Tuning problem Nord Stage EX with Roland Juno D

[Dar]

Hi All,

I don't know much about MIDI. I'm using a Nord Stage EX with a Roland Juno D. Some of the time I'm using the Nord "External" section to control sounds on the Juno eg strings, Brass.
In the Nord external section you can do volume change, program change, control change, and other things. All I've ever tried to do is basic things such as volume change, though occasionally I might hit the wrong button.

However! A couple of times in the last few weeks the tuning on the Juno has gone completely off, and I don't know why. A couple of days ago this happened - the whole keyboard on the Juno sounded very flat. I tried switching to a different patch (this didn't fix it). I tried turning it off and on and unplugged it but this didn't fix it. At this time I went into the system menu on the Juno and it said the tuning was normal (A440).
A couple of days later (with the keyboard unplugged) I turned it on again and the tuning is normal again.

I read a bit in the Juno manual and it talks about Scale Tune settings for Patches and Parts so maybe it's that. Or maybe a pitch bend malfunction? Some sort of Control Change problem?

I've just done a factory reset on the Juno. I could spend many hours reading manuals trying to figure out what's going on and probably remain confused, but does anybody have any ideas?
- is the Juno faulty? (my guess is probably not)
- is this a MIDI problem? (I suspect it is)
- should I reset the Nord?

Cheers.

 

[happyrat1]

Actually my first guess would be a pitch wheel malfunction. Your machine may need service.

 

[Dar]

Good point. I don't use the pitch wheel much on the Roland but it could easily have been knocked about a bit during transport.

I had more of a look at the midi menus in the Nord and it looked like a lot of the midi "send" settings were already switched off. I've switched off a couple more things also.

 

[ootini]

I had an old Kurzweil K2000 that had a similar issue. The pitch bend wheel had been given a knock and was pressed against the keyboard chasis, so wouldn't return to 0, hence pitch issues.

 

[Dar]

Hi All,

Yes, it definitely is the pitch bender on the Roland. It's clearly doing weird things.

Also, I created "user" copies of the patches I use on the Roland and set the pitch bend range to zero, and with the pitch bend set to zero the pitch is fine.

So given I don't really need to use the pitch bender, if I pull the synth apart and unplug the pitch bender will the keyboard still work normally otherwise? Or will the electronics get upset...?

Cheers.

 

[happyrat1]

It's impossible to predict how the keyboard will react to removing the pitch wheel without seeing a schematic of how the circuit was designed.

Essentially it's a potentiometer which in neutral position either registers full, or zero or half of its value when properly calibrated in a neutral position. Which is impossible to say without either a schematic or going in there and measuring resistances with an ohmmeter. Removing it blindly could yield unpredictable results.

Personally it would bother me to have a non functioning pitch wheel on one of my boards and I'd spend the money necessary to fix it. Why not contact Roland's parts' department and ask them how much a replacement wheel would cost?

 

[delaware dave]

Doe it only do it when the nord has a midi connection to the roland? It could be the nord causing the issue, i.e. sending a bad midi message or a nord controller not working correctly and transmitting incorrectly. The next time it does it try disconnecting the Nord's Midi connection and see if the roland returns to normal. If it is the Nord, disable the Nord from sending pitch wheel commands over Midi. If you determine it is the Roland then simply disable the pitch wheel from the programs that you use on the roland.