Until recently, the two front runners in the virtual piano race were TruePianos and Modartt PianoTeq. TruePianos was slightly more affordable and was generally thought to be more playable and realistic, while Pianoteq, although an impressively flexible and powerful piano model, suffered from artificial overtones. Since Version 3 of Pianoteq, this is no longer true, in my opinion. Pianoteq has seen some impressive upgrades and options and is definitely worth the additional expense, and these days I use Pianoteq in my projects most of the time I need a piano track.
However, I’ve kept TruePianos installed. It’s still a very inspirational virtual instrument.
When I turned on the Korg M1 yesterday, the LCD window displayed “#24” which was followed by “Init Program – Low Battery”. Yes, the thing I’d been dreading for a number of years had finally happened: the internal patch backup battery had died, which meant that all the voice and combi patches had been lost from the synthesizer’s memory. And just when I need the “Melange” patch for my current project. Still, not bad for an instrument purchased in, what, 1989?
This is a scary thing for older synthesizers because not all of them are designed to have their internal batteries replaced. The Korg M1 is better off than most, in that the battery can be replaced, and it is of a common type: the ubiquitous 3 volt CR2032 Lithium “coin”.
First up, here’s what you can’t do: You can’t magically get the M1’s voice memory back. It has really gone. Even if you replace the battery, all the means is that the M1 will remember new patches that you program in. Even the “factory default” voice bank has been wiped. So if you don’t already have some kind of backup/restore method in place, there’s nothing you can do after replacing the battery to get your programs back. More on this subject below.
Replacing the internal battery
What you’ll need:
1 CR2032 3v Lithium replacement battery (about $5 from Radioshack – link) 1 medium Phillips head screwdriver
1. Clear off the kitchen table and cover it with a blanket or something to give a firm but gentle work space. You’ll need to work on the underside of the M1, so in order to protect the joystick from damage, build up a support on the right side of the table on which you can rest the top left edge of the synth. I used four DVD cases to make a roughly brick shaped support under the blanket.
2. Disconnect the M1 from power, MIDI, and audio, and eject any cards from the memory card slot. Carefully carry the synth over to the table and place it upside down with the front (keyboard) edge towards you. You should rest the right side on the support to protect the joystick underneath from pressure.
3. You need to remove the base plate from the synth. You do this by unscrewing it – basically every screw you can see except for the ones holding the rubber feet in position. You do not need to remove the rubber feet from the base plate! (There’s about 14 of these screws – I forgot to do an exact count.)
4. Slide the base plate towards you before lifting it off and putting it to one side. Now would be a good time to wipe dust off the inside surface of the base plate – on my instrument it had quite a coating of dust.
5. The battery socket is located on the underside (actually, the component side) of the large circuit board. You will need to unscrew this from the body of the synth in order to turn it over. On my instrument there were 5 short screws spaced around the periphery of the board, but there appeared to be holes for others, so check it over carefully.
6. You will also need to remove two longer screws from the interior of the circuit board. These attach the board to the memory card socket.
7. I found it impossible to flip the board over until I had detached the 4-wire connector on the left side, shown here. It’s a tricky type of connector if you haven’t encountered it before, so take care and gently pull up on the wires to detach it.
8. Now lift up the board, pivoting it on its back edge.
9. The battery socket is actually located behind the ribbon cable. There should be enough room for you to reach in with your fingers and remove the battery.
10. It will pop out quite easily if you push gently down on the top of the battery while simultaneously lifting up the edge with your fingernail. This is easier to do than to explain! Take note of which way up the battery was, and replace it with a new one.
11. After you have put the new battery in place, simply reverse the steps to re-assemble the instrument. Don’t forget to re-attach that 4-wire connector!
How to get your patch memory back
Once you have put the M1 back together and put it back on your keyboard stand, you may be dismayed to realize that all 100 or so voice programs say “Init Program” and sound the same (a nasty piano sample with a square VCA envelope). The instrument does not magically restore the “factory default” programs. You will have to get these from another source.
Just for once, I had “done the right thing” a couple of years ago, and backed up the M1’s program and combi memory banks using SoundQuest’s MidiQuest software SysEx librarian. Thankfully, I could restore all my custom patches – including “Melange”. (All I had to remember was to adjust the M1’s global settings and unprotect the memory, enable sysex, and put the instrument into “dump” mode. Yes this took a few minutes of panic to figure out why the restore wasn’t working.)
A change can work wonders with the creativity. I’ve been a bit stuck since Karma died, so to cheer myself up I got a new keyboard stand and a new equipment rack. Here’s a picture of the new layout:
The rack kit was from RAXXESS; the synth stand is from Ultimate Support. Amazingly I found enough cables to keep things connected without having to purchase any new ones. It was a close thing, though.
The Blueshifter was perfect in every way except for one. The open high E string would drone like a sitar. I determined that this was due to the locking nut: Either the angle was wrong, or the slot mis-shaped, or a combination.
The problem was still apparent after switching from 9’s to 10’s, and I started thinking about purchasing a replacement locking nut. But then I got to thinking: The Blueshifter is fitted out with sperzel locking tuners – string pegs that actually clamp on to the string. Even though guitars with Floyd Rose trems usually come standard with locking nuts for tuning stability, is the locking nut really necessary?
Several people on the Carvin Guitar BBS have said that it is not: A decent, regular low-friction graphite nut should be just fine if the guitar has sperzels. Seeing as I was planning on replacing the nut anyway, I figured I had nothing to lose by giving it a try. A few clicks and four bucks later and the Carvin online web store was shipping me a regular graphite nut. And yesterday it arrived in the mail.
Removing the current locking nut was easy. It’s attached to the neck by a couple of screws. After I removed the nut I realised several things that should have been obvious: Firstly, the truss rod access cover plate is somewhat shorter for guitars fitted with locking nuts; Secondly, the locking nut sits on a flat area of the headstock parallel to the neck, while the rest of the headstock tilts back at the usual angle; and finally, the new graphite nut was a “blank” in that it was generously sized and would need to be filed and sanded into optimum shape for the guitar.
And hence begins a tale of mistakes that I am reticent to relate. Let’s just say that for a while I wish I’d ordered two nuts!
I used 230 grit sandpaper to put a slight angle on the nut – then realised it was going to slope the wrong way – then corrected it – then wondered if it was now too short to adequately lift the strings away from the frets. Then I had the bright idea of using superglue to fasten the nut in place. Oy. I must have been crazy. I actually realised the risk and problems associated with this decision yet somehow my arms and hands didn’t get the signal and plopped the nut perfectly into place – which promptly slipped sideways and stuck! Talk about locking nuts. At the very last possible instant my brain got its act together and I flicked the nut off the neck with my thumbs. The traces of glue on the nut were easily removed with some careful additional sanding.
I used a couple of blobs of PVA to secure the re-finished nut in place. I might want to remove it later on, and the strings themselves will hold the nut against the neck. I had a spare regular-sized truss rod cover to use, and although the remaining exposed flat region where the locking nut was located is still detectible, it doesn’t bother me.
So far, it seems to be a success. As far as I can tell with this new set of strings, the tuning is quite stable, even after fairly agressive tremelo action.
Ah, my trusty multi-effects unit. I can’t remember where or when I purchased this but it was my main guitar FX for years until I realized what the tube amp aficionados were on about. This has mediocre distortion and compression when compared to what’s available these days, but in my opinion the delay and reverb algorithms are outstanding. I now run the FX loop out to my POD for compression and amplifier modelling duties.
I have the floor-board for this, but I don’t use it since I accidentally unplugged it while the power was on and it reset the patch memory. Disaster.
Update November 2020: This unit has been refurbished and passed on to a new owner. Details here.
Amplifier modelling is the best thing to happen to recording guitarists since the invention of the Floyd locking nut. In my opinion.
I have been unable to get a decent bass patch out of this thing, though. I know it’s theoretically possible (albeit it is a guitar effect unit) and there are instructions on the Line 6 web site. I should try following them sometime.
This is one of the few pieces of equipment that made me scrap my existing recordings and rework them, this time with the lead and rhythm guitar using the POD. I didn’t know what I’d been missing.
Melodic progressive rock songs and instrumental interludes, a touch of 70’s influence but a product of the dystopian Now.
“Very smooth, hi-tech sounding delivery…” – Chris Jemmett, alt.music.yes
“This guy is awesome.” – Dazed, on the Carvin Forum.
“..on a rare occasion you just have to conclude that the prog world should be feasting upon the birth of a new and promising act. That’s exactly the case with this [first] album.”
– Theo Verstrael, DPRP.net
“I find this new album attractive, [..] slightly less appealing than the 2014 debut. But as that is often the case with great artists, let it not distract you from trying this fine album. Especially those that are interested in bands that play varied, cleverly made, well played and sung [..], this might just be your cup of tea.”
– Theo Verstrael, DPRP.net
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