1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. ISLA Instruments Manuals
  4. Music Equipment
  5. KordBot
  6. User manual

ISLA Instruments KordBot User Manual

Hide thumbs Also See for KordBot:
Table of Contents

Advertisement

Quick Links

Download this manual
User Guide

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the KordBot and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel

Related Manuals for ISLA Instruments KordBot

Summary of Contents for ISLA Instruments KordBot

  • Page 1 User Guide...
  • Page 3 User Guide Copyright © 2017 ISLA Instruments. All Rights Reserved. www.islainstruments.com Revised 9.20.2017...

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    Contents Power Up ..........................6 Play Modes .
  • Page 6 KordBot Common Built In Functions........
  • Page 7 Midi Clock Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Midi In Ports .

  • Page 8: Power Up

    After powering up your KordBot unit you should see the screen shown in Figure 1 . This is the main menu screen from which all KordBot functions are accessed . Rotary Encoder A is used to navigate to the desired icon .
  • Page 9 Encoders Figure 2 If you wish to store an inversion of the chord, press the INVERSION key AND the up . Also, the display will show the note name, octave and chord type played . This appears in the bottom status line, to the left of the mode indicator (Key + MOD) . SHIFT key and then press the MEM pad you want to save the inversion to .

  • Page 10: Play Modes - Diatonic Mode

    Em (third key on the top row in the default Diatonic mode) chord and The default key and scale rows on the KordBot are C Major, G Yo, C Natural Minor (Aeolian mode) and Ab Blues . The default progression for each row is also the de- then wanted to save the first inversion of that chord, press f1, SHIFT and then fault for that scale type .

  • Page 11: Progression Suggestion

    These keys are held and the user’s finger activates the notes by using the touch sen- sitive slider strip on the right of the KordBot . The touch strip responds to 12 zones To save the chord as a template play the desired chord (the chord’s key note will be which are capacitance sensors .

  • Page 12: Play Modes - Polyphonic Keys

    0 and the U or Up arpeggio style is used . melody at the same time on yet another MIDI channel . The KordBot was de- signed to be flexible and configurable for most things you can imagine .

  • Page 13: File Manager

    Once formatted, the SD card needs to be prepared with necessary files for KordBot to successfully work with the card . While you can add folders and store other data on the SD card, it is recommended that you devote an SD card to just KordBot use . Save / Load System Data The KordBot uses an SD card as an external storage drive .

  • Page 14: Saving System Data

    Ok and the system will begin load- ing the files . When KordBot is done, you will see a load confirmation message . Next, use encoder E to select >New Category and enter a name for the new project .

  • Page 15: Settings

    MIDI channel settings is also available in this menu . not already there . Select the key you wish to change by pressing it on the KordBot . The circle representing that key on-screen will turn white, indicating it has been Three builders also live here .

  • Page 16: Changing Note Keys

    . The two pedal inputs at the rear of the KordBot are configured with this screen . The A smaller subset of the MIDI CC messages are available because the list is limited input labeled “F .

  • Page 17: Arpeggio Builder

    0 would be “C” . Position 1 would contain the “E” and posi- tion 2 the “G” . Internally, the KordBot adds the octave to the top of the chord, so position 3 has the C an octave higher than the position 0 note . This is calculated ‘behind the scenes’...

  • Page 18: Using The Arpeggio Builder

    is chosen, the sequence is 4,3,2,1,0,4,3,2,1,0 . For the “UD” or “up/down” style chord note sequence, f2 for velocity or f3 for rhythm . Encoder A’s rotary knob is it would first run up then down as in 0,1,2,3,4,3,2,1,0,1,2,3,4 . Note that in this used to move the edit cursor back and forth .

  • Page 19: Editing Rhythm Patterns (Purple)

    . So if you ‘push’ note position 3 to the left by one eighth note, the KordBot does the math automatically and adds an eighth note on the other side . This For the time being, this screen will be used in conjunction with the Diatonic mode ensures that the next note knows where the quarter note beat is .
  • Page 20 . Alternatively, you can pick a starting point and just press NOTE keys, and the KordBot will advance to the next slot (wrapping back to the start, if necessary) . Pressing the f1 key will delete the note in the current slot, leaving a blank which can then be filled by pressing a different NOTE key .

  • Page 21: Kordbot Common Built In Functions

    Chord spread Increases or decreases the number of chord notes played by the KordBot. Each chord has a minimum number of notes – for triads, there are 3 notes (plus the octave). For seventh chords, for instance, there are 4 notes plus the octave. Internally, there are up to three octaves available at a time.

  • Page 22: Midi Cc

    This means if it’s a triad, there will be 4 notes to play . For a seventh chord, for instance, it knows there are 5 notes to play . Therefore, without EVEN turned on, the KordBot will play the arpeggio type “U” for each of those chords as follows:...

  • Page 23: Arp Note Pat

    Midi In/Out Ports An alternative to the Settings menu MIDI routing screen Midi Sync Int/Ext Allows the KordBot to receive MIDI beat clock (MBC) messages and adjust its internal tempo to match . INT / EXT Q notes/measure Future use – will allow the user to select 3 or 4 quarter notes per virtual measure .

  • Page 24: Turn Changes

    Diatonic Progression Editing Turn Changes The process is exactly the same for the turn functions except that to start the process, use SHIFT and press the encoder you want to change . The Diatonic Mode (along with the Diatonic Strum mode) is a great wonderland of magical music exploration .

  • Page 25: Diatonic Theory

    Intervals are sort of like a basic unit in the diatonic world . Any two notes are There are a number of scales available in the KordBot . 48 to be exact, with an- related by some pitch difference . If we press the lowest note C, for instance, other 10 slots available for advanced scale building .

  • Page 26: Chords

    A Natural Minor Scale Now we have enough information to create Diatonic Progressions, as in the KordBot Diatonic mode . Our example will be in C Major just to make things 1 whole half whole 4 whole half whole whole a bit easier .

  • Page 27: Appendix X - Midi Continuous Controller Values

    NRPN and RPN MSB used in conjunction with CC 38 and CC's 96 - 101 LSB (sort of like fine tuning control) for CC 7 Channel volume . Default for the KordBot expression pedal input LSB (sort of like fine tuning control) for CC 8 Stereo balance .
  • Page 28 CC# Description CC# Description Sostenuto switch On/Off NRPN MSB . Non-registered Parameter Number MSB . You'll know if you need it Soft Pedal switch On/Off RPN LSB . Registered Parameter Number LSB . You'll know if you need it Legato switch On/Off RPN MSB .

Table of Contents