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DS controlling an external module

Posted: 19:24, 1 August 2017
by Malpaugh
Hello. My first post: I just got a DS 88 to replace my Korg Kross and loving it but...I'm sending program changes to my Nord Electro and I'm having a hard time setting up a Performance on the DS to do this. The Nord is receiving midi. I see no MSB/LSB or external control menu on the DS. I like the DS. However, the set-up was more intuitive on the Kross Combi. Has anyone had luck controlling other keys or modules form the DS? How do I set up the the DS's System and the Performance parameters? Thank you.

Re: DS controlling an external module

Posted: 12:58, 26 May 2018
by anotherscott
Malpaugh wrote:I'm having a hard time setting up a Performance on the DS to do this. The Nord is receiving midi. I see no MSB/LSB or external control menu on the DS. I like the DS. However, the set-up was more intuitive on the Kross Combi. Has anyone had luck controlling other keys or modules form the DS?
The Kross has much more MIDI functionality than the DS. The DS originally did not have any ability to send Program Changes from a Performance, though they did add some ability to do that with the recent 2.0 update. You need to assign the Performance to a Favorite. From what I can tell, each of the 128 Performances sends a fixed MIDI Program Change (if invoked via a Favorite button), so it would be a little backwards... Instead of going to the Performance that has the DS sounds you want and adding a MIDI Program Change to it, I think you're have to find the Performance number that sends the Program Change you want, and put the DS sounds you want in it (and then assign it to a Favorite button, and invoke it from there when you want to send the Program Change). The function is very limited compared to a Kross, but better than what it was before (which was nothing).

Another solution could be to use a smartphone app (like Set List Maker) and set that up to send Program Changes to both your DS and your Nord. You'd set the two boards up on different MIDI channels, go out of the smartphone into the Roland, then use the Roland's "Soft Through" function to go out of the Roland and into the Nord so that both boards see their respective Program Change commands.

Re: DS controlling an external module

Posted: 21:56, 30 May 2018
by Malpaugh
anotherscott wrote: Another solution could be to use a smartphone app (like Set List Maker) and set that up to send Program Changes to both your DS and your Nord. You'd set the two boards up on different MIDI channels, go out of the smartphone into the Roland, then use the Roland's "Soft Through" function to go out of the Roland and into the Nord so that both boards see their respective Program Change commands.
Yeah, Scott, that's the direction I had to go using Set List Maker. The problem is the soft through doesn't echo the program change so I have to use an iConnectmidi 1 plus a thru box to send program changes to both. It's a drag and a nuisance to have to monkey with that before a gig and to fiddle with an iPhone between songs. Roland was short-sighted and dropped the ball on midi implementation.

Re: DS controlling an external module

Posted: 16:03, 31 May 2018
by anotherscott
Malpaugh wrote:The problem is the soft through doesn't echo the program change
Seriously? Sounds like a bug. Any MIDI Thru should echo whatever arrives on the MIDI In.