Korg Kaossilator - The Kaossilation Station » Hacks & Undocumented Features

Korg Kaossilator Diagnostic Mode Hack

Kaptain Kaossilator — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:51:11 +0000

Not really a hack, but here’s how to boot the Korg Kaossilaor into diagnostic mode that runs through a series of tests to make sure the Kaossilator is working as it should.

Press down the SCALE and the TAP/BPM buttons while holding in the GATE ARP button and switch the unit on. The Kaossilator is now in diagnostic mode and he display will show the firmware version (currently 1.00).
Press SCALE. The display will change to read “int” followed by a sequence from t2.2 to t4.6 while the Kaossilator plays a test tone through the left channel, then the right channel and then both. The sequence ends with all LEDs illuminated.
Press TAP/BPM to initiate the LCD display test. Each display element is illuminated in turn.
Press TAP/BPM again and the display reads “TAP”.
Press TAP/BPM one more time and the Loop Status LED lights up red while the display reads “S.on”.
Press SCALE and the Loop Status LED turns green.
Press LOOP REC/PLAY and the Loop Status LED turns off and the GATE ARP LED turns on.
Press GATE ARP and the LED turns off, while the display changes to read “EnC”.
Press TAP/BPM again and the display changes to a zero.
Turn the rotary dial to scroll through a numerical readout from 0 to 999 or down to -99.

So there you go. It’s not the most exciting thing you can do with a Kaossilator, but if you’re a Kaossilator geek then it’s probably of interest. Go on, try it…

Korg Kaossilator Battery Mode Hack

Kaptain Kaossilator — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:05:39 +0000

Here is a very quick and easy hack to access another undocumented feature of the Korg Kaossilator. This one gives you an approximate indication of the battery life status. Simply hold down the TAP / BMP and LOOP REC / PLAY buttons while pressing the GATE ARP button and switch the Kaossilator on. The display will ready “bat” to indicate that you are in battery status mode. When you release the buttons the display will then read “Hi” or “Lo”, depending on the condition of your batteries.

It’s not pinpoint accurate, but if you’re on the road it gives you a good indication of whether you need to pick up another set of batteries to keep on groovin’.

Kaossilator 4 Bar Loop Hack

Kaptain Kaossilator — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:31:15 +0000

One of the most fun things about Korg Kaossilator is its ability to record a loop, building up layer upon layer of groovy goodness as you play over the top of the last groove you put down to memory. For many however the Kaossilator’s two bars, or eight beats, just isn’t long enough to work their musical magic. If you wish you had just a little bit longer to play with then what you need is the undocumented Four Bar Loop Hack.

Widely describer on the internet the Korg Kaossilator Four Bar Loop Hack extends the available memory to accommodate four bars, or 16 beats, rather than the standard two bars. Unfortunately this comes at the expense of the undo feature, which means everything you play is committed to the final groove, but with a bit of concentration this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Basically the Kaossilator extends the loop length by utilising the area of memory usually used to buffer your unsaved loops.

So how is it done?

With the Tap and Loop Rec buttons pressed and held down, switch the unit on.
When you see the LED displaying DLY this confirms you are in bufferless mode, so release the Tap and Loop Rec buttons.
Press the Tap and Loop Rec buttons together again, putting the Kaossilator into loop adjustment mode.
Turn the rotary selection dial one click clockwise, extending the loop length from two bars to four. The display should change from L8 to L16 to confirm this.

That’s it – simple huh? Now you’ve got twice as much audio real estate to play with. Go forth and groove!