My aftertouch is broken - confirmed with a series of tests that Elektron support walked me through via email. Their suggestion is to replace the keybed. I’d love to do the repair myself (still waiting to see if they will send me the parts) as opposed to shipping the instrument to their shop, but I’d like to know if a properly functioning AK aftertouch is nice and responsive first. I use aftertouch pretty extensively when available and I love a smooth and fairly light response.
Bonus points if anyone has replaced the keybed in the AK, and has any tips.
I recall that AK’s aftertouch does not take long to kick in from additional pressure being applied. I compare this to:
my Roland W-30 whose aftertouch is mostly worn-out but still kicks in at up to about 33% with some force, or
my former Oberheim Matrix-6 keyboard, which really benefited from having a metal case as I leaned into it it also felt more ‘steppy’ as it responded to the 0-127 levels (right?) of modulation from AT, but that easily has more to do with the sound engine & patch setup than the keyboard. I used to do some fun things with AT on my M6K with a Linn-style sequencer but that’s a separate subject
AK also feels different from the following, but to be fair I haven’t played any of these for > 6 months, or even > 24 months
Novation Bass Station II – I recall BS2 aftertouch has slightly more ‘give’, meaning it seems to push back less at me while engaging AT – more rubbery
M-Audio Axiom 25 – this thing’s AT was kind of problematic from a software/firmware perspective (mine was B-Stock), but I remember the keys having a definite feeling where it was like “OK, AT will kick in now” while pressing down/applying pressure. AK does not (to my recollection) have that moment – it seems to be a smoother gradient. I also recall a sensation whereby it felt like the ‘hinge’ on which the key/AT rotated/balanced was closer to me/“the player”
I’m amazed that I can recall these tactile sensations at all without the devices in front of me – please take this with a grain of salt, of course it’s hugely subjective and I could be inventing all of this.
I find the AK’s open keybed base is a beautiful design touch for encouraging making the most of aftertouch.
I really appreciate you!
I’ve played Novation keyboards and can relate to the rubbery/squishy feel of their keys & aftertouch.
I also have an M-Audio keyboard and can relate - the aftertouch is closer to a binary switch than a smooth gradient.
Overall your reply is giving me the confidence to assume that replacing the keybed will be worth it for working aftertouch on my AK. Thanks again for taking the time.
Are you handy with taking things apart? Channel aftertouch I’ve seen has a single long strip running under all the keys. Then there is a connection at one end with a plug that goes to the circuit board.
If you’re feeling confident enough to open it up and have a look around, make sure that connection is firmly seated, and you could run a multimeter over it to check resistance while you lean into a key to see if it changes.
So dar I’ve not seen channel aftertouch fail, although anything is possible. So I’m thinking it might just be unplugged.
I’d think there’s still some room for tweaking the behaviour in software, so the same keybed doesn’t necessarily have to feel exactly the same. But I could be wrong.
This list is amazing, thank you. At times I have wished that the AK keys were a bit less stiff… it seems from this list that it uses the ‘Fatar TP/9S ungewichtet’ keybed, translated to ‘Fatar TP/9S weighted’. I wonder now if I could replace it with a semi-weighted or unweighted model… hmmmm!
Thanks for the reply. I’m fairly handy though not experienced with working on synths. If I can get a replacement keybed I’ll try to do the work myself. And, it would be worth opening it up to see if a connection point is disconnected. Is the aftertouch strip normally connected with the keybed, so that replacing the keybed would also replace the channel strip? Or is it separate?
To be precise: my aftertouch does work slightly. When I go to the sound settings edit screen for aftertouch (where it shows you on the screen how much is currently applied) and when I apply as much force as I can, the ‘amount’ indicator shows just a little bit of movement - maybe 5% of the overall range, but that’s it no matter how hard I push.
From this thread about the Super 6 it seems possible to change keybeds, not sure if there’s something in the AK that would prevent you from doing that, but generally it seems possible.
Probably best to ask Elektron and/or Fatar.
I’ll check later on mine, but that doesn’t seem right. There is a bug relating to how modulation amount is shown on the screen, not sure if that was modwheel or aftertouch, though.
If you set up aftertouch to fully open the filter cutoff, can you completely open the filter when pressing down on a key?
Re: aftertouch - if I set it up to open the filter completely, then engage AT on a key, I might get the slightest amount of filter cutoff modulation, but certainly not the full range and it takes a LOT of pressure. Same with any other parameter, no matter if I max out the modulation in the setup menu, I can only ever get the slightest effect when applying pressure.
After going through support with Elektron and a bunch of playing & research I am fairly confident that the AT is indeed malfunctioning/almost non-responsive… my only question now is how to fix it.
Yeah, that’s not right. I’m pretty sure AT should be able to fully open the filter (or any parameter it modulates). Maxxing out the modulation in the setup menu and only getting the slightest effect when applying pressure certainly isn’t right.
As for repairing it. If you feel confident about opening it up, someone already said you could check the ribbon cables.
Check if the bigger ribbon cable in the middle underneath the keybed is seated properly and check the smller one with the blue connector. Sometimes ribbon cables get dislodged when a synth/keyboard is moved around.
If it works slightly then maybe it’s not unplugged, but it could be just loose or a dirty contact to the strip maybe.
Keyboards I’ve opened have had normal multipin ribbons for the actual keyboard velocity switches, but then a simpler basic cable going to one end of the key action for the aftertouch strip that runs under all keys.
The strip hanging out with plug is for aftertouch. And in case you didn’t know, the two vertical white bars mid way along under the key are the velocity switches, a sensor under each. The short time difference between the first and the second being depressed is what is measured to create velocity. More advanced actions now sometimes have triple sensors, especially on digital pianos, to sense when the key leaves the top, for rapid re-triggering of notes.
it also felt more ‘steppy’ as it responded to the 0-127 levels (right?) of modulation from AT, but that easily has more to do with the sound engine & patch setup than the keyboard. I used to do some fun things with AT on my M6K with a Linn-style sequencer but that’s a separate subject