Pitch Wheel and Modulation Control program for Korg SV-2

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Greetings all,

This is my first post as a new member of this forum.

I bought my Korg SV-2 in May 2020, and enjoy it immensely. I wrote a program that adds a pitch wheel and modulation control, as well as some other functions that I find useful. This version (4.0) is written in Python, and runs on Windows. I wrote earlier versions in Java for Android, but since the SV-2 Editor software still does not run on Android, I abandoned that project and purchased a Windows tablet. I wanted to run both this software and the SV-2 Editor software on the same device, so Windows it must be (which is fine by me, since I much prefer writing in Python). I use this program with a Surface Go 3 Tablet with a USB-C Hub that has USB-A inputs, but it should work on any Windows 10 PC or tablet that can connect to your keyboard's midi port. The Surface seems to be ideal since it fits nicely on the music stand, has a touch screen, and is very portable.


Instructions:

Download and unzip the .exe to your computer.
Connect your keyboard to your computer.
Double-click on the program to run it. It does not require installation.
Note: You must have your keyboard's USB driver software installed to use this program. (I would assume.)


Below are details about the program's functions.

• The top left vertical slider controls modulation. Adjust it to set modulation Between 0-127. This setting will be overridden if the other modulation functions are used.

• The two top right combo boxes select the midi input and output ports. Since I wrote this for the SV-2, if it finds 'SV-2' in the port name, it will automatically switch to it. I wrote in that feature because I'm lazy.

• The 'Print Incoming/Outgoing Messages to Shell' checkboxes will print the received and/or sent messages to the python shell that opens alongside the program. This feature is more for diagnostics, but can also be useful if you want to see what the SV-2 is outputting. For that reason, I left it in there. Please know that printing the messages to the shell window causes a slight lag (unless I write in more threads just for printing, which I probably won't). Keep these checkboxes turned off for best performance.

• The 'Invert Pitch Bend Slider' checkbox will invert the behavior of the bottom pitch bend slider. I still can't decide which direction I prefer it in, so I added the option.

• The 'Sostenuto = Modulation 127' checkbox will cancel the sostenuto message from pedal 1, and set modulation to maximum (127). When the sostenuto pedal is released, it will set modulation to 0. This function overrides the modulation slider. Pedal 1 is assumed to be a simple on/off switch pedal. From it, only values of 0 and 127 are recognized.

• The 'Add Modulation to Wah' checkbox will output modulation at the same level as the breath controller when pedal 2 is being used as a wah pedal. In other words, the wah pedal at maximum will output modulation at maximum. There is a level threshold entry (Min.) field beside it that tells the modulation to kick in only above a certain wah level between min and max (0-127). Wah pedal messagess below this setting will set modulation back to 0. This function also overrides the modulation slider. I use this function with the synth-sawtooth sound and overdrive for some screaming wah distortion guitar vibrato madness.

• The 'Harmonize' checkbox will add a note to each note played. The note added will be set by the 'Add' field in semitones. For example, enter 7 to add the fifth above, or -5 to add the fifth below. Tip: adding the fifth below on the rock organ setting sounds more like the band Deep Purple than even Deep Purple does.

• Finally, if you haven't guessed by now, the bottom horizontal slider controls pitch bend. Unfortunately, the SV-2 does not recognize pitch bend range messages, so it is limited to the standard ±2 semitones. The slider outputs the full 0-16383 range, and converts it into the MSB and LSB values. The program's window can be resized to lengthen the slider for more precision and smoothness. Incidentally, I never use pitch bend, but it always bothered me that the SV-2 can accept pitch bend and modulation messages, yet has no wheels. Not that I would ever use them. Anyway, that was what started this entire project.


Well, that was a bid of a read, but thanks for making it all the way through. I hope someone somewhere can find this program useful, but even if not, I just like playing piano and writing code, so I thought I'd share it.

The program is 38 MB, so please download the zipped program from my google drive:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NS19jzI8v8IJRIZQuwkmmRr6RMR40KZw/view?usp=share_link

Don't worry, this program simply receives and sends midi messages. Nothing else. I don't write code for money or malicious intent.
Even though I wrote this for the SV-2, the midi messages are standard, so it should work for other keyboards as well. Try it out!

Enjoy!

- Iskaral Pust
 
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Okay, my fat fingers couldn't hit the checkboxes well enough on the touchscreen, so I made them into buttons. Nice big buttons. The link below is to the folder where I will store all the versions. This is 4.0.2. Version 4.0.0 is also there if you prefer the checkboxes. Version 4.0.1 is where I broke a bunch of stuff, so it got tossed.

So when I run the exe instead of just the code, Windows asks if I will allow this program to make changes to my computer. Uh yeah, it doesn't change anything, but thanks for the scare tactic. Anyway, this program uses exactly two python modules. The one for midi, and the one for the GUI. It doesn't even load basic OS functions, so it has no idea where it is, or what's happening outside its own little keyboard world. Like me.

This program doesn't seem to be generating much interest. That's all well and good, because I just write this stuff to practice and learn new code. But if anyone is having trouble with it, then just post below about the problem and I'll try to fix it. Don't be shy.

Here is a link to the folder where I will put all the versions:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WGH2KBKSfQmuf_RhwHQxmkW22Dhzp0Yl?usp=share_link


Oh, and a screenshot:
Midian SV-2 V402.png
 
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