NTS-1 Works GREAT with Keystep 37 Chord Mode!

NTS-1 Works GREAT with Keystep 37 Chord Mode!
The Korg NTS-1 is an incredible little monophonic synthesizer. However, with the Arturia Keystep 37's chord mode, we can squeeze even more out of the NTS-1! Using the strum feature of the 37 alongside some reverb and delay from the NTS-1, we can achieve some very lush sounding chords. Enjoy the video!
GEAR IN THIS VIDEO
Korg NTS-1: amzn.to/35G5SqS
Arturia Keystep 37: amzn.to/35F7ZLD
Zoom H5 (audio recorder): amzn.to/35EFWMr
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[@CoenBijpost]

I know you’re originally a drummer, but still, sus means it’s a suspended chord not a sustain chord. It means that the 3rd of the chord has either been lowered to the 2nd or raised to the 4th, making the chord ambiguous (neither major, nor minor). It creates “suspense” in the music. Great vid, btw. I really want a keystep, and this is pushing me dangerously close to buying the 37. The pro is so fantastic, but soooo expensive...

[@FreeBeat]

Sorry, I just misspoke lol. I've completed music theory through grade 12 at least so I've got the basics don't worry lol. For some reason the wrong word just escaped my mouth.

[@CoenBijpost]

@@FreeBeat 😂 Shit happens. Just read my comment back, was a little bit more judgemental than I’d intended. Should have added a smily here or there!

[@FreeBeat]

@@CoenBijpost Haha no worries!

[@GarlitoMc]

Please take your camera off auto focus! :) You know on almost every camera, if you go into the focus option and set your focus to a particular point, and then stays there !! It's very handy!

[@AnthonyGoodley]

Yea auto focus is rather distracting when it keeps hunting for focus.

[@akdm82]

Back in another video when you said the NTS-1 would be what you’d get first if you started over, I was laughing, but l decided to hear you out and you’ve convinced me. Ordered one today. Got it for $90 including shipping and tax. 😬

[@dnldr4386]

Just goes to show, whatever the synth, it's the effects added later that can really make a sound. Nice video and a great introduction to the keystep.

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah haha, I honestly didn't really understand the importance of effects until getting the NTS-1. They make all the difference!

[@otisflick]

Excellent video. Right to the point. No fluff! Gets me excited about my nts1 & 37.

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much!

[@trevord9811]

That is brilliant. I have the NTS-1 and the Keystep 37 is on my wishlist. Thanks for another great informative, intuitive and easy to follow video. How on earth do you manage a video a day I don't know but we are all the richer for you doing so.

[@FreeBeat]

Haha thank you so much! I'm very lucky in that my part-time "real job" takes place at the very same desk that my KZbin channel does lol.

[@TheMortyvicar]

Fantastic video. This has opened up a whole new world of inspiration for me now that I just picked up the keystep 37

[@FreeBeat]

Binging the Keystep 37 videos!

[@TheMortyvicar]

@@FreeBeat oh yes 👍🏻

[@wolframebbers1464]

Jep, that's a coole tool 👍 very nice

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@happyfarmer6823]

awesome the first time you hit strum it sounded like a 1970s PBS special 2:42 =)

[@wiggesobk]

This is really cool. The LEDs are very helpful.

[@FreeBeat]

I didn't think I would care about them that much, but and actually use they make a lot of difference!

[@TheBroDotTV]

Very nice!!!!

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks!

[@benjaminmarin1407]

Thanks for the video, i didn’t want to watch it because i have a regular Keystep 32, and thought this wouldn’t work, but I found out that if you put the keystep in arp mode you can do something similar, I hold the reverb button and move the knob in the right (Not sure if it’s Knob B) all the way to the right, then play chords on the keystep with arp and then it played chords, thank you for this video because I wouldn’t have thought about it

[@FreeBeat]

Oh wow, that's awesome. Thanks for sharing!

[@MariaCalfaDePaul]

At 4:20 you can start to feel a little jean m Jarre going on. Very cool. Just a side note I think the sus for the chord mode might mean suspended chord not sustain I could be wrong but in my mind it makes more sense. Great vid as always !!

[@KitR]

I need these ASAP

[@FreeBeat]

Do it!

[@Sadiquecat]

Damn, when the reverb hit in, it all made sense. What a great piece of kit :D

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah it's kind of dinky without the reverb hahaha

[@shoseinen]

I'm looking for saving presets from the Korg NTS-1, and starting with the settings you want... for now, i've found it's possible using a midi controller (it seems to be a list of specific controllers), but you need a cable called Retrokits RK002 smart midi cable, which has an internal memory

[@jasontovey8635]

Hi Free Beat, - can the nts-1 have the delay and reverb effects in use at the same time? Your content is super informative, great channel.

[@FreeBeat]

Yes it can! Thanks for watching :)

[@faceitnow3473]

I have a Keystep 37 and a NTS 1 I wanted to know if I select a Key group in MPC one and have the NTS 1 connected to my keystep will I be able to record to my MPC track? also How do I connect the NTS 1 to my keystep? and what else will I need if I add the Monotron? I really need some assistance here. LOL please reply if you can. Thanks Chico

[@triplebcellphoneking]

Sweet! That strum feature is AWESOME!!!!!!

[@FreeBeat]

It's so fun, the velocity to note feature that's really jumped out at me these past couple days, very inspiring!

[@triplebcellphoneking]

@@FreeBeat will DEFINITELY be adding this piece of hardware to the arsenal at some point but will happen!! Lol Can't wait for the next show, I am actually ready to share my own stuff and want to get one of my jams on the list before the show starts! Love those concerts always fun bro!!

[@work4synths]

Hi man! I wonder if it is possible to make the KS37, while in chord mode, play the notes more in a staccato way rather than legato. I’m asking this because it seems like the NTS-1 changes from one note to another without a sharp attack. I guess this will happen with most monophonic synths.

[@FreeBeat]

I don't believe there's any settings on the key step unfortunately. You could try to shape the sound a little tighter with the amp envelope on the NTS-1 though, but I'm not sure how far that would get you.

[@work4synths]

@@FreeBeat thanks for letting me know! I have the NTS-1 and also the Model D and I’m afraid it will be the same issue. I want to buy the KS37 but things like these are holding me back, hehe

[@benjaminmarin1407]

How about the Gate control? Presa Shift and go to 10%, but All the notes Will be short, maybe You just want some, anyway it might help

[@MrRudePolite]

I think these 2 pieces of gear are my most wanted of early 2021. Not even a month in to a new year and I already got gas. Typical 😩

[@mgrollins]

Wish I would have held out for this! I have the NTS-1 and Novation Launkpad mini MkIII. There's a chord mode but no strum control. The NTS-1 has an arp though. I like to combine the two sometimes - random on the keys and the arp on the NTS-1, sometimes latched sometimes not. Very easy to create mind blowing sonic spaces.

[@FreeBeat]

It's a pretty sweet combination, and the price point is pretty solid too. I'd probably recommend picking up the NTS-1 first, just in case there are any stock issues in the future!

[@amirpf]

I'm doing the same setup. But no sound comes out! What could be wrong? What is the setting on the keystep clock?

[@bilozone_music]

Very good idea to squeeze nice sounds out of the NTS-1! Unfortunately my NTS-1 makes strange noises, especially when some of the LEDs are blinking. Does this happen also to yours? How to avoid that?

[@FreeBeat]

I've never had that happen with mine, maybe try a different power supply or USB cable? Thanks for watching!

[@huslaa4188]

Does the programming changes only work with the artura midi controller or would it work with any keyboard with sliders and knobs ?

[@FreeBeat]

As long as you can freely assign your controllers knobs and faders and whatever else to custom cc's then it will work :)

[@limoizuku]

By any chance you know if this is possible to achieve in with a komplete Kontrol m32 instead of the arturia? Thanks in advance, great content, happy for your recent improvement, you deserve it!

[@FreeBeat]

Unfortunately it is not, the gear has to have dedicated sync jacks :-/ Thank you so much!

[@limoizuku]

@@FreeBeat Can it be done with a usb/midi hostbox maybe? Or through the mpc one? I got a bundle of volca fm + nts1 + po 20 + po 28 not long ago, I started watching your videos for the mpc one content, but I kept watching your other videos as well, you discovered me the synth world and the po world and I'm so grateful. Now I'm trying to figure out how to conect all my devices with each other..

[@Tyler-tf7ct]

What cable do you use to connect the keystep to the nts-1?

[@wiidlbeetle3857]

Wish I had a KS 37 now! All I have is the slim key.

[@FreeBeat]

The Slim key is an excellent place to start!

[@Connor_Sherlock]

i bought an old keystep a month before this thing came out and now i'm jealous! that being said i don't find chord modes useful unless they can quantize to scale (if the keystep ads that in a firmware update somehow i'd buy it immediately)

[@Connor_Sherlock]

holy shit i think it does have scale modes, i gotta sort my life out!!!

[@Connor_Sherlock]

demo: watch?v=-59bXqFVMf8

[@FreeBeat]

As you've discovered, it does indeed have scale modes haha. Thanks for watching!

[@amberruby4896]

Decided to cough up the dough and get a keystep, you can actually download an oscillator that mimics chords for the nts, no idea how it works but it sounds pretty good. I'm pretty sure it was free too 👍

[@FreeBeat]

I've actually used the oscillator before, just not on camera. It's pretty cool and it just adds to the versatility of the NTS-1! Thanks for watching :)

[@mattpark86]

Have you been able to map the knobs on the keystep to control the effects on the korg? Is that possible?

[@FreeBeat]

I honestly haven't tried it yet. That might be a fun video!

[@abelaze]

it works

[@jthorpe4droid]

That's a pretty sweet feature, not play with a keystep yet.

[@FreeBeat]

This is the one to get!

[@sammywarren3070]

Would you say this is basically like a Beatstep pro but without the extra cv outs and keys instead of pads ? I’m trying to decide what to get in place of my sq64 . That thing was full of bugs and I just didn’t take to the workflow

[@FreeBeat]

Not at all. For that, I would recommend looking at the Keystep Pro :)

[@sammywarren3070]

@@FreeBeat yeah unfortunately that’s just a bit too expensive for me right now and also too big I know it sounds crazy but I’m trying to keep it to a certain size and the Beatstep pro and keystep 37 are fine size wise but I’m just trying to figure out logistics…I think I may just go with a keystep 37 for now and use it for midi out to my NTS1 and then I have cv and sync for other synths . Does CV count as a midi track ?

[@FreeBeat]

@@sammywarren3070 There are no "tracks" on the Keystep 37 (or original Keystep). You can only control or sequence one thing at a time. So while you can connect multiple pieces of gear, they will only play the one sequence you have programmed.

[@sammywarren3070]

@@FreeBeat do could i control the NTS1 while syncing other gear and also use the CV on my Kastle synth?? I also have one of those star shaped headphone splitters that I’ve found transmits midi and clock sync . Not sure about cv

[@FreeBeat]

@@sammywarren3070 Yes you should be able to use it all at once, but you won't be able to sequence the gear separately.

[@neonblack211]

They used this technique alot on old video game consoles to simulate chords when the could do polyphonic stuff like on the commodore 64 and old macs I believe ans probably some of the old consoles

[@FreeBeat]

I didn't even think about it being used in older video games, makes a lot of sense! Thanks for watching :)

[@funwithforkz]

The strum feature reminds me of how chords are generated in lsdj. Each voice is monophonic so it plays a quick arpeggio and that's why chiptune chords sound so distinct. Just picked up an NTS-1 and I'm going to try using it as an effects processor for my gameboy. Still need to get used to lsdj's workflow though.

[@FreeBeat]

I bet that's going to sound awesome, thanks for watching!

[@___xyz___]

Wow. Old LSDj composer here. I bought the NTS-1 for the Microfreak, which without integrated effects is notoriously dry. Never even crossed my mind I could use it to process the sound of the gameboy. Admittedly, it would probably have to be a very light reverb, as LSDj running with all 4 channels is going to be pretty chaotic with delay and other modulation. It's sort of in the nature of the gameboy hardware that effects be programmed on a per channel basis, lest it get too messy because of the sample rate. But perhaps hooking the NTS-1 into a controller, it would be possible to use its modulation for ornamentation, like a sampler would. This is a great idea. Thank you for sharing!

[@Jaymoskii]

So.. how do you turn off the chord mode?

[@FreeBeat]

With chord mode on, turn the leftmost encoder all the way to the left. At least that's what I think it is (not in the studio atm).

[@DJbace1]

Do i need computer for these two to work?

[@FreeBeat]

No you do not :)

[@DJbace1]

@@FreeBeat whoa what adapter would i need? would the one that the sq-1 came with work?

[@walrtbstudios5430]

Keystep 37 into Make Noise 0-Coast into NTS-1- makes infinity look puny...

[@FreeBeat]

Oh I bet that would sound insane!

[@MrStevem121]

1:01 Korg mode? :D

[@FreeBeat]

Hahahah nice catch!

[@williamsutter695]

That’s a suspended chord…