Hi Jill, and other Matrix-6/-6R owners,
Having owned my M-6 since 1986, I've learned a lot about its quirks. One of those is the tuning... At times it seems to be permanently out of tune, and hitting the TUNE button doesn't seem to bring it back.
There IS a solution. The first thing is to let the Matrix warm up for about 10-15 minutes before trying to tune it, as temperature changes will affect tuning (How's THAT for analog-iness
). Once it is warm, go to the MASTER section, select Parameter #52 (CALIBRATION) and affirm that you want to calibrate it. On the Matrix-6, move both Pitch and Mod. levers back and forth from stop to stop a couple of times, then let them come to rest at their respective "zero" positions. This will guarantee that the calibration procedure sees the levers at zero.
Calibration will take about 10 seconds or so. Near the end, you may hear the filters being swept very faintly - that's normal. When finished, the display will return to "Calibrate Y/N
" And now, hit that TUNE button again... It could take a try or two to get the Matrix into perfect tune - but it should go there, barring any internal problems.
Now that you've got the Matrix in tune, you can further "analogue" it by introducing pitch variations. One of the most analog-y effects is the tendency of VCOs to go flat at higher frequency. If you want this, then turn Off Keyboard Tracking on one of the DCOs. Now go to the MATRIX MODULATION page, and set KYBD to modulate that same DCO to "62" (Normal KYBD tracking would be "63"); this will give you that slight flat pitch at upper freq's.
You can also simulate dirty key contacts/jumpy oscillators by using one of the LfOs, set at SPEED "0" (to very slightly modulate one of the DCO's pitches via the MATRIX MOD page. (The "0" setting will change pitch only when a key is pressed, and a RANDOM LfO setting will give you a very slight shift on each new note).
Hope that this will help any and all of you out. I've not worked with the M-1000, so I don't remember if it has the same calibration/tuning capabilities, but if so, the above should work.
HAPPY SYNTHING!
Dave Garfield - Colorado, USA
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...I agree with how nice the MOD paddles are on the Oberheims, but
that was the reason I let my Matrix-6s go, it started never landing back
in tune, and no one could come up with a replacement pot that would work
right so now I have wheels on everything except the Roland...
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