Got a Kronos for Christmas.. Mind blown

[napalm matt]

I got a new Kronos 61 to replace using vintage analog synths and move away from a laptop and ableton for producing and composing.. I wanted ONE board that could do it all and I am very happy. Overwhelmed and often frustrated by te learning curve but you guys have posted a ton of useful threads that have helped me out. I have never had an instrument make me feel like such an amateur until this but I love it. Any tips on getting up and running and productive for me? This is my first workstation if it matters.

[Mikeeee]

congratulations napalm matt,

A couple of tips for you.
Ist one is a bit tedious but I recommend you spend more time reading the manuals than playing the Beast, at the beginning.
2nd one is check out all the "stuf" on You Tube about the Kronos, there are many excellent tutorials which I downloaded or bookmarked and watch several times. times.
Thirdly Every day spend about 1/2 hour going through the ideas and suggestion that other members have put ,up here. I have printed out a lot of it which is relevant to me and spend time before going to sleep reading it,
all the best for Xmas,

regards,
Mike.

[runningman67]

Learn as you go in my opinion. In other words. You can't possibly learn everything, so learn what you need, when you need it.

You've got yourself one hell of a Christmas present

[vinylwizard]

i've also replaced a number of synths (analog and digital) with the kronos too and indeed I prefer to get away from the computer- using a cirklon sequencer to sequence the kronos.

I've had a great deal of synths, drum machines, mpcs, grooveboxes etc over the years from a number of manufacturers and none have made me feel like an amateur so much as the kronos. But then, none have had so much power. I don't think korg have done a bad thing at all, just that it has a stupidly powerful amount of options available.

I mean, I'm not into the whole band or keyboard thing (i make techno and other synth based electronica) and so without even touching on the regular workstation style things (piano, brass and guitar etc) this thing is seriously in a league of it's own. va synth, ms20/polysix clones, stupidly deep fm synth, wavetable / wavesequencing, vector synthesis, sample morphing etc... sometimes I just hold down a chord and stand back in awe as the sound seemingly morphs neverendingly : ) instant ambient track creator!

I've had mine about 3 months and I'm only just scratching the surface but I know this thing will keep me busy for years! what some people have acheived with it so far (people like qui, sharp etc) is mindblowing.

Happy Christmas to yourself!

[Yuma]

Learn as you go in my opinion. In other words. You can't possibly learn everything, so learn what you need, when you need it.

+1

That's how I do it as well. The Kronos can do so many things and you won't need to know all those things from day one to produce music.
I found it rather convenient to simply start with creating a music track and learning on the go, depending on what I wanted to do.
Bit by bit you'll learn the basics within a few weeks and the more deeper stuff over the coming years, if you put in some time and effort.

[motic]

Yes, NapMatt, just play and have fun with the new toy ... time enough later on to painful torture the grey matter and get grey hairs all together

[DennyC]

Congratulations on the Kronos.

[geoelectro]

I too replaced a computer setup with the Kronos. The first thing I did is learn how to make a setlist. Then, I made what I considered my MAIN sounds. Organ, Piano, E. Piano and strings. I probably spent more time on the organ tweaking it to my liking.

Doing this taught me that I can use combi's or programs in the setlist. (I know you can use a Seq as well) I have programmed combi's a lot now and have a good handle on it. I learned about output routing so I can use the organ with an external Ventilator.

As I needed new sounds for specific songs I would look through programs and combi's until I either found the sound or found one that was close. Tweaked as necessary and put into the setlist.

Remember to use the empty user slots for your custom sounds. At least for me I keep the stock sounds stock and custom sounds in user. On my older Triton I didn't do that and ended up with a mish mash of sounds.

I also got into sampling pretty soon after acquiring it and that taught me a lot about file management, converting samples to programs, and pre-loading user samples. Backup you Kronos from time to time.

It a progression that you just take step by step or as you needs dictate.

Geo

[DH56]

If you're not into "reading manuals" like me Matt, just sit back and watch these! Good stuff and extremely well-made.

http://www.youtube.com/user/qrobinez?feature=watch

[Ojustaboo]

Put it away until Tuesday, not Christmas yet

[napalm matt]

I figured out SO much more and am so much more comfortable today after a few days of playing with it. I don't know why the sequencer and everything was so hard for me to figure out because now it seems kind of easy.

[Melodialworks Music]

Overwhelmed and often frustrated by the learning curve . . . .

Yes, it is an overwhelming and frustrating board. My tip? Give it to me, and your problems will disappear! I will take care of everything!

[napalm matt]

Overwhelmed and often frustrated by the learning curve . . . .

Yes, it is an overwhelming and frustrating board. My tip? Give it to me, and your problems will disappear! I will take care of everything!

No sir!

[Extreme68]

Got a kronos x 61 sitting under the Christmas tree, It's going to be a great Christmas.....merry Christmas everyone.

[stormking69]

Fantastic Christmas present! Try not to open it til later, or the temptation to play around with it will be too great to ignore.

Tom