Here’s a layout I worked up for the Kawai K3m. In keeping with the spirit of the original synth module, where possible, I’ve used the same parameter labels and logical layout.
The purpose of this layout is two-fold. First, it is a control surface. Second, it is a bridge between the CC messages your hardware MIDI control surface sends (or DAW, for that matter) and the sysex messages that your K3m receives. There are some additional features, as well as some limitations that require some explanation.
-- There are three X/Y pads to control different parameters. A second page in Bank 2 has an additional two X/Y pads, making a total of five. If course, these can be customized to work with different parameters of your choice.
-- For convenience, there are note "keys", a HOLD toggle button, pitch bender and modulation (vibrato) "wheels" for playing sounds directly from the control surface.
-- In addition to knobs for selecting WAVE I and WAVE 2, there are individual selection buttons for SAW, SQUARE, SINE, NOISE and USER waves, which correspond with waves #30, 29, 31, 33 and 32, respectively. (NOTE: Whether the button is lit or not, the wave will only be selected if it was the last button pressed. For example, if you select SAW, but then turn the wave selection knob, the SAW wave will no longer be selected, but the SAW button will remain lit. This is a limitation of MIDI Designer.)
-- Tone Patches may be selected by sliding the crossfader, or incrementally, via the selection buttons to the left. Patches 1-50 correspond with the internal patches of the K3m; patches 51-100 are the patches on the cartridge. (NOTE: I don't have a cartridge, so I was unable to test this functionality. If someone is able to test this, please let me know.)
-- It is possible to send the currently displayed value of all parameters on the MIDI Designer layout by pressing the two SEND ALL buttons. To successfully do so, however, it is necessary to push both SEND ALL buttons at least 5 times each. The K3m can't receive all parameter changes at once, so it takes multiple tries before all values on the synth module will match those on the layout. (The K3m best receives patch data as one sysex data package, rather than as multiple individual sysex parameter changes.) One further limitation is that only the value of the Wave Selection knobs (not the individual SAW/SQUARE/... buttons) is sent to the K3m. So, for example, if you want the wave to remain a SAW, you have to re-select SAW after pressing the SEND ALL buttons.
-- It is also possible to save patches programmed from the layout control surface as one of twenty "Presets" within MIDI Designer. After recalling a preset, the SEND ALL buttons must be pressed at least five times, and the SAW/SQUARE... button(s) re-selected, if necessary (as previously explained). If it's a patch you really, really don't want to lose, then just save it directly to the K3m (or cartridge), because the functionality of recalling presets is a bit sketchy. (This is not a limitation of MIDI Designer, but of the K3m's ability to receive sysex parameter data all at once from an external source.)
-- As you will notice, there is no MONO selection button. That is because it's not possible to externally select MONO as an individual parameter. The K3m will receive MONO only as part of a sysex patch data package. The best way to work around this (without touching the K3m's front panel) is to select a patch that you know is a MONO patch and then program everything else from the MIDI designer layout. It would work best if there were two "Initialized" patches saved on the K3m as a starting point; one MONO, one Poly (i.e., MONO deselected).
---Grab Some Knobs and Sliders(!)---
Using the Pedalboard feature in MIDI Designer, it is possible to assign hardware knobs, sliders and buttons to the K3m. The pedalboard under each page layout has controllers assigned to most parameters. Edit controllers on the Pedalboard by assigning CC (or NRPN) messages to them, using the “Learn” feature under the “MIDI” tab. Once assigned, the hardware knob can control, for example, the CUTOFF frequency on the K3m. Currently, the parameters are mapped to the knobs and sliders on my Roland GAIA :)
If you want to play notes from an external keyboard, you need some kind of MIDI merger to merge your note messages with the MIDI Designer output (MIDI Designer doesn’t do MIDI Thru). My solution has been MIDI Bridge for iPad ($8.99). (Another solution, I suppose, would be to create a key for each note on the Pedalboard, but-- why??? Just merge!)
Presumably this layout will work for the K3 (the keyboard version of the same synth), but I don’t own one, so I can’t test it out. If you own a K3, I’d like to hear how it works for you.
