KARMA Triton: Recording KT Combis into the Triton's sequencer
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Scenario

You want to play Karma Triton Software combis and record them in the Triton's internal sequencer.

Before you begin

  • This how-to is not applicable to Triton Rack, because it has no internal sequencer.
  • Specific Korg Triton OS versions are required because these provide a necessary RT checkbox (or a Receive Ext. Realtime Commands checkbox) next to the MIDI Clock setting in the Global Mode when you change the MIDI Clock setting to External:
    • Triton Le: 1.5.0 or later
    • Classic: 2.5 or later
    • Studio: 1.0 or later

Procedure

Normally, when using KT with the Triton in Combi and Program Mode, you will want the Triton to have Local Control OFF in Global, and the "Keyboard Thru" option turned ON under the Options Menu in KT. This is how it is set up by default, how it is set up when you load the included .PCG file, and how it explains to set it up in the "Getting Started.pdf" document.

However, to record data into the internal sequencer, you need to set it up the exact opposite. If you follow these steps in exactly this order, it should not give you any problems. Otherwise, if you jump around or skip steps, you will end up very confused and it won't work right.

  1. Select Combi A000 "Voice of KARMA" in KT, which we will use as an example.
  2. Change the Local On/Thru settings.
    1. Turn OFF the "Keyboard Thru" setting under the Options menu in KT. Note that if you now play the keyboard, you will trigger the example Combi A000 on the lower part of the keyboard, but the pad sound in that area, and the lead sound in the RH are silent. This is because you are no longer sending through on the Global Channel.
    2. Turn ON (checked) the "Local Control On" setting in the Triton Global MIDI settings.
      • Triton Le: Global (2.1-1) [MIDI]
      • Triton Classic, Studio: Global P1: MIDI
    3. Make sure the MIDI Clock setting is External, with [ ] RT unchecked (OFF). This is also on the MIDI page.
    4. Play the combi at this point. You will find that the lead and pad sound have returned. That is because the Global Channel is now being routed through internally (Local On).
  3. Copy the Combi into the sequencer, and ensure that it plays.
    1. Go to the Sequencer Mode, default page [Play.Rec]. Create a new song (by entering a new song number into the Song Name field, i.e. "1" and pressing Enter). It will say "Create New song this song No., Set length: 64." You can set the length to something longer now if you desire, or just record and it will become longer if necessary. Answer "OK." You now have a new song.
    2. Copy the desired Combi into the Song. For this example, we will use "A000 Voice Of KARMA". On the Le, press [F8] UTILITY, on Classic/Studio touch UTILITY, and select "Copy From Combi." Select Combi A000, checkmark the "with Effects" checkbox, leave it set to "Tracks 1~8", "Auto adjust Arp…" Off. Press OK, and the Combi is copied into the Sequencer.
    3. At this point, if you play the keyboard, you will hear the pad and the lead sound, but you will not trigger the KARMA modules. Why? Because the sequencer mode does not, by default, send MIDI data to external devices, unlike the Combi Mode. You must specifically set it to do so.
    4. On the Le, go to page (3.1-1) [Prm1], on Classic/Studio go to P2: Trk Param, and find the first track that is set to MIDI Channel 1 (the Global MIDI Channel). KARMA Triton needs to receive MIDI from the keyboard on the global channel to trigger the generation of the notes. (If you look in the MIDI Ins & Outs Editor of KT, you will see that the Input section has Mode: Single, and Mod. 1 Channel set to Global. This is how we determine where to get the input notes.) In our example, Tracks 1, 2 and 3 are set to MIDI channel 1 on the Triton; so we only set the first one's Track Status to "BTH", so that it sends MIDI data. Now you can play the keyboard and it will trigger the KARMA Performance, same as in Combi mode.
    5. If the first track that you find on Ch01 is *not* track 1, then you must change the "Track Select" parameter to match that track. In other words, let's say that track 5 is the first track on Ch01. You change the Track Status to "BOTH" on that track, and then you must change the Track Select field to "TRACK 05" in order to be sending notes on Ch01 (when you play the keyboard).
  4. Make a recording
    1. Since we are going to record multiple tracks at the same time, we first must put the Triton into "Multi-Rec" mode. On the Le, go to page (1.1-6) [Pref], for Classic/Studio go to P0-8 Preference, and turn on the "Multi REC" checkbox. (When you turn on Multi Rec, it turns on Record on *all* tracks. This will use up memory quickly, so see the "Advanced Tips" section later on to optimize this setting).
    2. Press the [Rec/Write] button - the metronome should start clicking and you are in "Record Ready." If nothing happens, it means you didn't read the "Getting Started.pdf" document (you naughty person) and you didn't bother to set up the MIDI Sync options properly. Perhaps you've been listening to the KT Performances without any MIDI synchronization of the effects up to this point. Anyway, in KARMA Triton, open the Sync Editor (from the Windows menu, or by pressing Cmnd+Y (Mac) Ctrl+Y (Win)). Set the Out Port to the port that your Triton is on, and turn on the Send button. The metronome in the Triton should begin clicking, since it is now receiving MIDI Clock.
    3. Press the [Start/Stop] button to begin the recording process. When you have finished enough recording, stop the sequencer by pressing the [Start/Stop] button again, and stop the KARMA function in the software (by pressing the computer's RETURN key.
  5. Play back what you recorded
    1. IMPORTANT: for playback, you must turn OFF the KARMA function in the software, or you will be playing back what you recorded, and triggering new KARMA generated notes at the same time! Select the Realtime Controls Editor from the Windows Menu (or Cmnd+L (Mac) Ctrl+L (Win)), and turn the On/Off Button OFF. You can also use the (computer) keyboard shortcut, function key [F7], to turn the KARMA function On/Off.
    2. Press [Locate] on the Triton, and then [Start/Stop]. You should be able to hear what you just recorded.
    3. To record again and replace what you did the first time, turn the KARMA function back on (computer keyboard [F7]), press [Locate] and [Rec/Write] on the Triton, and then [Start/Stop] to begin recording.

Tips

  • It appears that the "Precount" function of the internal sequencer does not work in External Sync Mode. If this is important, you could try setting the Triton to be the Master and the KT software to be the Slave. In the Triton Global MIDI settings, set MIDI Clock to "Internal". In KT Sync Editor, set the In Port to the Triton's Output port, and set the Mode to "Ext".
  • When you use Multi REC mode, every track that is Record Enabled causes the memory reserve to be lessened. It's not actually recording any more events, but it divides the number of available events across the number of enabled tracks, and therefore you may appear to run out of memory more quickly. Therefore, you can enable only those tracks that are truly needed, and have longer to record before the system stops you. In the above example, Combi A000, you would follow these steps:
    1. Find out which MIDI Channels we need to record: check the KT MIDI Ins & Outs Editor. In the Output section, there are 6 rows. The first four are what we are worried about, which correspond to the output of the four KARMA Modules. Each one has a MIDI Channel that they are sending data on. In this example, they are 2, 3, 4 and 5.
    2. Since you want to record the output of the software, you need to Record Enable all tracks in the sequencer that are set to these channels (2,3,4,5). You also need to record the Global Channel (1) to get the pad and the lead sound. By going to page (3.1-1), you can see which channels the first 8 tracks are on. In this example, we can see that the MIDI Channels are 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5. You only need to enable the first one of any tracks that are set to the same channels, so in this case, you only need to enable tracks 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Since any Combi uses only 8 tracks maximum when copied from the Combi Mode, and we copied into 1~8, you never need to enable 9~16 for this style of recording.
    3. After enabling Multi Rec as discussed above, you will find that all 16 tracks have been Record Enabled. Go to Le page (1.1-3) [Prog..16], Classic/Studio P0-2, and turn off REC for all 8 tracks 9~16 by cursoring to the "Rec" button and setting it to "Play". Then go to the page for the first 8 tracks and only leave 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 enabled. You have gone from 16 enabled tracks to only 5, and have more than tripled the memory reserve for recording.
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