Korg M3: How to turn drum track on/off with sysex on a midi foot controller

Korg M3: How to turn drum track on/off with sysex on a midi foot controller

shannong 1207474997|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

This is not a request for a new article, but instead for an enhancement to an existing article.

In the article Korg M3: Controlling KARMA and other M3 functions with a foot controller, down in the Tips section, there is a note that "There is no CC number that will turn the DRUM TRACK on/off, but you can use sysex to do this."

This bit came from a post by Stephen Kay on the Karma-Lab forums, in Korg M3: General Discussions in this thread: Using a Midi Foot Controller to trigger Pads, Latch, Karma on/off.

However, Stephen didn't describe how this would be done; only that "It's a bit more involved…"

It would be great to flesh out this article with the details on how you can control the DRUM TRACK on/off via sysex—where do you go in the M3 to see the sysex command you need to configure on the midi foot controller?

last edited on 1207590367|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover by shannong + show more

Re: Korg M3: How to turn drum track on/off with sysex on a midi foot controller

shannong 1207590226|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

For what it's worth, I've pored through the MIDI Implementation appendix of the M3 Parameter Guide and can find absolutely no mention of how to switch the Drum Track on/off via sysex. I'm stumped. It looks like there are pretty significant limitations on sysex manipulation of anything to do with drum tracks—about all I can see is possible is the changing of the drum track pattern used in a combi/program that is itself not a drum track program.

For now, I've removed mention of the possibility of using sysex to turn the drum track on/off from that article. If anyone can figure out how to do this, please add it back to the article with the requisite details.

last edited on 1207590298|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover by shannong + show more

Re: Korg M3: How to turn drum track on/off with sysex on a midi foot controller

Stephen Kay 1207883430|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

The best way to get the sysex message required for a particular function is not by reading the spec, but by hooking the M3 up to some sort of MIDI monitoring program, making sure it is sending sysex by moving various sliders, then activate and deactivate the parameter or feature you are looking for. You will see the resulting sysex message that you need to use. I just did, and this is how you turn on and off the Drum Track Button:

On: F0 42 30 75 41 00 00 20 00 0A 00 00 00 00 01 F7
Off: F0 42 30 75 41 00 00 20 00 0A 00 00 00 00 00 F7

The second last Byte is the on/off 01/00 part.

So typically, in external controller boxes that allow you to control sysex, there will be a way to enter the entire message shown above (which is in hexadecimal by the way), and somehow designate the last byte before the "F7" as being the variable byte.

last edited on 1207883581|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover by Stephen Kay + show more

Re: Korg M3: How to turn drum track on/off with sysex on a midi foot controller

Stephen Kay 1207884433|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Check the 'sysex' tag. ;-)

Re: Korg M3: How to turn drum track on/off with sysex on a midi foot controller

shannong 1207932195|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Perfect! That new Misc: Finding SysEx messages for your keyboard article is great stuff. I've updated the Korg M3: Controlling KARMA and other M3 functions with a foot controller article with a link to this new SysEx article.