Korg DS-10 - Tips

The tips:
- What is the slowest MG speed?
- Prevent the MG waveform from restarting between Patterns
- Prevent the EG from retriggering between Notes or Patterns
- Changing the DRUM pitches in the Sequencer
- What can be automated?
- Invert a modulation
- The "Bass and Melody in the same Pattern" trick
- Why does my Synth sound different after saving the Session?

What is the slowest MG speed? (or LFO for other synth brands)
The MG can be set to 2 different tempos: to the BPM and free running.

BPM:
- the MG can be set to a fixed number of Sequencer steps.
- (s)lowest setting: set FREQ to 0.
- the MG waveform will have a duration of 128 steps and then restarts at the next step.
- to do the math: the MG spans 8 times of a 16-step Pattern loop, or 32 times a 4 step Pattern loop.

OFF:
- free running MG.
- set FREQ a tiny notch above 0, because at 0 the MG will not start at all.
- the MG wave will take 288 seconds (4.48 m) before it restarts.
- this setting is not achievable with the KAOSS Sequencer, because this supports only 12 values for the FREQ Level.

The difference between the knob setting for FREQ "zero" and for FREQ "a tiny notch above zero" is very small.
Look at the tiny difference in the line drawing on the FREQ knob.
For "zero" the line is white, for just above zero the line has this shade pattern.


FREQ zero		FREQ just above zero

Prevent the MG waveform from restarting between Patterns
MG is a looping modulator.
When you place the same Pattern on subsequent Measures in the Sequencer, the MG does not restart the waveform between the Measures. This way, you can make interesting movements that will last for more than one Measure, while using the same Pattern again, and without sacrificing other Patterns for small changes in the sound. In this example, the MG in Pattern #2 will not restart during the 6 Measures the Pattern repeats.

Prevent the EG from retriggering between Notes or between Patterns
EG is a modulator that starts the Attack-Decay-Sustain sequence on a "Note On" event and triggers the Release only after a "Note Off" event.

When you don't want the EG to retrigger on a new Note, you must trick the DS-10 into not noticing you played a new Note. You can achieve this by setting the Gate length of all Notes to LEGATO, which translates to "Note On, but never a Note Off". All the Notes are more or less glued to each other. This means the EG 'Release' is never triggered, and so there will not be a new EG 'Attack' triggered. All other Gate lengths make the EG retrigger.

In the Sequencer, the Note also has to play uninterrupted. Avoid empty Steps in the Sequencer.

To make the EG modulation fade out and stop, with LEGATO for every Note:
- the ATTACK time will be triggered only on the first Note
- let the DECAY time arrange the fade out to the SUSTAIN level
- set the SUSTAIN level to 0
- RELEASE will not be triggered by a "Note Off", because there will be no "Note Off".

So fill up the Notes in the Sequencer and set all the Gate times to LEGATO.
Then experiment with the EG ATTACK en DECAY settings. Don't forget to increase the EG INT for the targets.
Whatever the EG is assigned to, the modulation will just start, fade out and end, no matter how many times the Pattern loops.

Changing the DRUM pitches in the Sequencer
The 4 Drum Synths have their own Sequencer, in which you can place the drum sounds.

When you add drum sounds to this screen, the new sound is added with a C4 note pitch.
You can change the pitch of each drum sound. Just press the row number [1, 2, 3 or 4].
The pitch sequencer screen for this row will show:

You can now make high-mid-low tom sounds.
Or even better, you can use the drum synth as another synthesizer, and set the pitches in this screen.

What can be automated?
Only 2 knobs of SYNTH 1 and 2 knobs of SYNTH 2 at the same time. Please read the "Sequencer and KAOSS" page.

Invert a modulation
The 2 "EG INT" (intensity) levels for the Synth panel and the 5 "INT" levels for the Patch panel are inverted when the knob is turned left of the center position. For example, if you want the volume of the Synth to slowly rise inside a Pattern, patch the "MG SAW" (Ramp Down) to the "VCA IN" and turn "VCA IN INT" to the left, so the SAW is inverted (Ramp Up). Also set the "MG FREQ" to a low value.

This knob setting inverts the incoming signal. The developers forgot to paint the + and - next to the knob positions.

The "Bass and Melody in the same Pattern" trick
You can set the KAOSS X and Y levels very precisely for every Step in the KAOSS Sequencer screens, and this way you can change the tone of each note in one SYNTH. This trick was used a lot in old gaming consoles that only supported monophonic sounds at the same time.

Step 1: First create a Bass line in the lower octave range, leave some space between the notes.
Step 2: Create a melody 2 or 3 octaves higher in the same sequencer between the Bass notes.
Step 3: You can set the KAOSS X and KAOSS Y options, and edit their Sequencer pages to trigger specific automations only on the Bass notes, or on the melody notes in between.

Why does my Synth sound different after saving the Session?
Sounds can dramatically change after you have saved the Session. Especially when you have made a lot of Patch changes.
My guess it has to do with the difference between the course KAOSS Sequencer levels versus the fine knob levels.