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Yamaha kx5
Nomad Posted: 21 Apr 2018, 05:32 PM
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Hello everyone.
Can someone please tell me if the Yamaha kx5 can control the Leslie speed on a Hammond SK1?
It's just a on off button for slow and fast.
Thanx....Nomad

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mit Posted: 21 Apr 2018, 06:02 PM
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yeah whatever

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Hi.

The Yamaha KX5 is pretty limited in what MIDI commands it can send, it has three knobs: CC1 (modulation), CC5 (portamento), CC7 (volume) and two buttons: CC64 (sustain) and CC65(portamento on/off). It can also send on CC2 when a breath controller is connected.

In addition it can only transmit on MIDI channels 1 and 2.

I've never used a Hammond SK1 but I just googled for the manual. Page 140 has the MIDI implementation, looks like Leslie speed is controlled by CC92, so I guess that means the answer to your question is no.

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Nomad Posted: 21 Apr 2018, 07:29 PM
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Thanx for getting back to me and thank you for the info. It answered my question very well. Can I use the two unused pins on the midi cable to trigger the Leslie in my SK1? I use a pedal for that now in a 1/4 jack. Does the KX5 use those pins for the battery? If so will the kx5 work ok without the battery disconnect? Would the batteries just go dead when not in use? Could the pins be used without disconnecting them from the battery?
I would only be using those two pins when the cable is plugged in. Thanx fior any help you may have...Nomad

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mit Posted: 21 Apr 2018, 08:57 PM
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yeah whatever

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The KX5 does not use those two pins for anything normally, they are connected to the battery on my modified one so that I could power it over the cable. You should be able to use those wires for anything you like.

Alternatively you could set something up that maps one of the existing controls to the correct one for the leslie speed.

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Nomad Posted: 21 Apr 2018, 09:53 PM
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I misunderstood.... I was thinking kx5 made use of those pins so that when when the din plug was taken out the batteries were disconnected. So just a simple momentary button on the kx5 wired to those two unused pins and a 1/4 plug on the other end to my Hammond and good to go. How would I go about the other thought you had?
-- Nomad


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mit Posted: 21 Apr 2018, 11:01 PM
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yeah whatever

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Yeah I'm pretty sure it's a completely separate switch that detects when the cable is unplugged.

The other method, you could plug the kx5 into a computer running a DAW or some other software which would then spit out the modified midi messages. I think there are also standalone units you can buy that do this sort of thing. Or, you could go all-out and modify the KX5 to have assignable controls like I did here.

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Nomad Posted: 23 Apr 2018, 05:42 PM
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WOW That's one grassy mod you did with the kx5! Must have taken hours of time to do that one.
I was thinking about using a wireless relay type thing for triggering the Leslie speed in my sk1 from my kx5. What do you think about that idea? Could if be done?
-- Nomad


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mit Posted: 23 Apr 2018, 06:49 PM
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yeah whatever

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It could work, but it depends how much you care about latency. If you don't mind a delay of about 0.4 seconds, you can use one of the "wireless relay" type devices which are very cheap on ebay, intended for open garage doors and so on.

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Nomad Posted: 24 Apr 2018, 09:14 PM
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I might give it a try. The latency thing wouldn't be too much of a problem. A Leslie takes time to wind up anyway.
Maybe a key fob transmitter on the kx5 (Velcro) and build the receiver inside the pedal that's already controlling
the Leslie speed via 1/4" input on the Hammond. This way there would be no holes drilled. Think this plan might work? -- Nomad

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Nomad Posted: 25 Apr 2018, 06:14 PM
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Here's another one. When I use my kx5 I sometimes want to use the "transpose" feature on my keyboard to take the pitch down a couple steps to play in one key and have the keyboard sound in a different key.When using the kx5 I have tried 5 different keyboards and the kx5 will not play in the transosed key but the keyboard does. I only have found one so far that it will work with is the Hammnd SK1. However the sk1 wont respond to volume via midi so can't use that board. Is there a reason why all the other boards won't sound in the transposed pitch? Thanx. --Nomad

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mit Posted: 25 Apr 2018, 09:37 PM
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yeah whatever

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That sounds like something specific to the keyboards you're trying. I don't think the MIDI standard says anything about whether changing the key on the target should change what key the midi data coming in is played at, some manufacturers decided to do it one way, some decided the other way.

Again the easiest solution, even if it is the most cumbersome, is to plug the KX5 into a computer running a DAW and have that output to the other keyboard.

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Nomad Posted: 25 Apr 2018, 10:40 PM
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Somehow tthe Hammond seems to take the incoming midi data and assigns it to different pitches when the transposer is used. So far I've tried some Roland's and other yamahas and a Casio too but they won't do it. I don't understand what the SK1 is doing with the incoming midi data and the others won't do it. Strange.
I found a quick fix for the Leslie speed thing. I just made the organs patches with slow and fast speeds and just switch between the two patches. Works great. So simple. That's why I overlooked it. Works nice because when I hit the fast speed patch the Leslie still winds like it should. What surprised me is that when I switch between patches with a key depressed the transition is very smooth and natural.
I know I could solve a lot of problems with the aid of the computer but I'm trying to avoid that. I used the computer for alot things in my studio but for my live rig I'd rather not do that.
--Nomad

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