Krome vs MicroArranger - Songwriting

worth · Post by **worth** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:33 pm

hi Dazedrazed. One thing i hope you will appreciate is that for what you need to get done can be done just as readily on either an arranger or a workstaion in exactly the same manner as i have shown and if money is an issue as it appears to be, you dont have to get the latest and greatest keyboard out there. to make great songs.

The advantage with the arranger is that you can flesh out a song quickly or create something unique as i hope i have shown you in the videos and various links.

What i was trying to do was show you with some practical examples of using a workstation or using an arranger to get the job done. Only you will know which fits you better but before you shellout any money make sure you spend some time in the shop with the instrument you have in mind and actually try and record a tune. I hope that does noty come accross as patronising as its not intended to be. I have seen too many song writers get caught up in the production of a piece of music rather than the creation of it . anyway all the best and i hope you take the few words i have said in the spirit they were intended.

Worth

dazedrazed · Post by **dazedrazed** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 7:42 pm

@Worth: Thank you for your suggestions. Your videos did indeed help me

I got a Krome today...played it for 3 hours and I still cannot believe it. This they call a keyboard? It's a 61-key orgasm that goes on and on

And I still haven't tried 5% of what it offers. I already like the sequencer very much, and the sounds are to die for

Yeah, I really might want to hold on to it even if I someday decide to get something else.

Thanks to all for your help.

dazedrazed · Post by **dazedrazed** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 7:52 pm

worth wrote:hi Dazedrazed. One thing i hope you will appreciate is that for what you need to get done can be done just as readily on either an arranger or a workstaion in exactly the same manner as i have shown and if money is an issue as it appears to be, you dont have to get the latest and greatest keyboard out there. to make great songs.

The advantage with the arranger is that you can flesh out a song quickly or create something unique as i hope i have shown you in the videos and various links.

Yeah, I understand what you're trying to say. I used to play my brother's Roland arranger years and years ago. I wasn't really familiar with workstations.

The very thing that is an arranger's advantage, namely the ability to just play the chord progression without spending too much time on thinking about each and every line, is what I realized might prove to be a hindering factor later on.

For me, it was a personal decision to first spend some time learning how to do the things I want to do and then enjoy the freedom, rather than having the possibility to do things fast but superficially, if you know what I mean. Somebody else might realize they prefer it the other way around. It depends on the person really.

Overall, I spent my time thinking of what I need and want, and what might suit me. Right now I feel like a kid with a great new toy

Suiciety · Post by **Suiciety** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 10:51 pm

Nice! Especially the orgasm part.

What kind of music do you normally play? I'm lookin' for a new middle of the road workstation, but I generally throw down EBM/Industrial tracks. Does the Krome have a good amount of snyth sounds and are the arps decent? Thanks!

miden · Post by **miden** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 11:55 pm

Arps are plentiful with some quite tasty ones onboard...There are (in my estimation, as I have not actually counted them) about 3 FULL Patch banks worth of Synth stuff - the rest are the "bread and butter" sounds..

Dennis

dazedrazed · Post by **dazedrazed** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 9:55 am

Suiciety wrote:Nice! Especially the orgasm part.

What kind of music do you normally play? I'm lookin' for a new middle of the road workstation, but I generally throw down EBM/Industrial tracks. Does the Krome have a good amount of snyth sounds and are the arps decent? Thanks!

Ugh, I think it could best be described as dark adult electropop with blues and jazz influences (if that makes sense).

I don't know what "a good amount" is, but I surely found enough synth sounds for myself. Given that you can tweak each of them to your liking, it will take a while to run out of synth sounds. I like the arps very much, and they can also be tweaked.

My opinion is that for the money, this is a great 'board. Since I just got it and need much much more time to discover all the things it can do, I hope someone else here might be able to answer your questions better.

Suiciety · Post by **Suiciety** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 1:45 pm

dazedrazed wrote: Ugh, I think it could best be described as dark adult electropop with blues and jazz influences (if that makes sense).

Ahhh...Depeche Mode meets blues/jazz. Got it.

Thanks for the info, miden and dazed!

Suiciety · Post by **Suiciety** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:04 pm

So, I just returned from my local GC after messin' around with the Krome for an hour or so. Verdict? I enjoyed it, but there aren't enough pre-set synth sounds for my liking. The vast majority of the Fast Synths and Lead Synths are kinda so-so and sound fairly similar. I was also saddened to see almost the same synth patches as the classic Triton and M3. An upgrade/update would have been nice. A few more EBM-like drum kits would have been nice as well.

Some of the pros (for me):

- sounds good
- arps are plentiful and for the most part relevant. Changing the arps in sequencer mode has been made easier
- the sequencer is very similar to the classic Triton (I don't know about the M50 since I never owned one) and super easy to use. I laid down a song within minutes
- easy to navigate
- keybed feels good

Some of the cons (for me):

- not enough relevant synth sounds
- outdated synth sounds
- needs more synth bass patches and a few more drum kits
- SFX patches are pretty much the same as the classic Triton and are stale
- motion synth patches are mehish

So, aside from the patches, this is a really good middle of the road workstation. I'm still gonna wait to purchase it though. It simply doesn't have the pre-set patches I desire (and I don't feel like tinkering to create my own). If Korg puts out a Krome X with an updated synth patch library, then I'll be all over it within minutes. Otherwise, it didn't sell me, but I don't think I'm the target audience. :/

miden · Post by **miden** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:27 pm

Fair enough too.. You might be a little more fussy re the synth sounds than I am

I thought there were heaps - certainlyl more than I could ever use.

And the Krome (apart from a brief dalliance with a Kronos) is the first I have heard a lot of these, having come from a Roland/Yamaha synth background.

Hope you find what you are looking for

billbaker · Post by **billbaker** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 1:13 am

All,

My local GC just got the Krome.

I sat down with the 88 version for about 45 minutes just seeing if I could put it through its paces.

Coming straight from triton I can say that the dual arp works just the same. The addition of the drum track tho' is a REALLY nice addition. Navigation is much the same as the triton, I had no trouble navigating around and changing voices or add-ons like arp and drums. There's some ergonomic twistiness because some functions have been moved to left or right of the keyboard and I found myself unconsciously reaching for knobs that were not there.

Some of the Combis didn't seem as well thought-out as the Extreme - and that may be a reflection of how many of the extreme's voices are solo-worthy out of the box or how much I've tweaked mine. I think time-in-hand is the critical factor there. That may also be the answer to Suiciety's feeling of sameness in the synths - no worse than M50, but no better (identical in many instances), and not current/radio ready if you're doing the latest electronica. There is a great potential there tho'; I look at the factory settings as being very basic with a lot of room to tweak and customize the overall settings.

I can now say, for me, that this is an unqualified "yes" as a songwriting/sketch tool in the vein that I described in my response to OP's question.

Staying just in program mode, playing the same song, I was able to easily play at different tempos (dedicated button for tap tempo! BPM to 2 decimals) and changing drum tracks is simple -- the rhythm genres tend to be in groups of half a dozen variations; highlight the DT name and you can use +/- to bring in variations. Picking a new DT by "pin-in-map" random choice can put you in a completely different and unexpected groove. In addition many of the drums tracks have breaks and fills at the 8's which gives them some much needed extra dimension compared to the unrelenting 2 or 4 bar chug-factor found in most of the drum arps (as in my triton).

I found very useable jazz, rock, new-age, hip-hop and even zydeco rhythms; there are a lot of styles and genres that were previously unsupported and it'll be fun to see what can be wrung out of the combination of arp and drum tracks (I've had pretty good success working with just arps so far).

All in all, barring an unexpected windfall or a lottery win that brings Kronos 88 within reach, the Krome looks like a viable (next) alternative if my Triton blows up or is kidnapped by aliens.

BB

miden · Post by **miden** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 1:52 am

Bill, is there a way to actually get a variation drum beat happening?

The drum track is all well and good but it gets boring REAL quick..

Is the RPPR the way to achieve this?

Dennis

Suiciety · Post by **Suiciety** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 4:36 am

Dennis,

I was able to change up the drum beat in Combi mode very easily and on the fly if that's what you're asking. I didn't bother with the RPPR/Pattern Mode while using the sequencer. Although I've used it many times with my Triton, so I suspect it'll be equal to if not easier to tweak and/or structure the patterns using the Krome.

On a side note, I may end up getting the Yamaha Motif XF 61. From an electronica perspective, it has many of the pre-set patches I'm looking for in a workstation. But since I generally like to use the onboard sequencer (Logic is my DAW, but I'm old school), the Motif kinda indimidates me since I've never used it before. I can navigate through a Korg synth with ease (although KARMA was annoying to me initially), but a Yamaha is foreign to me (even if my very first synth was a DX21 as a kid).

To digress just a bit...when you said "heaps" it reminded me of my time in Melbourne. I really miss that city.

Bill,

Thank you for your post and info on the Krome.