About auto-calibration: keep hands away on boot up:
Every time you boot up the 218e, the keyboard auto-calibrates to it’s
environment. That means that if a finger is near a key when you turn it on, that
key will be desensitized to your finger. For instance, if you are holding on the
keyboard area when you plug in a LEM218 (which does not have a power
switch), several keys may seem to fail to function at all. Considered holding
the LEM218 from the top.
Troubleshooting: It is true that moisture and grounding can also affect the
detection of your finger. Experiment with touching ground or moistening your
finger. Accessorizing with a fashionable grounding strap shouldn’t be
necessary, but that works. Or experiment with “pressure” sensitivity in
configuration mode. None of these procedures should be necessary in a
typical environment, but the 218e is not a typical keyboard.
Additional 218e settings: Configuration mode*
To
enter configuration mode, hold the first two preset pads
until they
both flash twice
. (The 4
th
preset pad LED 4 will start flashing.)
Assigning Internal MIDI bus output (with Preset knob 1):
In this configuration mode, the illumination of the four preset pads indicates
the internal MIDI bus assignment. The 218e boots up unassigned. Assign it to
an internal bus by turning preset knob 1 through selections: none, A, B, C, D,
A+B, C+D, A+B+C+D.
(
Note:
The AuxCard oscillator listens to internal
bus C.)
Other Buchla modules that can respond to the internal MIDI bus from
the 218e include 261e, 259e, 281e/h, and 292e/h.
Velocity adjustment for internal bus and MIDI output of LEM218:
In configuration mode, preset knobs 2 and 3 adjust the minimum and
maximum velocity values: Knob 2 is the minimum; knob 3 is the maximum. If a
constant velocity value is desired, set the minimum higher than the maximum.
In other words, If knob 2>3, then the velocity will always be the value set by 2.
Pressure sensitivity is set by preset knob 4.
Exit configuration mode the same way you entered the mode
: hold preset
pads 1 and 2 until they flash twice.
Note: These settings are temporary. They will not be saved and will
require re-setting on the next power cycle.