Newbie has Pa900 questions about STS, Performances

cassp · Post by **cassp** » Fri Apr 10, 2015 1:17 am

Hi everyone, I just took delivery of my new PA900 and have a few questions.
1. Is a Performance similar to Yamaha Registration? If so, why are they named like sounds? It seems if I press a performance like Jimmy Organ, all the instruments in the style Sts change too.... Is that right?
2. If I just want to change UP1, 2 or 3 while playing a style or song, can I do that? How?
3. Is My Setting just like one Performance, but I get to set it up? So it's just one UP1,2,3 and Low; or are the 4 of them, like an STS?
4. What's the difference between an STS and a Performance?

Thanks in advance. Once I get the hang of this OsS I think I'll enjoy every minute of my new main board.

DonM · Post by **DonM** » Fri Apr 10, 2015 2:45 pm

Cass, if you are looking, give me a call. 318-965nine7five8

Dikikeys · Post by **Dikikeys** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 7:08 pm

Cass... hi! Welcome to Korg Confusion Central!

I too get utterly baffled by how Korg manage to make Performances and sounds not only selectable by the same buttons, but how easy it is to confuse the two! My friend's PA3X is by far the most confusing arranger I have ever used for anyone coming from a Roland or a Yamaha!

I am sure after a few weeks of really digging in, it all gets a BIT clearer, But I must admit, Korg make it tougher than anyone else to migrate from somewhere else!

If there's ONE thing that could help Korg's be more noob-friendly, it would be the separation of buttons that select sounds from buttons that select Performances.

Best of luck with your new Korg. They sound great!

Thoraldus · Post by **Thoraldus** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:44 pm

Dikikeys wrote:Cass... hi! Welcome to Korg Confusion Central!

I too get utterly baffled by how Korg manage to make Performances and sounds not only selectable by the same buttons, but how easy it is to confuse the two! My friend's PA3X is by far the most confusing arranger I have ever used for anyone coming from a Roland or a Yamaha!

I am sure after a few weeks of really digging in, it all gets a BIT clearer, But I must admit, Korg make it tougher than anyone else to migrate from somewhere else!

If there's ONE thing that could help Korg's be more noob-friendly, it would be the separation of buttons that select sounds from buttons that select Performances.

Best of luck with your new Korg. They sound great!

A Performance is a 'registration' that will/can load a Style (with all the appropriate sounds), the Keyboard tracks (with all the appropriate sounds) and all their Tempo, transposition, effects, etc.

Sounds (Upper 1,2,3 and lower as well as arranger tracks) are individually loaded via the touch screen not via the Performance buttons.

A Performance can be stored in a database which is called the Songbook.

Performances/(Songbook entries) can be named anything. I have some like , "3 Piece Jazz", "Soft Ballad", "Whiter Shade", etc.

Dikikeys · Post by **Dikikeys** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 10:02 pm

The trouble starts when sounds CAN be selected by the same buttons that call up Performances...

If sound selection was by touchscreen ONLY, it would help separate the two, but one small, easily missed lighted button is the only thing that stops those buttons from calling something up you don't want! At least, to the uninitiated, that's the way it seems.

Personally, I like having the two completely separate, so you can't inadvertently do the wrong thing. Korg's vastly superior complexity comes at a price! I have often wondered whether Korg could do a better job of hiding the complexity behind a much simpler front-end, to make noobs and casual players more comfortable and less confused...

Thoraldus · Post by **Thoraldus** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 10:06 pm

cassp wrote:Hi everyone, I just took delivery of my new PA900 and have a few questions.
1. Is a Performance similar to Yamaha Registration? If so, why are they named like sounds? It seems if I press a performance like Jimmy Organ, all the instruments in the style Sts change too.... Is that right?

A Performance is a registration. A performance can be named anything. You can rename the factory performances.

2. If I just want to change UP1, 2 or 3 while playing a style or song, can I do that? How?

Select a new sound for Upper 1,2,3 and Lower by touching the current sound name on the LCD screen.

3. Is My Setting just like one Performance, but I get to set it up? So it's just one UP1,2,3 and Low; or are the 4 of them, like an STS?

Yes, My Setting is a Performance. You can save the current registration by pressing and holding My Setting button then selecting OK to save it.

4. What's the difference between an STS and a Performance?

An STS is a set of sounds that can be quickly selected during performance, STS are saved with a Style. A Performance is a complete registration which will temporarily overwrite the current STS. When you press an STS button after loading a Performance the STS will revert that the sounds that were saved with the current style.

Thanks in advance. Once I get the hang of this OsS I think I'll enjoy every minute of my new main board.

I found that going from my Yamahas to Korg was like going from a Cessna 150 to a Lear Jet. So many more degrees of freedom! It will take a while to learn the Korg OS ... but once you have it in hand you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Enjoy you new keyboard!

Thoraldus · Post by **Thoraldus** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 10:10 pm

Dikikeys wrote:The trouble starts when sounds CAN be selected by the same buttons that call up Performances...

If sound selection was by touchscreen ONLY, it would help separate the two, but one small, easily missed lighted button is the only thing that stops those buttons from calling something up you don't want! At least, to the uninitiated, that's the way it seems.

Personally, I like having the two completely separate, so you can't inadvertently do the wrong thing. Korg's vastly superior complexity comes at a price! I have often wondered whether Korg could do a better job of hiding the complexity behind a much simpler front-end, to make noobs and casual players more comfortable and less confused...

Well, a Performance by definition loads a bunch of sounds. No way to get around that.

A performance button does not load individual sounds, you have to use the LCD screen or the Sound Select button/LCD Screen for that.

I think the PA500, PA800, PA2X used to have multi-function Performance/Sound selection buttons, but they have gone away with the PA3X/PA900/PA600 series.

Thoraldus · Post by **Thoraldus** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 10:24 pm

OK ... Looks like the PA3X has some additional buttons for sound selection. Looks like they are just extensions of what can be done on the LCD screen, i.e. Select UP 1,2,3 or lower sound and toggle mute for UP 1,2,3 and Lower. Also, the PA900 has a Sound Select button which doubles up on the LCD Sound Select.

Thoraldus · Post by **Thoraldus** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 10:57 pm

Here's a link to an informative tutorial by KORG on STS and Performances and Style structure...

Korg Tutorial

and here is a video tutorial on sound selection ...

PA900 Sound Selection

The Korg PA900 video manuals can be accessed here

Korg Forums

Newbie has Pa900 questions about STS, Performances

Newbie has Pa900 questions about STS, Performances

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