KARMA 2: Changing or removing particular notes generated by KARMA
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Scenario

You've got KARMA generating a nice riff, but you don't like the presence of the maj7th note (example) in the notes being generating in response to maj7 chords that you're playing. You'd like to adjust that particular note to a different scale tone, or maybe even remove that note entirely.

Procedure for Korg OASYS, M3, and Kronos (M50 can use the KARMA Software)

  1. Choose any initialized Combi as a starting point.
    1. Go to page 0-6 KARMA RTC (M3) or 0-6 KARMA GE (OASYS/Kronos) and using the screen, or the Module Control button on the front panel, change Module Control to "A", so that it displays the RTC settings for Module A.
    2. Set KARMA Switch 2 "Note Scale Type" to On. This causes KARMA to play in Scalic Mode.
    3. Turn KARMA On, and play a Cmaj7 chord (C-E-G-B). KARMA generates an up/down arpeggio consisting of most of a Cmaj diatonic scale (all notes except the F, or the 4th), and including B (the maj7).
  2. Let's say that for some reason, you didn't like the presence of the maj7th note in the notes KARMA is generating in response to this chord, or any chord (Dmaj7, Emaj7, etc.). We can adjust it to a different scale tone, or remove it entirely.
    1. First, you need to assign the Module to play through a Note Map. Go to page 7-2-1 Control A (M3) or 7-3 Control (OASYS) and set the Note Map Mode for Module A to On-All. This sends all notes generated by the Module (regular notes and notes from any use of the Melodic Repeat feature) through the Note Map table. By default, the Table should be be set to Custom, Transpose = 0, and Chord Track = Off. Leave this for now.
    2. To program the Custom Note Map Table, go to page 7-4-8 Note Map (M3) or 7-9 Name/Note Map (OASYS). Note that in the OASYS, you can touch the small Note Map graphic on the Control page to jump directly to the Note Map Page. Think in the key of "C" (always). So if you want all chords to always change the maj7th to some other note, you need to set all occurrences of B (the 7th in the key of C) to play something else.
    3. The default Custom Note Map should be a diagonal line (what goes in is what comes out). But if not, you would press the [Reset] button to reset the map.
    4. Turn on the Octave Replicate button. This tells it to take each change that you make and do the same thing in all octaves. So you only need to adjust one B, and all the rest are automatically adjusted.
    5. Set the "In" field to any B, such as B4 (you can do this by touching the field, holding the ENTER key on the 9-key pad, and playing a B).
    6. The "Out" field will display the same note. Touch it and increment by 1, to C. You will see all octaves reflect this change in the large Note Map graphic. Now, any B (major 7th) that goes into the table will come out as a C (up a half step, to an octave of the root). Try testing this with the Cmaj7 (C-E-G-B).
  3. Now try testing it with a Dmaj7 (D-F#-A-C#). Oops, what happened? Well, the table is presently in "fixed" mode. Only B's are being changed to C's. Since a B exists in the Dmaj diatonic scale (it's the maj 6th), it is being changed to a C (yuk) which is NOT what we want for this example. We need to set the Note Map feature to "track" the keyboard, so that it treats all maj7th notes the same way, regardless of key.
    1. Go back to 7-2-1 Control A (M3) or 7-3 Control (OASYS). Enable (check) the "Chord Track" parameter. This tells it to use the chord analysis features to "move the table around" based on the chord root. We programmed in the key of C, so essentially, if you play a D chord, it will shift the entire table by +2 semitones to follow the chord (that's a simplification, but good enough for our purposes). Try some maj7 chords in other keys.
    2. Let's try a few more examples. Go back to the main Note Map page. Let's say you don't want that repeating root note that happens now that we adjusted the B to a C. Go to the Out note field, and adjust the B up to a D, so that any Bs will play a D an octave above the root (the maj9). Try your Maj7 chords now. Try adjusting the D down to a G for another variation.
    3. Finally, there is the option to remove a note. In the Out field, use the data wheel or slider to scroll all the way down to the bottom, where it will change to "Remove". Now try your maj7 chords, and there will be a rest where the 7th used to be. You can use this feature to "thin out" or simplify the notes a GE may be generating, by removing certain scale tones.

More Information

  • A Note Map is a huge grid of 128 columns x 129 rows containing 16,512 "cells" - one row to remap each of the 128 MIDI notes to any other note, plus one extra row to remove any note. Viewed on page 7-4-8 Note Map (M3) or 7-9 Name/Note Map (Kronos/OASYS), or the Note Map Editor of the optional KARMA Software, each cell represents one of the 128 incoming MIDI notes, and a potential remapping of the note to one of 128 different pitches or the special "remove" setting.
  • When you select a Note Map Table for a Module, the Module plays "through" the table. Incoming notes from KARMA are modified according to the mapping, and the modified pitches go out. So a default Custom Note Map is a straight diagonal line, representing "Linear" or "no change" response - what goes in is what comes out.
  • There is one Custom Note Map per Combi, Program or Song, that any or all of the Modules can use. Modules may also use Global Note Map Tables (described elsewhere). So while one Module may be using the Custom Note Map, others may still use one or more of the Global Note Maps.
  • As with most of KARMA's parameters, the Note Map selection can be assigned to the Real-Time Controls, and stored in each Scene - so you can have completely different Drum variations in each Scene, or different Melodic filters and scales in each Scene if desired.
  • The Note Map applies to *everything* that goes through it. In this scenario, any major 7th will become a different note. It cannot differentiate between a maj7 and a majMn7 (for example).
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