Korg Forums

[mikey224]

Hi everyone,
Just a question about which is better sound quality for the Korg 4X --- mp3, midi or kar files --- or does it really matter?

Thanks
Mike

[karmathanever]

[mikey224]

Thanks Pete, I'm glad to know the difference now. This was really informative.
Mike

[Korghelper]

The real standout for most audio backing tracks is, they tend to use real guitarists. This quite honestly pushes them into FAR more realistic territory. Drums, not so much. Few audio tracks go to the trouble of hiring good drummers (a few do though). Audio backing tracks will also have audio background vocals, which can give you that ‘call and response’ backing vocals, which harmony generators never can.

But of course, audio tracks are going to go for that ‘as close to the record as possible) sound, which if you are looking to be a bit different can be difficult to pull off. A MIDI file or a style, it’s easy to change the drums to brushes, the electric bass to an upright, the rock guitars to a jazz guitar etc., which even if you don’t change a note, can turn a hard rockin’ track into something a bit jazzier and better for a dining crowd, for instance.

Each have their strengths and weaknesses. Styles are 100% under your control. You can change the style, chords, structure, anything you want, but will rarely get you close to the record. SMF’s will get you closer, with the advantage that you CAN completely revoice them if you want. And yes, you can transpose them quite a lot before they need editing for line. Mind you, if you get you audio tracks from companies that have them in multitrack format, you can set them to only transpose the pitched tracks and leave the drums and percussion alone, which makes a huge difference. Much more than three semitones down starts to get ugly, although there are a couple of tricks you can do to help them out, and three or four up is generally doable. But more than this can be a problem.

SMF’s have an additional advantage if you don’t use a laptop or tablet to play your audio tracks. You can place Markers at structure boundaries like verse, chorus, solo etc., and freely jump around if you feel like doing an extra solo, or going back to an earlier verse if the dancers get up late or anything you want. You CAN do this with audio backing, but only with a laptop or tablet at the moment, you can’t use Markers in audio backing within the Korg….

Bottom line, do you want to improvise a lot, or do you want to sound just like the record? Each system does one thing best.

[mikey224]

Thanks so much for your response, Korg Helper --- excellent information.

Mike

[the_boss81]

But when you uses mp3 backingtracks from different sources, not only from professional studios, the quality can be very different.
Some saled mp3 from not professionals or semi-professionals sounds worse as good made SMFs on good Keys, without dynamics and space.
And you can't just mute a track and play it with e.g. live saxophone or guitar...
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Sorry 4 my English - I only speak Polish & German & really like my Pa5X

[Robydur]

hi !!, when I can buy high quality midi files jazz styles, orchestrations..etc thanks!

[karmathanever]

https://www.midi.com.au/genres/jazz-midi/
http://midkar.com/jazz/jazz_01.html
https://www.midi.com.au/genres/jazz-midi/

....and Google is your friend......
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PA4X-76, Karma, WaveDrum GE, Fantom 8 EX
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## Please stay safe ##
...and play lots of music
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[Korghelper]

[the_boss81]

[Korghelper]

Yes, sorry… you didn’t specify Polish music. That site concentrates mostly on Western pop music.

And yes, you can find a few SMF’s done to a high professional level. But in fairness, the VAST majority of SMF’s tend to be optimized for older Roland gear. Getting up to speed on quickly changing the PC/00/32 codes and minor drum kit editing really pays off here. After all, there are VERY few sites that sell SMF’s optimized for the PA4X. You’re going to have to do some work no matter what.

For me, the deciding factor are the guitars. Night and day to most commercial SMF’s. I have yet to hear any SMF’s that nail real guitars and they are the backbone of pop music

If you go the multitrack audio option, personally, I’d do the transposition yourself. This gives you the option of transposing the entire pitched sub-mix in one go, or use different pitch transpose algorithms on different tracks depending on type. Backing vocals, for instance, do better transposed with something that moves the formants around as well. And bass can sometimes benefit from a cut and paste job if the track gets it transposed down below the natural range of a bass. Try transposing the track down, AND up to the octave higher, and you can comp the two parts together to give a bassline that is lower but not TOO low!

[the_boss81]

Everything you write fits... For me, I've already experimented back and forth enough. Mike has to decide for himself There's still the question of whether a Pa4X makes sense as a pure audio player...?
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Sorry 4 my English - I only speak Polish & German & really like my Pa5X

[Biggles]

If you use MIDI files you could also use the MIDI TO STYLE bot for it to create a user Style based on the MIDI file.

You may have to fine tune some of those converted but those I have imported have worked very well.
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Biggles
Lancashire, UK

[Korghelper]