Hi,

99% of these cases is due to pilot error.... meaning, that you don't program correct your entry/exit values for expression and volume. Either that or you have an expression pedal plugged in the unit that is funky and it is sending expression with value 0 when you don't expect it.

When the unit is silent, do this, press the 2 middle soft buttons, 3 and 4, at the same time (underneath the screen) and that will take you to UTILITIES, then go to STATE. In that page, scroll to see the values for MIDI CC 7 (Volume) and 11 (Expression)... are they both 127? or is it one of them 0? If one of them is 0, then you know that some of your controllers in your setup has sent that MIDI CC with that value 0. You just have then to find out which controller is sending that MIDI CC and see if they send 0 in any case.

The other 1% of the cases could be due to other stuff, but I highly doubt it.

Now I have check CC7 and CC11 in the STATE and both are 127
So it must be something else...

Hi,

Are you checking in the correct MIDI Channel?

If so, then contact support at www.kurzweil.com

I don't know but I will check this later tonight!
Best Regards

I've experienced the same problems. Here's how I deal with it. I use 2 CC pedals in my set up. When going from program to setup mode make sure the pedal #1 is depressed all the way down. In Setup mode assign a slider to volume for each zone. There is a conflict I've noticed if a slider AND a CC pedal are both assigned to "volume" "7" in the same zone.

Live I'm usually working off of setup mode. Sometimes I run into a problem where one zone is too quiet, I hit "panic-notes off" and re-select the setup. As long as I'm staying in setup mode and there is only one controller (slider or pedal) set to volume I've been ok.

Only assign controllers that are absolutely necessary, defeat the ones that are not. I think I have it pretty under control now. TZ

To tz_keyz: I´m gonna take the PC3K live on stage now and I also use the panic button and it fix the problem. But in medleys with setup changes I need to do differently maybe mute on and off different sounds with the zone buttons, but it gets a bit tedious because I play bass with the left hand and the base, I can not stop playing, but it may be that before I or anyone PC3K users find the solution to this problem.
Sad because PC3K must be by far the world's best workstation ever!

To hipogrito: Now I have check CC7 and CC11 in the STATE with right Midi Channel and both was 00, how do I fix this? and is there anything I need to do on any program or how does it work? For the next time and the next time it works as it should .... This problem comes and goes but means I do not dare use multiple setups in a medley because I then have to press the panic button which I with one setup in one song can do BEFORE the song kicks off!

Best Regards

As already mentioned in the post earlier, sounds like your entry values are set incorrectly. The entry values are set by zone in the setup, so as an example if you have two zones in your setup you have two potential entry values. In the latest owners manual dated 5-27-11 which can be found on the Kurzweil download site; page 7-17:

Entry Volume, Exit Volume
Entry Volume enables you to control the initial MIDI volume setting for each zone of the current setup. When you select a setup in Setup mode, the PC3 sends MIDI volume control (MIDI Controller 07) messages on each of the setup’s MIDI channels, according to the value of the Entry Volume parameter. This sets the starting volume level for each zone, for any value other than None. Subsequent MIDI volume control signals sent to the setup’s MIDI channels affect the
volume normally. When you exit the current setup, Exit Volume sends another MIDI Controller 07 message. The setting of the Volume Lock parameter on the MIDI mode CHANNELS page (see Chapter 10) determines whether this parameter has any effect.

This is located in the PAN/VOL page for each zone in the setup.

Hi,

If all the entry/exit values are well programmed there is no need to press Panic at all. Follow Dave's advice and see if you can catch where are you sending those MIDI CCs with value 0.

Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to re-read the setup mode chapter of the manual. Sometimes, when you read it again you realize of things you didn't in the first time.

I believe Francisco told me to disable every controller except for the ones I need. This was/is good advice. I think I nullified CC11 (Expression) in all my setups, I use CC 7 for volume.

As far as using "panic." I've only had a problem if I'm in program mode and forget to depress my CC pedal all the way down. I'm in setup mode most of the time when I play live.

Here's a correspondence I had with Jean at Kurzweil Support that covers a lot of housekeeping issues regarding Entry Exit values:

ENTRY/EXIT VALUES

Entry values are those sent when you select a setup. Exit values are those sent when you leave a setup (i.e. navigate away from).

The key to understanding what is happening is to fully realize how MIDI messages work in general (not a Kurz thing but MIDI itself). One truth of particular relevance here is channel messages will stay in place until a new message of that same type comes along to change things.

So for ex. if something (internal or external) sets the MIDI volume (cc7) on a channel to 0, then that channel will stay at 0 indefinitely until a new cc7 message comes along and changes that state (or you power cycle). Same applies to ALL MIDI cc's.
Entry/Exit values are our way of giving you completely control over these messages, per channel, as you move from one Setup to another.

So imaging during performance using a CCpedal assigned to cc7 on Zone1/Ch1 of a given Setup. And for argument sake, let's say you fade out that pedal at the end of a song then switch Setups. If the Setup you are leaving has no Exit value for cc7 to raise the volume back to a desired level OR if the Setup you navigate TO does not have an Entry doing the same, then the cc7 value remains at zero, until something else happens to change it (like moving the pedal or pressing Panic for ex).

In your first example (I had emailed Jean 2 patches) , on zone 2/ch2 has an EntryVol (cc7) of 85, no exit. Meaning when you select this Setup ch 2, system wide is now at volume 85. Exit this setup, it is still at 85. Go to your 2nd patch and its Zone2/Ch2 has no EntryVol (set to None), so guess what - volume on channel 2 stays at?? you guessed it, 85'

So in general I would suggest programming things in the following manner:

1) ALWAYS set an EntryVolume level in all zones, all Setups in use. This will solve 90% of most level setting issues. Not doing this leaves the 'mix' of each setup up to chance. Far better to take command of the whole mix and set desired levels as starting points (aka entry values).

2) as a precaution, I also suggest setting the ExitVolume to 127. This step is superfluous if one follows rule#1 above religiously BUT even following the above leaves open one caveat, which is exiting back to Program mode. Program mode has no entry values for volume, so rule#2 is a "safety net" of sorts so that when you fade that pedal out on some song, and then jump to Program mode, you are not left with unexpected silence and forced to 'panic''

Zone Out of Tune in Setup
I also had a similar problem with zones coming in out of tune. My question & Jean's response:

Jean, wondering if you have any suggestions for an occasional problem I have.

Sometimes when I play one of my setups, one of the zones is out of tune. I can stop, hit "panic" and the zone is then in tune - but that's obviously not too cool of an option if I'm playing live. Any idea what causes this to happen & what I can do about it?
thanks, bill

The fact Panic remedies things (all be it temporarily) tells us the source of the problem is MIDI message related. What it does not yet tell us is the exact source. So a few questions/suggestions:

1) are you still only running OS 2.03? if so I'd suggest backing up and updating to v2.10. Worth doing regardless of any particular issue, but helps here to rule out some other past known and already solved issues.

2) are you connected to anything via MIDI or USBMIDI when this occurs? if so, does the problem occur if you temporarily remove these connections?

3) does this pitch issue occur ONLY with this one Setup? if so, you need to comb through the Entry/Exit values for the PItch Bend wheel and Ribbon on the affected zone. For most people's uses, you would want all instances set to None. If all seems ok, you should next check any setup you may typically use just prior to this occurring, and check it for the same settings (suspect would be any zone of the same MIDI channel).

My expression pedal input in the synth is loose and I think this may be one reason why some sounds are silent?! Since this mistake has been with midi message to do so, it should not be impossible in a loose expression pedal input down to it .....

/ Jonas