To update the KeyStep 37 firmware, please do as below:
- Open the MIDI Control Center
- If your KeyStep 37 is not up to date, you will be prompted with the following pop-up
- Click on Install
- Click OK and wait for the update process to complete>
Not prompted with the “New firmware available” pop-up?
- Head to the firmware revision button and click on it.
- Click on Download Latest or Upgrade from File
- If you clicked "Upgrade from File", select the firmware file
- Wait for the update process to complete
The firmware file can be found on the KeyStep 37 resources page .
The KeyStep 37 can be synced with 4 different clock modes:
- INTERNAL
- USB
- MIDI
- SYNC IN
The KeyStep 37 supports 5 different analog clock rates:
- 1 STEP GATE
- 1 STEP CLOCK
- 1 PULSE (KORG)
- 24 PPQ (Pulses per quarter note)
- 48 PPQ
The clock sync rates can be modified through the MIDI control center.
More details on our article: keystep - how to synchronize my keystep with an analog clock
To change the master clock source, you have to use the “Dip Switches” in the back panel.
Warning: Remember to always reboot your KeyStep 37 after any clock source change.
-
INTERNAL MODE
In this mode, the KeyStep 37 generates the source clock and is accordingly master of your setup.
The clock is sent through:
- USB
- MIDI out
- Sync out
You can use this mode to play your sequences or Arpeggios from the KeyStep 37 on your favorites synths & virtual plugins.
-
USB MODE
In USB mode, your KeyStep 37 is now slave of the MIDI clock coming from MIDI-USB.
Master clock can be generated by your favorite DAW, and must be routed to the KEYSTEP USB MIDI input.
-
MIDI
In MIDI mode, your KeyStep 37 is slaved by the clock coming from an external MIDI device through MIDI Din.
The device can be a synth or a drum machine, assuming that the device generates a MIDI clock.
You have to plug a MIDI Din cable from the MIDI OUT of your MIDI device to the MIDI IN of your KeyStep 37.
-
SYNC IN
This mode allows you to set the source clock on an external device, which generates an analog clock.
We have adapted the DIN SYNC standard on TRS 3.5 mm cables, as described in the picture below
You have to plug a 3.5mm TRS Jack cable from sync out of your device to the sync input of your KeyStep 37.
A new Scale option allows you to play notes in an existing sequence in one of five different scales:
- Chromatic
- Major
- Minor
- Blues
- User
The Scale Root feature enables you to define a new root for each of these scales.
As a user, you can create and recall a fifth scale.
For Major, Minor, and Blues scales, you can select a new root note by pressing Shift + Scale key then selecting a new root in the first octave of the keyboard.
As long as you keep holding down the Scale key, pressing a key will update the root note.
The currently active root note will be shown with its LED lit up continuously in blue.
Everything – what you play on the keyboard, a running arpeggio, the currently selected sequence – will play in that scale.
To hear (and see) the effect of selecting a scale on your KeyStep 37, switch it ON if it isn't on already and select a preset on your external synth with a fairly simple sound.
To activate Chord Mode hold Shift + press Hold.
The Chord button on the Chord / CC unit allows you to enable the shaping of the chord that will play then when pressing a single key.
The mighty four knobs are:
TYPE
Turn it to cycle through a list of 11 predefined chords.
The twelfth entry is yours to define, you can store your own magic chord there.
NOTES
This knob allows you to control how many notes of the chord will sound.
You can stack a huge eight note chord and then use the note knob to control how many of them will sound!
VEL > NOTES
Lets you control how many notes of the chord will sound dynamically!
It works in tandem with the NOTES knob:
The number of notes that will sound is dependent on the velocity you have programmed or recorded in a step or played on the keyboard
- When playing with low velocity only the root and the lowest notes in the chord will play.
- With increased velocity more notes will sound.
STRUM
Allows you to spread the notes of the generated chord in time.
The knob has four zones:
- Turning the knob clockwise, the lowest notes of the chord will sound first and the higher notes in the chord will be delayed.
- Turning the knob counter-clockwise will have the reverse effect: the highest notes in the Chord will sound first.
- In the lower two zones the strum is quantized to the current tempo.
You will find below the full Shift functions chart: