Kurzweil K250 - Undocumented Functions

Undocumented Functions

• Mono Pressure - The User's Guide and Reference Manual indicates this feature is not available. However if the Kurzweil K250 is connected to a MIDI device not utilizing the Rock/Pop General MIDI standard (such as a real Church organ) this function can control the volume of that MIDI device independently of any other MIDI device connected utilizing the Rock/Pop General MIDI standard. This feature has been verified to work with Kurzweil 250 software version 6 by the author of this article.

• Channel Stealing - If the parameters for "Steal Ahead with Sustain" (Function 10 -> STL4) and "Steal Ahead without Sustain" (Function 10 -> STL5) are both set to 11 apiece it is possible for the Kurzweil K250 to produce more than 12 notes simultaneously with certain keyboard sounds despite the fact there are only twelve analog channels available. This feature has been verified to work with Kurzweil K250 software versions 5 and 6 by the author of this article.

• Sequence Chaining (natural, not silenced) using the on board sequencer without inserting a note release on the initiating sequence before chaining to the next sequence - This is very useful if chaining sequences which require note(s) to be held over from one sequence to another:
  • If the sequence being chained to contains a note release event corresponding to the note attack on the same track.
  • The track number utilized must be the same on both sequences.
  • Both tracks utilized must use the same keyboard setup during the period of time involved (the keyboard setup can change after the note release event).
  • Note: If utilizing MIDI OUT on the tracks involved undesired consequences may occur on the MIDI device connected as that device may not process the note release. This is because the MIDI device may not see a note release at the end of the first sequence involved possibly resulting in a hung note that may need to be reset manually. Some MIDI devices are able to accommodate this arrangement and others are not. It is possible to overcome this problem by utilizing this feature only for tracks not requiring MIDI and then if MIDI is required duplicate the track for MIDI only and insert a note release at the end of the first sequence (even though this may not produce a satisfactory result). This feature has been verified to work with Kurzweil 250 software versions 4, 5 and 6 by the author of this article.