pathway to controlling the X-Y source mix on K1v is to use built-in automatic modulation sources, like Envelopes and LFOs. Logic Pro makes this easy. Once you have K1v assigned to a track, add a MIDI effect called Modulator. Turn on the LFO generator, and turn off Sync to MIDI (the note symbol next to the Rate). For this experiment, set the Rate low, to around .5 Hz. Next, in the field labeled To:, use the pop-up menu to select 16 GP1. You should now see the LFO modulating the X-Y axis of the Source Balance Control.
To modulate the Y-axis, add another Modular as before, setting the To: field to 17 GP2. Depending on the rates you have programmed, if they are the same for both LFOs, then you will see the Source Balance control moving in a circle through all four Source quadrants. Changing the rates, changing the waveshapes of the LFOs, and changing the Steps per LFO cycle all produce interesting results – at least visually.
But How Do We Hear it?
Depending on the patch you have selected, the differences in harmonic content among the four K1v Sources will be heard as the LFOs change the mix. If you edit your current patch, you can change these waveforms for each source to achieve different results. Sometimes, there can be subtle differences – I just want to warn you. With some effort and throwing in a bit of fine-tuning offset, you can get some interesting results.
Additional Things to Try
Try the Envelope as a Modulator Source. Change the Waveforms of the LFO. Try high-speed LFOs – I found interesting results in using a Square LFO waveform at an LFO rate of 10 to 12 Hz. The Modulators are particularly interesting to my ears when AM is enabled – at least on one pair of the sources. There are many, many options. You have an automated way to dynamically adjust the Source Mix within your DAW. This is turbo-boosting what K1v can do.
Wrapping Up
By diving deep under the hood, so deep I had to look at MIDI Implementation Charts (!!), I’ve presented a means to add some significant new twists to programming, such as a simple synthesizer architecture. I’m convinced that these sounds can be unique, interesting, and useful. Like all of the posts in the K1v Owner’s Manual, I’ve attempted to reveal some insights into this cool little free VST instrument. From getting it up and running to its parameters, to programming tips and tricks.
Next time, the dive will be a little deeper into modulating the Source Balance control. Stay tuned, or better yet, sign up for our K1v Owner’s Manual Mailing List, so that you don’t miss any tips. Consider the Dexed Owner’s Manual, or the Logic Sampler Owner’s Manual, too. They both offer in-depth tutorials on these great resources. Until next time, thank you for reading!
Resources
- SoundEngine’s K1v Owner’s Manual Start Page:
- Worthwhile Books on Synthesis and Signal Processing:
- Musical Applications of Microprocessors – Hal Chamberlin, Hayden Book Company, 1985
- Introduction to Signal Processing – Sophocles J. Orfanidis, Prentice-Hall, 1996
- The K1v plug-in:
- K1 Wikipedia Page:
- SoundEngine’s professionally programmed K1 and K1v patches:
- SoundEngine’s Rebuild: K1 (Mostly compatible with K1v)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.