JV-35 out of tune?

[gibbon]

Hey all,
I'm very new to synths, so I hope you'll bear with me. I have a Roland JV-35. It's second hand (not sure how old), but I've only been using it for a couple of months. I've been recording some music, but for some reason when I play the exact same thing now, it sounds horribly out of tune. Transpose is off, and I haven't touched the modulation lever. Master tune is set at 440. Key shift is set at 0. Factory reset doesn't do anything (which makes me wonder whether I've actually recorded the original music out of tune? Haha). It seems I've just switched it on, and the pitch had shifted. Is there something very obvious I'm missing?

 

[happyrat1]

Try a little electronic contact cleaner on the pitch wheel/joystick (whatever).

Also check your manual to see if there's a pitch wheel calibration routine built into the board.

Gary

 

[delaware dave]

some keyboards have alternative tuning as well as transpose. see if these have been toyed with.

 

[crlMIDI]

some keyboards have alternative tuning as well as transpose. see if these have been toyed with.

I had to dowload the manual from here:

https://ia800703.us.archive.org/22/items/synthmanual-roland-jv-35-owners-manual/rolandjv-35ownersmanual.pdf

...to find it does have what Roland calls 'scale tuning'. This lets you adjust each note of the scale by changing parameters in memory by sending MIDI sysex messages. Among other things it lets you set up the different kinds of scales that have been used over the centuries.

My JV10 (now dead) had that functionality but it's notoriously difficult to use in the long term because Roland used a different software scheme for each of their models.

If the synth (which dates from 1993) is still fully working you should be able to reset it with from the sweetwater site or the manual:
"The following procedure can be used to clear the internal memory and reload the factory settings:

(CAUTION: All USER information will be lost. Be sure to back up any information
you wish to keep.)

1) Press CONTROL and MASTER simultaneously.
2) Use the PARAMETER ^ and v buttons to select ALL.
3) Press VALUE ^."

 

[Miker62]

I had that problem with a CTK-7000. It was out of tune with my other keyboards. All were set 440 but the CTK would play a half step or so out of key. The pitch bend wheel was the problem. It evidently did not return to the center position after I last used it, however, by rolling it from one extreme to the other then letting it re-center, it was back in tune again. So I periodically work the pitch bend wheel and I've not had the problem since.