Bend Range in KetronSD2

[Jim Inman]

Does anybody know how to control the bend range in Ketron SD2? The default is 2, meaning a whole step. The module has only a volume slide. The manual has no instructions.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Since it's just a sound module with no physical controls-- other than the volume slider you mentioned-- it must use the standard MIDI method for setting the Pitch Bend Range. This is done using RPN 0 (Registered Parameter Number 0), as follows:

1.) Bx 65 00 (For channel x, set CC #101-- the MSB of the RPN-- to 0.)
2.) Bx 64 00 (For channel x, set CC #100-- the LSB of the RPN-- to 0.)
3.) Bx 06 nn (For channel x, set CC #6-- the MSB of the Data Value-- to nn semitones.)
4.) Bx 65 7F (For channel x, set CC #101 to 127.)
5.) Bx 64 7F (For channel x, set CC #100 to 127.)

How are you sending commands to the SD2? Are you using a DAW or sequencer, or just connecting a MIDI keyboard controller to it, or what? If you're just using a controller then you'll need to see if you can program one of its controls to send the desired CC messages. But if you're using a DAW or sequencer then you should be able to add the appropriate CC messages to a MIDI track and send them to the SD2.

Note that the Pitch Bend Range is set for a particular channel, so if you don't want to use the default value of 2 semitones then you'll need to send the appropriate CC messages on each channel-- and you can set it to different values on different channels.

 

[Jim Inman]

Thank you, Sea. My controller is the Roland A-49. My DAW is Cakewalk's MC-6. The data in your reply exceeds my comprehension. Maybe you're talking about settings in the Events View within Cake. I see in those events the visual record of the bend but I find no path to change it from the default full step.

I've built probably 800 sequences as a teacher and performer using various midi devices since they were invented in the mid 80's. The last instrument I wore out was a Roland XP-50. I could go into the parameters of a given patch and select the range of bend. I find it incredible that Ketron's module connected to Roland's controller with a bend toggle, fed into Cakewalk does not provide a simple drop down to select the bend range. A-49's manual simply says: consult the module. Through Cake's Preferences, I can change names of instruments in SD-2, but there appears to be no option to modify the range of bend. And Ketron has no line of communication that I've found.

If your instructions are my only solution, they'd need spelled in terms of steps to take before I would know what to do.

 

[Jim Inman]

Also, I happened just now to experiment with the DAW. In Piano Roll View, the tabs Edit > New Value Type, open a dialog which includes Type RPN, Value Pitch Bend Sensitivity. And I know from experimenting with my Draw tool in the Wheel Channel pane, that any mark at all causes the bend to fly 2 octaves. And nothing will undo the result.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Okay, I'll see if I can put together a simple solution-- maybe a small MIDI file that you can import into your DAW, or something like that, along with instructions on how to use it, as well as how you can modify it as needed in a DAW. I don't have Cakewalk MC-6, but I do have the demo version of Cakewalk SONAR, and hopefully they're similar enough.

 

[Jim Inman]

Well, that's a effort far beyond anybody's hopes or dreams. Thanks.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I created a MIDI file containing nothing but messages to set the Pitch Bend Range, but my demo copy of SONAR wouldn't load it. I figured out the problem much later and fixed it (a couple of mistakes on my part, naturally), but by then I'd figured out how to set the Pitch Bend Sensitivity (as SONAR calls it) using the Event List, which is the better way to do it anyway. I think that Music Creator is like a simplified version of SONAR, so hopefully the following description will apply to Music Creator, too.

Assuming you've already added a MIDI track to your project in Music Creator, select that track and choose "Views" | "Event List" to view the MIDI events for that track. If you haven't added any Note events or other events to the track yet, the Event List should be empty.

Click on the plus button (which is for "Insert Event") in the top left corner of the Event List. In my demo copy of SONAR this adds a C5 Note On event, but we'll change it.

Double-click where it says "Note" under the "Kind" of event column, which will pop up a small window where you can choose the kind of event you want to select. Choose "RPN" and click the "OK" button.

Double-click on the number in the "Data" column, change it to 0 (which is the RPN number for the Pitch Bend Range RPN), and press Enter. It should now say "Pitch Bend Sensitivity."

Double-click on the number to the right of the "Data" column. This is where things get a little bit tricky, since the number of semitones goes in the Data MSB rather than the Data LSB, and that means we must multiply the desired setting by 128, as follows:

0 semitones = 0
1 semitone = 128
2 semitones = 256
3 semitones = 384
4 semitones = 512
5 semitones = 640
6 semitones = 768
7 semitones = 896
8 semitones = 1024
9 semitones = 1152
10 semitones = 1280
11 semitones = 1408
12 semitones = 1536
13 semitones = 1664
14 semitones = 1792
15 semitones = 1920
16 semitones = 2048
17 semitones = 2176
18 semitones = 2304
19 semitones = 2432
20 semitones = 2560
21 semitones = 2688
22 semitones = 2816
23 semitones = 2944
24 semitones = 3072

For example, if you wanted to set the Pitch Bend Range to 8 semitones, you'd enter a value of 1024.

If the MIDI track is set to automatically echo events to the chosen MIDI output port, it's possible that simply adding the Pitch Bend Sensitivity event to the track will send the message to the Ketron SD2 and change the Pitch Bend Range. Otherwise, it will be sent when you play the track.

As I mentioned previously, you can set the Pitch Bend Range to different values on different MIDI channels if you wish. You can also insert a Pitch Bend Sensitivity event at any point in the MIDI track, so you could have it set to 2 semitones at the beginning of the track, then change it to 12 semitones in the middle of the track for a measure or two, then change it back to 2 semitones, or something like that.

Let me know how it goes.

 

[Jim Inman]

Thanks Sea,
I've read tons of How To instructions on various things computer related. Invariably they don't know how to be precise and there's no consistency. You're the first whose steps are perfectly written. And it worked. However, at first there was no change, then, on a hunch, I selected NRPN instead of RPN and suddenly my Roland's bend toggle gave me the entered results live. One other detail for other readers: First I tried entering the 896 (a fifth) using the calculator key pad but when I'd hit Enter, the cursor would jump elsewhere which left me thinking I'd have to use the +/- scroll which would take forever. But in trying the numeral keys across my keyboard (like a typewriter) I was allowed to enter 896. The problem, I then saw, was that I had not turned on Num Lock for my calculator key pad. Anyway, thanks to your knowledge, the world of bends beyond 1 step is now open to my tracks.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I'm glad you finally got it working! I'm not sure why NRPN worked but RPN didn't, because the Pitch Bend Range is a Registered Parameter Number, not a Non-Registered Parameter Number. But the end result is what matters.