Roland VR-09 sounds “out of tune”?

[hvksh]

I have a Korg Kronos, and recently purchased a Roland VR-09 as a second keyboard. However when I play them together, they sound horrendously out of tune with each other. I’m going out on a limb to guess that the Korg Kronos, being expensive as it is, isn’t the issue, so it seems like the VR-09 is the issue. I have attached a video with the Korg on a Berlin Grand and the Roland on the standard rock organ setting. My speculation was that something with the Hammond organ engine itself was the issue, but it is the same for all patches on the Roland.

IMG_4124.MOV

drive.google.com

 

[happyrat1]

I don't even have to look at the video to diagnose this.

First of all either one could equally be the culprit. Only way to know for sure is to check with an electronic tuner or a $5 tuning fork.

Secondly. There's a few probable causes any one of which could be the culprit.

Check your manuals and see if any of the boards have a transpose or detuning feature and make certain it is deactivated.

You could also simply perform a factory reset on the board and that would delete any spurious setting along with all your saved work so back it up first.

Moving on.

If detune feature is not the culprit, then the prime suspect is the pitch wheel/joystick. It either needs to be recalibrated or replaced or both.

A temporary fix is to disable the pitch controller in the board's settings.

I can pretty much guarantee one of these is the problem.

Gary

 

[b3maniac]

I read an older post in another form where several Roland users noted tuning issues because of pitch controller problems. Most found that tweeking the controller and letting it return to "zero" position took care of things. I've experienced similar on a couple of different (non-Roland) boards but would wiggle the controller if they seemed not to be returning to "zero". One of the boards requires calibration every few years , but that is the only keyboard I've ever owned that needed that special attention (EMU Emulator IV). Don

 

[Rayblewit]

Fascinating!

Awesome response from Gary!
@b3maniac as well.

Boundless activity on these forums is mind boggling and captivating.

Ray

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I think that when Gary said "detuning," he may have meant what some keyboards call "fine tuning"? That is, check that the A4 note ("Concert A") is tuned to the same frequency on both keyboards, normally 440.0 Hz.

Also, some keyboards let you tune the specific notes of the scale according to various tuning systems, as opposed to 12-Tone Equal Temperament (ET). So you may also need to check that both keyboards are set to the same type of scale tuning, and (if they're both set to a non-ET type of scale tuning) that they're both using the same "base" or scale root note.

The fine tuning and scale tuning are probably the least-likely culprits, except in cases where a keyboardist likes to play historical pieces using the tunings that they were written for.

 

[delaware dave]

First of all either one could equally be the culprit. Only way to know for sure is to check with an electronic tuner or a $5 tuning fork.

go to the google play store and for "free" download the perfect piano app to your phone. once loaded, go to the piano, hit a key and compare it to both keyboards to determine if one, or both are out of fine tuning. don't assume it is one keyboard until you've confirmed it is just one.

 

[hvksh]

I don't even have to look at the video to diagnose this.

First of all either one could equally be the culprit. Only way to know for sure is to check with an electronic tuner or a $5 tuning fork.

Secondly. There's a few probable causes any one of which could be the culprit.

Check your manuals and see if any of the boards have a transpose or detuning feature and make certain it is deactivated.

You could also simply perform a factory reset on the board and that would delete any spurious setting along with all your saved work so back it up first.

Moving on.

If detune feature is not the culprit, then the prime suspect is the pitch wheel/joystick. It either needs to be recalibrated or replaced or both.

A temporary fix is to disable the pitch controller in the board's settings.

I can pretty much guarantee one of these is the problem.

Gary

Sorry for the extremely late reply, I’ve been busy and forgot about this thread. I’ve found out that the Kronos is actually roughly a quarter tone sharp. How would I go about recalibrating the pitch joystick, if that was the problem?

 

[happyrat1]

Check your manual to see if there's a fine tuning option as a workaround.

Otherwise check to see if there's a user calibration procedure.

Otherwise you'll have to take it in for service.

Gary

 

[rick rankin]

I don't even have to look at the video to diagnose this.

First of all either one could equally be the culprit. Only way to know for sure is to check with an electronic tuner or a $5 tuning fork.

Secondly. There's a few probable causes any one of which could be the culprit.

Check your manuals and see if any of the boards have a transpose or detuning feature and make certain it is deactivated.

You could also simply perform a factory reset on the board and that would delete any spurious setting along with all your saved work so back it up first.

Moving on.

If detune feature is not the culprit, then the prime suspect is the pitch wheel/joystick. It either needs to be recalibrated or replaced or both.

A temporary fix is to disable the pitch controller in the board's settings.

I can pretty much guarantee one of these is the problem.

Gary

Yup have a roland vr09 that had a drink spill on controller..there cheap..off pitch with the band and I tapped the controller.went back to standard pitch..cleaned and is ok now