Kenton Pro-SOLO MkII User Manual

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Single channel MIDI-CV converter

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MK II

MK II

MK IIMK II

Operating manual

INTRODUCTION

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Congratulations on your purchase. The PRO SOLO mkII is much more than just a

MIDI to CV converter, incorporating a built in LFO as well as portamento functions.
Please take some time out to read through all the manual to avoid any oper ational
difficulties.

CONNECTIONS

To the MIDI In

of your other

MIDI keyboard

MIDI out

MIDI Master

keyboard/computer

MIDI

In

MIDI In

Plug your MIDI keyboard or sequencer`s MIDI Out into here.

MIDI Thru

Plug this into the MIDI In of another piece of your MIDI equipment should it be necessary.

CV

Plug this into your mono-synth`s input marked CV In, VCO In, KEY VOLT KYBD In, etc. This
controls the pitch of your synth.

GATE

Plug this into your mono-synth`s input marked GATE, V-trig, Trig, S-Trig, etc. This turns the note
on and off on your synth.

AUX

Plug this into your mono-synth`s input marked VCF, fcM, PWM, VCA, Filter, Volume, or any
other external control voltage input. This enables you to control effects such as filter cut-off
from MIDI controllers (Velocity, mod wheel, etc.).
Note; not all mono-synths have additional control inputs.

9V DC

Plug your power adapter into here. The converter will take an adapter with an output of 9
volts DC regulated or unregulated, centre +ve. We recommend a Kenton power supply
which is made especially for the PRO-SOLO but any plug-top supply can be used as long as
the output is 9 volts DC.

WARNING - Do not use an adaptor with an output voltage higher than 9V. The SOLO must not share an adaptor
with any other device. Failure to observe this will invalidate your warranty, and will probably damage the other
device, the PRO-SOLO and/or the pow er supply.

Filter, Gate, C

MIDI
Thru

Gate, CV

PRO SOLO

UX,

nalogue

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nth

9 volt external
power adapter

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EDITING THE PRO-SOLO mkII

Switching On

When the PRO-SOLO is switched on, the words KENTON PRO-SOLO scroll across the display.

The Display

The display has 3 digits each with a dot above. The 1st dot when lit indicates that PARAMETER
mode is currently selected. The middle dot when lit indicates that VALUE mode is currently
selected. The 3rd dot will light whenever the PRO-SOLO`s GATE is on (key pressed down).

Parameter mode

Minus

Value
mode

Gate On

Stepping Through Parameters

Ensure that the PARAMETER dot is lit. If you need to, you can change between PARAMETER
and VALUE modes by briefly pressing the SELECT button, you can then use the INC and DEC
buttons to scroll through the available parameters. The available parameters are printed on
the case of the Pro-SOLO for convenience. For additional confirmation, a “P” will appear in
the left digit when parameter mode is selected.

Changing Values

Ensure that the VALUE dot is lit. You can change between PARAMETER and VALUE modes by
briefly pressing the SELECT button. You can then use the INC and DEC buttons to scroll through
the available values. The left digit is used for displaying the hundreds portion of the value if
applicable. It will also have a horizontal dash if a minus value is to be displayed. Minus values
up to –127, or positive values up to 255 are used.

Speeding up editing

If you press and hold the INC key, then also hold the DEC key, the value will increase faster. If
you press and hold the DEC key then also hold the INC key, the value will decrease faster.

Storing Set-ups

The set-ups can be stored in non-volatile memory. To do this, press & hold the SELECT button
(for approx. 6 seconds) till the display reads `st` (store).

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PARAMETERS

Below is a list of parameters available to edit. The letters in square brackets show [where

applicable] what will be shown in thevalue display.

Menu
number Parameter (default)

01 MIDI receive channel (default :1)

Range 1 to 16

- Sets the MIDI receive channel.

02 Multiple trigger (default: on)

Range on [on] / off [of]

- If set to on (multiple trigger mode), a new valid note will briefly turn off the gate to retrigger
the envelope generators of the mono-synth. If turned off (normal trigger mode), the gate
stays on when a new note is played.

03 Note priority (default: new)

The following can be selected;
Low note priority [lo]
High note priority [hi]
New note priority [nn]

- Sets the note priority for the converter.
If set to "lo" then the lowest valid note played takes precedence.
If set to "hi" then the highest valid note played takes precedence.
If set to "nn" then the newest valid note played takes precedence.
The PRO-SOLO has a note buffer memory so that trill effects can be achieved.

04 Pitchbend range (default: 2)

Range 0 to 12 semitones.

- The pitch bend range can be changed in semitone steps.

05 Portamento controller number (default: 65)

- Sets which MIDI controller will turn on/off the portamento function.
The following can be selected;
Auto portamento [AU] normally off but legato playing turns portamento on

On [on] always on
Off [of] always off
Program change [PC] program 1=on program 2=off
MIDI controllers #0 to 120 values above midway=on, below midway=off

The standard MIDI controller for portamento on/off is #65 which is the default, but with this
command , the PRO-SOLO allows you to use another controller, a program change, direct
control or Auto Portamento if you wish.

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06 Portamento time / rate (default :98)

Range 0 to 127

- Sets the portamento (glide or slide) time. This can also be adjusted in real time over MIDI
using controller #5 (portamento time). Please note that 0 does not mean portamento off ­to turn portamento off (if it is on) set portamento controller (7) to off.

07 Portamento type (default : fixed rate)

The following can be selected:
Fixed rate [Fr]
Fixed time [Ft]

- Fixed rate causes the portamento to slide at the rate set in 06, so that the slide time is
proportional to the interval between the start and finish notes.

- Fixed time will attempt to keep the time t aken for the slide to be constant, regardless of the
interval between the start and finish notes. (In extreme cases this is not always possible)

08 LFO to CV controller number (default: 1)

The following can be selected;
Off [Of]
Pitch bend [Pb]
Velocity [VL]
Aftertouch [Af]
MIDI controllers 0 to 120

09 LFO to CV minimum value (default: 0)

Range 0 to 127

- Sets the level for LFO to CV modulation when the MIDI controller source is at its minimum.

10 LFO to CV maximum value (default: 127)

Range 0 to 127

- Sets the level for LFO to CV modulation when the MIDI controller source is at its maximum.
Note that minimum can be set above maximum so that the controller works backwards.

11 LFO to CV reset value (default: 0)

Range 0 to +127

- Sets the level the LFO to CV modulation will reset to when the PRO-SOLO is powered on or
when it receives a controller reset MIDI command.

12 Coarse Tune / Transpose (default: 0)

Range -24 to +24

- Changing this will change the tuning of the mono-synth in semi-tone steps. If your synth
does not play C when you play a MIDI C (note#36), use this to make it as near as possible.

13 Fine tune (default: 0)

Range -127 to +127 (approximately a semitone each way)

- Fine tunes the mono-synth.

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14 Scale (default: 0)

Range -127 to +127

- This is used to tune in the octave scaling of your analogue synth. Will only need adjusting if
your synth sounds out of tune as you play further up the keyboard (see `Tuning in Your
Analogue Synth`). - Check whether CV select has been set correctly (see `15` below).
nb: C (MIDI note#36) will not move (assuming transpose is not in operation) so get that in tune
first then tune the octave above using this parameter.

15 CV – Hz/V – 1.2V/oct select (default: CV)

- this shoud be set to V/oct [CV] for connecting to most synths, such as Roland, SCI, Octave,
Oberheim or Moog synths. Set it to Hz/V [Hz] if you are using either Yamaha or Korg mono­synths (except the Monopoly which is volt per octave). A very small number of synths use 1.2
volts per octave [12] (one tenth of a volt per semitone) – in which case select this option.

16 Gate type select (default: G-)

- you can select the following types for the GATE output;
Gate V-Trig low (+5v) [g, middle LED bar]

Gate V-Trig high (+15v) [g, upper LED bar]

Gate is the most common signal used for telling a synth when to play its note. The high level
Gate is suitable for most synths, such as Roland, SCI, ARP, Oberheim. The low level gate may
be needed for synths that require a lower gate voltage such as the SH-101.

S-trig no pull-up [S, lower LED bar]
This would be used for most Moogs & Korgs, and some Yamaha synths instead of Gate.
S-trig low pull-up [S, middle LED bar]

S-trig high pull-up [S, upper LED bar]
These would be used on some of the Yamaha CS range of synths instead of Gate.

NB – The Pro-SOLO mkII has an internal charge pump and so can generate gate voltages up
to +15 volts even though the power adaptor is only 9 volts!

20 AUX 1 controller number (default: 16)

- Sets which MIDI controller will control the auxiliary output. The following can be selected:
Clock [CL]

Trig Pulse [tr]
Off [Of]
Pitch bend [Pb]
Velocity [VL]
Aftertouch [Af]
MIDI controllers 0-120

If trig pulse is selected, the aux output will send a short trigger pulse whenever a valid new
MIDI note is received – this can be used to drive the envelope generator on synths that
require a separate trigger for this. (Only usually needed by the Arp 2600 and a few modulars)

If clock is selected, the clock divide ratio (para #41) controls the relationship with MIDI clock.
Set Aux min value to 0 and max to 50, or to produce an inverted output set min value to 50
and max to 0

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