Anyone own a Kawai K1?

[Reject76]

Hello

 

Im considering getting a Kawai K1r, mainly as a back-up module and because it can be obtained fairly cheap these days.

However, Ive been scanning the net for some sound-samples without success. Does anyone here by any chance own one? I'd be much obliged if you could post a sample off it (im mainly interested in pads/strings) or maybe someone here has used it in their music?

Any help is much appreciated!

 

Thanks in advance,

Ricky Reject, Europe

[arpeggio]

I've owned one for a few years now mines a k1 markII . I'ts strong points for me are its choir sounds (very spacy) and I like

it's electric piano and some string pads,

forget acoustic piano I don't find them

realistic . If you can find some ram cards

(DC-8) from some web sources and e-bay

they really open up the amount of sounds the K1 can do , I've got 8 or so now and

the difference is night and day compared to the pre-sets that come with the unit.

Enjoy!

[roblogic]

I picked up a K1-m about a month ago. I've been using it mostly for dark breathy pad and string sounds. It's a pretty cool little box - not really versatile, but worth having for the wierd sounds it does so well. Here's a demo I just threw together. A few of the patches are mine, the rest came with it. I concentrated on pad sounds, since that's what you're most curious about.

[Yoozer]

The sound at 2.00 and the one after that - that's your own, right?

 

This demo is pretty damn cool. I should try to upload some patches in my K1m.. anyway, to me, it can do the string sound of Jarre's Rendez-Vous 1 spot on. It's brachial, breathing, and rather damn massive for an early sample-based synth.

 

Secret tip : AM. This thing can do some really crazy modulation. I even managed to build a 4-osc saw trancy patch which I gated/filtered through the Nord Micromodular. Not bad at all .

[TDman]

I've still got my original K1 keyboard from '89. I've kept it for the strings/breathy pads and a few weird noises. Not terribly versatile, but cool for what it is...

[Etienne Rambert]

Buy it. Every string pad sound you hear at my music site

is a K-1. It is my string pad weapon of choice. It's the exact string pad sound I want. No other synth can make that sound. That's all I use my 2 K-1's for, string pads.

 

Not least on:

 

"The Fantomas Waltz"

 

or

 

"Shijun"

 

or check out the ending on a lovely wedding song I wrote titled,

 

"Accordion Music for an Execution"

 

The ending on that song has 2 K-1's w/different delay times. They make me sound like Albinoni. There is great beauty and tragic grandeur in patch S-1-A on the default K-1 patch set.

 

I have tried to analyze why it is so unique. The closest I can come up with is that the K-1 string pad sounds like the old 1960's string orchestra sounds by Mancini, Sharon, Riddle, Gleason, et al., played on AM radio, or on old TV sets with crappy speakers.

 

Listen to Percy Faith's "Theme from a Summer Place" in mono or preferably through a very old TV set with crappy speakers, or on an AM car radio.

 

That's the K-1 sound!

 

Or Hurricane Smith's "Oh Babe, What Would You Say". Play it in Mono. It sounds like an army of K-1 string pads.

 

I use nothing but a K-1 for string pads. I own 2. I will buy 3 before long. I always want a spare on hand. I don't want any other string pad sound.

 

I have several other synths. Korg and Yamaha have ok strings. But to my ears, nothing beats the 8 bit glory of the K1 string pads.

 

I don't care what other people use.

I want that K-1 string pad sound.

It is exactly right for my music.

[Reject76]

Right, I think this more or less settles it

 

Sounds exactly like the kind of sound Im looking for. Now I just hope I can find one where the seller has kept the manual.

A thousand thanks to Marcellis and Roblogic for providing samples, much obliged Thanks for all the comments and input as well.

 

Regards,

Ricky Reject

[roblogic]

No problem. Here's a PDF of the manual. There's not a lot to it, you'll probably only need to read it once.

[Etienne Rambert]

The tech guys at http://www.kawaius.com used to be pretty good. I don't know if they are still there. One of them is named "Troy".

 

Kawai downloads

 

The K-1 string sound is perhaps the only thing in music I am still a fanatic about. It's the only indispensable part of my setup. Guitars, synths are more or less interchangeable with me. But patch number S-I-A in the default K-1 patch set is the exact string sound I want. Nothing else will do.

 

When the last K-1 dies, I intend to be the owner, unless I die first.

 

 

Further K-1 mania

[Reject76]

Gentlemen...all too kind Thanks

 

"/me downloads"

 

/Ricky Reject

[Boom]

Are there any free editors for the K1?

[Etienne Rambert]

Here is what I found at Synthzone.com.

I don't use them, so caveat emptor.

 

But they're free.

 

http://www.sonicspot.com/soundlib/soundlib.html

 

 

http://hitaye.noix-coco.chez.tiscali.fr/world/sons_w/kawai/w_k1.htm

 

The page says this works on PC. But it was designed for Atari.

http://tamw.atari-users.net/cage_art.htm

 

For the Mac: http://www.tcp-ip.or.jp/~setsu/k1.html

 

 

 

Still more evidence of K-1 madness

[Shredder11]

I am a long time Kawai K1r user since 1990, but recently I used the factory system exclusive patch data from the official Kawai downloads page, and now I no longer have the original "SINGLE int" bank of sounds. I have included the cardboard presets guide which shows the "SINGLE int" bank, and this is totally different to what my K1r shipped with; it also lacks the amazing "Orchestra" patch

 

So if anyone here has the system exclusive file of the factory presets that match my list, I would be very grateful if you could send it to me! I will then make a backup of it to my DC-32 RAM card.

 

I also have a Kawai MM-16 MIDI Mixer with K1 presets but I have not figured it out properly yet.

 

Ian

 

[Etienne Rambert]

That list looks like my presets. PM me w/instructions on how to get them to you. I have not done a sysex in years. Still using mine since 1989 or so.

[Shredder11]

That list looks like my presets. PM me w/instructions on how to get them to you. I have not done a sysex in years. Still using mine since 1989 or so.

 

Hi Etienne, I tried to PM you but it would not work, so I will post my PM message here (there is also a Google French translation below):

 

 

To get the patches from your K1, connect it to your computer via the MIDI interface. Download the system exclusive program MIDI-OX and install it. It’s very small and easy to remove afterwards if you do not need it. http://www.midiox.com/zip/midioxse.exe

 

 

On your computer:

 

Once the K1 is powered on and connected to your computer and MIDI-OX is installed, run the program:

 

Go into “Options -> MIDI Devices” and select your MIDI device in all four sections.

 

Press “OK” and then “View -> SysEx…” and in here go into “Sysex -> Receive Manual Dump”.

A small window will appear called “SysEx Receive” and this will wait for you to send some data to it.

 

 

On your Kawai K1:

 

Select a patch bank, e.g. “SINGLE INT” and then “A”.

 

Press the “SYSTEM” button and press the value buttons until you see “SYSTEM/MIDI =TRS”.

 

Press the “SYSTEM” again and then the value buttons until you see “MIDI DATA DUMP =BLOK”.

 

Press the “SYSTEM” again and press the “VALUE +” button twice to send the data to your

computer. The MIDI-OX “SysEx Receive” window will show the data going in.

 

Press “Done” and the “Command Window” will fill up with the data. Right click in that window and select “Save” and give it the name of the Kawai patch bank you selected at the start, e.g “SINGLE INT.syx”.

 

Repeat this process with all the SINGLE INT / int and MULTI A patch banks. There should be three (3) separate System Exclusive data files in total, which you can put them all in one zip file and include here as a forum attachment.

 

SINGLE INT.syx

SINGLE int.syx

MULTI.syx

 

 

Thank you so much and if there is anything I can do for you just ask!

Ian

 

Pour obtenir les correctifs de votre K1, le connecter à votre ordinateur via l'interface MIDI. Télécharger le programme exclusif système MIDI-OX et l'installer. Il est très petit et facile à enlever par la suite si vous ne avez pas besoin. http://www.midiox.com/zip/midioxse.exe

 

Une fois le K1 est allumé et connecté à votre ordinateur et MIDI-OX est installé, exécutez le programme:

 

Allez dans "Options -> Périphériques MIDI" et sélectionnez votre périphérique MIDI dans toutes les quatre sections.

 

Appuyez sur "OK" et ensuite "Affichage -> SysEx ...» et ici aller dans "Sysex -> Recevez Dump Manuel".

 

Une petite fenêtre apparaîtra appelé "SysEx Recevez" et cela va attendre pour vous d'envoyer des données à elle.

 

 

Sur votre Kawai K1:

 

Sélectionnez une banque de patch, par exemple "SINGLE INT" puis "A".

 

Appuyez sur le bouton "SYSTEM" et appuyez sur les boutons de valeur jusqu'à ce que vous voyez "SYSTEM / MIDI = TRS".

 

Appuyez sur le "système" à nouveau, puis les boutons de valeur jusqu'à ce que vous voyez "DONNÉES DE MIDI DUMP = BLOK".

 

Appuyez sur le "SYSTEM" et appuyez sur le bouton "VALUE +" deux fois pour envoyer les données à votre ordinateur. Le MIDI-OX "SysEx Recevez" fenêtre affiche les données entrer.

 

Appuyez sur "Done" et "Command Window" va se remplir avec les données. Faites un clic droit dans la fenêtre et sélectionnez "Enregistrer" et lui donner le nom de la banque Kawai patch que vous avez sélectionné au début, par exemple "SINGLE INT.syx".

 

Répétez ce processus avec tous les UNIQUE INT / int et MULTI A banques de sons. Il devrait y avoir des fichiers de trois (3) de système séparé exclusifs de données au total, que vous pouvez les mettre tous dans un fichier zip et comprendre ici comme un attachement forum.

 

SINGLE INT.syx

SINGLE int.syx

MULTI.syx

 

 

Merci beaucoup et si il ya quelque chose que je peux faire pour vous suffit de demander!

 

Ian

[Etienne Rambert]

Wow - this will take some time. I work 2 jobs.

 

This week-end maybe. But I'll get them for you. Check local sources too.

[nice keetee]

I reloaded all the factory back into mine after the battery was dead. Still don't have the String sound I remember.

[Shredder11]

Wow - this will take some time. I work 2 jobs.

 

This week-end maybe. But I'll get them for you. Check local sources too.

 

Thank you so much but do not worry, once you have your K1 ready to send data it will only take you a few minutes work. It should help out quite a few other people too, especially as some will be new to the K1 after buying old ones from Ebay with dead batteries! Once again thanks very much.

[Shredder11]

Just wondering if you have done the three sys exc files yet?

[Etienne Rambert]

Not yet. I am very sorry. I don't know how. I used sequencers to do it. Now I have a different sequencer that I don't quite understand. I'm flying away for 4 days. I'll get MIDI Yolk when I get back.,But I don't know how to use that either.

 

Very sorry for the lateness.

[Shredder11]

That's ok and I also used to just hit record in my sequencer and then press bulk send on my synths. I actually have a backup done in this way from my Kawai K1r, but it does not work. However it also looks like the official .mid file from the Kawai website, in that it has very little data inside it and also does not work for me. I hope you did not find my instructions confusing, and I tried to make it as simple as possible. Anyway if you decide to just use your sequencer by hitting record, just set the tempo to a slow speed like 80bpm, so no errors are caused in the data. It will be three .mid files same as my other method. I've never used MIDI Yolk as I have never needed to, but I will look into it if you need me to.

[workstation M.I]

Hello

Im considering getting a Kawai K1r' date=' mainly as a back-up module and because it can be obtained fairly cheap these days.
However, Ive been scanning the net for some sound-samples without success. Does anyone here by any chance own one? I'd be much obliged if you could post a sample off it (im mainly interested in pads/strings) or maybe someone here has used it in their music?
Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Ricky Reject, Europe[/quote']Is this it?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hHnvEelX-Y