Korg Forums

[martinkroeger]

Having owned a Motif 8 Classic for 10 years, I'm now looking to add another board for live use. I've stumbled on the Krome as a possible addition. My cover band plays anything from "The Final Countdown" to "Bad Romance" so I need a lot of different sounds!

I've checked out the MOX6 but compared to the Krome I just tried out today, it seems lacking soundwise. I want to expand my available sounds as well as adding extra keys for live use and so the Krome seems like a good choice.

However, I know that the MOX is expandable with downloadable sound libraries like "80s Pop/Rock" from Playkeyz. What I don't know is if the Krome has/will have similar options.

Can anyone here tell me if the Krome is expandable in this or any other way?
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Martin Krøger - keys and vocals
Kronos 2, Krome, Yamaha Motif 8

[csteen]

Yes you can program as many patches for the krome that you dream up. You will also find making patches much easier on the Kromes touchview screen. As far as third party sounds to download I would imagine they will soon be available given that the keyboard was only just released however you may have to wait a few months. That being said the third party pcg. files for the M50 are compatible with Krome and there are a bunch of those already available.
The krome can store gazillions of pcg patches either in the board directly or you can make up as many pcg files combining whatever sound preferances you desire and load them as needed.

[dafad_dew]

Just on a related topic here...
Similar situation to martinkroeger, needs lots of different sound styles, mainly for playing live.
So in the simplest terms possible, how many distinctly different sounds can I get from the Krome?

For example, can I get a bass, pad and solo all at the same time with a 3-way split?

And do I need an enoromous winch/crane/trolley to carry the thing?!


Thanks!

[Comrad_Durandal]

[billbaker]

@ dafad_dew

There are 16 tracks in a combi so you could have 16 distinct sounds pulled from any bank or location. You can make splits up to the limit of the engine's polyphony - realistically with 16 tracks going you'd be stealing voices pretty heavily even just playing with two hands; add a sustain pedal or a really elaborate midi track and you'll hit snags.

But I am willing to go out on a limb and say that for most combis that use up to about 5 or 6 tracks you won't hit any snags.

Where you may encounter a "hey, hang on" moment is in the assignment of FX -- this is a perennial Q&A post -- because in combi mode some programs don't sound right because the FX are stripped away and need to be rebuilt or copied or shared or run dry. Once you get your head around that and work out how it's done you can usually get what you want.


BB
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billbaker

Triton Extreme 88, Triton Classic Pro, Trinity V3 Pro
+E-mu, Alesis, Korg, Kawai, Yamaha, Line-6, TC Elecronics, Behringer, Lexicon...

[billbaker]

@ martin,

"Expansion" in Korg parlance means adding a board with a new engine (like Radias or MOSS) or bumping up ROM with a new set of samples on a card (as with Triton's EXB cards) or adding an interface function (several were made for Trinity/Triton).

As of this data I don't know of any (korg type) expansions for Krome.

What you've indicated as an expansion, I'd actually consider a downloadable sound-set. I don't know if there is a specific bank of "80's" signature sounds like those for the Motif, but there are many free and paid 3rd party sounds for the M50, M3 engine that is the heart of Krome. All those should be compatible, with maybe minimal tweaking if you want to use the Krome's better piano, ambient jazz kit or EPs where the standard versions are otherwise specified.

Lots of free, many paid, much wading through dross to find the gold, but worthwhile.



BB
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billbaker

Triton Extreme 88, Triton Classic Pro, Trinity V3 Pro
+E-mu, Alesis, Korg, Kawai, Yamaha, Line-6, TC Elecronics, Behringer, Lexicon...

[mocando]

Adding to what it has already been said, I'd encourage you to give us more information about specific sounds you are looking for. There are tons of downloadable patches from Korgforums, and we are assembling a collection in Korgfans. I'm pretty sure you will be very satisfied with the amazing amount of different high quality sounds you will get from the Krome.

As for the FX issue, I believe is a thing you'll get the hang of it very fast. It has some learning curve, no doubt about that, but once you understand Korg's way of doing things, it will be obvious to you.
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Martin Ocando

Korg Gear: Wavestation
Korg Software: KLC Wavestation, iWavestation for iPad
Non Korg: M-Audio Code 61 MIDI Controller, Nektar GX49 MIDI Controller
Music Computing: 16in Macbook Pro with Touch Bar Mid 2019, i9 32GB RAM 2TB Flash, MacOS Catalina - 2019 iPad Air 64GB
Software: Apple MainStage, Arturia V Collection 7, Arturia OB-Xa V
Visit: Synth Fans :: Everything Synths Twitter: @korgfans

[martinkroeger]

Thanks, everyone!

Seems like you Korg-folk are a friendly bunch

billbaker is right. I am talking about downloadable sound-sets or single sounds, if possible.

Since mocando asked, here are some specific sounds/tracks I am looking for. Some of them are possibly already approximated in the Krome, but here goes:

Final Countdown - Europe (lead synth - almost impossible to get right with my Motif Classic)
How Will I Know - Whitney Houston
California Gurls - Katy Perry
Bad Romance (intro/chorus) - Lady Gaga
A synth lead like this one, played on a Jupiter-8, I believe: http://youtu.be/l1UQH0Sjifw?hd=1&t=2m45s
Africa - Toto (the famous Yamaha CS-80)

I'm not too fazed by the FX and combi mode, since it sounds exactly like how my Motif Classic works in that mode.

Any help is much appreciated.
_________________
Martin Krøger - keys and vocals
Kronos 2, Krome, Yamaha Motif 8

[Chriskk]

[billbaker]

Martin,

Most 3rd party developers go for a broader approach to programs providing a spectrum of sounds within the various categories found on the synth -- so you'll see lots of lead sounds for example and some that may be labled after artists or songs (like EPL, or "Jump") but there are (from my experience) very few developers producing a spot-on plug & play sound set, at least not for Korg.

There's a Motif 80's sound set by playkeyz that comes really close to what you want... but only for motif. [google bold words and watch the youtube video demos.]

But the problem you find is that many of those signature sounds are only truly useful for that one song. If signature tunes are on your song list... and make up your entire song list then it's OK. But because they are so recognizable its sometimes hard to use them in other tunes. It's like wearing leather pants a rainbow scarf and a leopard print beret to every function you play (yeah, I watched the video); fine for bars or concert venues but if you're getting married you might want something more appropriate. Which is why the generic (safer and more broad spectrum) approach is the most common.


BB
_________________
billbaker

Triton Extreme 88, Triton Classic Pro, Trinity V3 Pro
+E-mu, Alesis, Korg, Kawai, Yamaha, Line-6, TC Elecronics, Behringer, Lexicon...