The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Hi Ed,

I had a major workstation crash on Wednesday, and I just got to this ...

>> Hasn\ufffdt anybody got any idea how to fix this?
>> Very irritating.
>> Anybody done synth maintenance - this is hardly an1x specific stuff.
>
>Bruce... do you want to handle this one?  ;-)
>
>(Bruce Wahler, a member of this list, has done much more work on synths than
>me.)
>
>But I'll tell you what I know anyway.
>It's hard.  Really hard to fix keyboard mechanisms.  They're hard to get to
>inside the unit, therefore you usually have to pull out the whole key
>assembly sub-chassis.  Then the method each manufacturer uses to detect the
>key press differs... but usually it's via membrane switches - the same kind
>of thing as on your cell phone.  Not very sturdy, and not easy to repair
>once the membrane or rubber or whatever gets bad.
>
>That's the bad part.  The good part is that if the membrane stuff is still
>good then the problem is likely that the pressure pads need cleaning.  But
>that's still bad because it usually involves removing each key seperately to
>be able to get to the part that needs cleaning.

That's a pretty good synopsis of what goes on inside the keyboard of most electronic instruments.  There are four things that can happen:

1) The membrane switches can wear out (not very common).

2) The little plastic "strikers" (my term) on the bottoms of the keys that press the switches can wear down a bit.  The mechanical tolerances are pretty tight, so that one of them hits before the other, allowing the velocity to be clocked.  The solution is usually to replace the key; sometimes you can swap it with another one, and everything starts working again.

3) Dirt, fuzz, etc. can clog up the striker/switch interface.  A little TLC can work wonders.

4) The connectors can loosen up, which can appear as many other issues.  Re-seating the connectors often clears this up.


Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions\ufffd   http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389  voice/fax
bruce@...