Korg Forums

[studio99]

You can't actually import a combi into a sequence with other voices as the combi consists of several voices which may conflict with the ones that are already assigned. You can assign other voices as desired to empty tracks in the sequence as follows
1. Identify the available tracks. They are the one without instrument icons.
2. turn as many of them on as you want to use (in the program tab) By default they are usually turned off) If you set them to INT in the status section they'll play on the keyboard.
The voices seem to usually default to acoustic piano but you can select whatever you like.
That way you can use the > button to change lead voices playing with your midi file

[musicfire]

Thanks for your response studio99!

Hmm. So we can play along with GM sounds only and not combi sounds when we are playing a song in Sequencer mode. This doesn't help people like me who play few tracks with combi sounds along with midi.

As you said earlier, i should use midi player from iphone to play the midi

-kk

[studio99]

There is another way that I'm going to experiment with.
I's kind of a back door approach but may have some advantages

1. Get your midi file set up the way you like it as far as tempo, key, muted tracks etc.
2. Use the audio recorder built into the Kross to create an audio file version
3. Once you have the audio file created, it will play directly from your sd card rather than having to load a group of songs into the sequencer.

Advantages.
A. It will be available without loading content into the sequencer as long as you have your SD card in the slot
B. You can play either combis or programs along with it with no problem and switch voicing on the fly
C. There are no polyphony issues as the audio file doesn't affect voice polyphony
D. You can also harvest songs from other sources. A lot of midi sequencing programs will export midi as audio including Band in a Box and Anvil Studio.

Disadvantages:
A. You will need a good size SD card if you acquire many audio songs. What the heck, it's only money!
B. You will have to be meticulous in your naming strategy as everything on the card goes on the root level

All in all this might be a good plan. I'm going to experiment with it and I'll report back on the results. Anyone else who gives this method a try please weigh in as well...

[vfrontiers]

Any way to get midi files into the Kross using the EDITOR?

[Spotnik]

I have a midi file for a piano duet I' m working on, and the idea is for me to play the first part while the midi file plays the second. I can load the file and play it back just fine, but the the midi playback is much louder than the keyboard itself, so I can barely hear myself. I can't figure out how to turn me up or turn the playback down. Turning down the track volume seems to have no effect, but then maybe I'm missing a step here. I figured playing over a backing track was a basic function, so fact that there's no easy way to balance the volume seems strange.

[castorex]

It depends on the piano duet: one or two piano ?
if one, check if the midifile track and your track uses the same channel with the same preset. You can use two channels but choose the same preset on both.
if two piano, you need two channels with the same or different presets... but if different ones the master effects of both preset have to be the same.
This is the problem with factory presets: you have a great collection of sounds but it is impossible (or very difficult) to have both presets at the same time if the sound is obtained using a master effect chain.
This is the same in layer/split mode... you can never have the sounds you want by combining two factory presets (sometime you can... but not often).

Check also the velocity for each notes in the midifile... perhaps the velocity is very low ?

[Spotnik]

it's the second part of a two piano duet. I actually created the file using a scan to midi program, and it sounds just fine. What I did notice is that part got split into 5 different channels, and this is due in part to the fact that each hand was assigned a separate channel. I just deleted the score for piano 1 so only piano two would play back. Which it does just fine. But there are still five channels running.

I myself am not actually playing through a channel, per se--i'm just playing along with the playback. Or trying to. My playing is coming out at half the volume.

[aboncev]

[aboncev]

[Musicwithharry]

With regard to MIDI file playback, it has always been somewhat problematic for me, as I am not generally happy with the GM sounds that the files use. They are cheesy and as a result, I tend to change every sound with something from the Factory/Legacy/User categories.

I have a Kross 61 (first version) and primarily use it in my studio for single sounds that I have created. I also used to use it, in the past, to play WAV files of my soundbeds and played the Kross' sounds (and the M50 sounds) over the top of the WAV file playback of my original song soundbeds.

I also have an M50-61 and do the same as above (minus the audio file playback), but I also use the sequencer in it because of the ease of use of the touch screen to do what I need to do. I have worked with MIDI files in the M50 and I found that I needed to change every voice to something that was non-GM for it to really sound good.

My main unit for playing out at this point is my Korg PA700 arranger. It too has a touch screen and with the arranger features, allows for all kinds of uses with a band. I work with A LOT of MIDI files on it and I change all of the GM sounds to Factory/Legacy/User sounds to get what I want.

Most of my MIDI files were downloaded from free sites and, of course, they take a bit of messing around with to get them to sound right. Even the MIDI files that I have purchased need modification, because they all still trigger GM sounds.

I am starting up a 4 piece that has me on keys (basically, the band), two guitarists, and a lead singer. I have thousands of MIDI files downloaded and have well over 150 ready for live use on the PA700.

The nice thing about the PA700 is that it will talk to other boards that I MIDI (5-pin DIN) with it, so I can beef up each track that I want to, to make it sound more real.

Changing sounds on the PA700 is easy because of the touch screen. I will bring the Kross and the M50 and use them as layering machines and machines that I will play while the PA700 is providing everything else. This will require me to set up custom sequencer presets on each unit (Kross and M50) so the sounds I want from those two boards will work well with what the PA700 is doing. I may even bring an older Ensoniq piece (VFX-SD) and use it for drums/bass since I love the Ballad Kit on the VFX-SD.

I think that unless using an editor for the Kross, editing on the Kross would be more difficult because it does not have the touch screen that the others have. Korg really spoiled us with the touch screens...

In another thread, we had posited the idea of creating MIDI files that would be 'unit specific' so that they would work with a specific synth and be outfitted with factory sounds instead of only-GM sounds. I need to remember which thread it is and update it...at that initial point, it was going to be for the PA700. With that said, the contributor would also have to provide their custom sounds if they are being used in the MIDI file and they would basically save their SET/SOUND folders as well. For the synth users, that would be the PCG files.

While some may not like this idea, it would provide a level of conformity with a 'sounds' base that would allow for the addition of any custom USER sounds that might be in the MIDI file. Some of us love to program custom sounds and others would like to have the sounds without having to program them. I see the benefits.

Personally, I have the Yamaha C5 piano sample set from Reuben, as well as some of the EP and Guitar packs he has offered as well. I also have created many different lead guitar patches that work really well for soloing, as well as some pretty realistic DX-type FM EP sounds running with one oscillator up to 8 oscillators. Some may find these useful.

I also have the Dopamine Set installed (originally done for the PA600) that uses internal samples for their sounds and they are nice too

Even though many people may be sharing the similar sounds and sequences, I believe that there would be enough variation in what we all do to make something that anyone could use.

My MIDI files range from the Carpenters to Stratovarius to ZZ Top to Phil Collins to Toto to just about anything else...We could create a GIANT database of MIDI files for specific synths/keyboards that could be used by the group.

Grace,
Harry
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