Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 5:04 am
vertig0spin wrote:Karma was described a bit by a previous Comment above.19naia wrote:
Thanks for all the detailed information on the Kronos, much of which I did not know about.
The sequencer part on the Kronos or Montage might not be an issue because I would likely use a DAW to edit sequencing.
What is Karma? Is it the sequencer editor for the Kronos, or is it something more?
It is easy to mistake it for an Appregiator until you try to use it as a simple appregiator. Then you find it takes things far beyond that.
Real time control of arppegios across deep parameters making up the arp patterns. And the same general flexibility of controls assignment in kronos, extends to Karma control.
It works with program, sequencer or combi modes.
It is also a Midi I/O(in/out) routing for kronos tracks/timbres to bypass standard midi track limitations in Kronos.
The ways in which you can redesign and control phrases of GE drums beats or melodies, is endless in Karma.
An entirely different way of putting together drum beats or melodies and then the finished product is always in midi data form which can then be recorded in sequencer and taken/rendered from there in any way that midi data can be.
Karma GE parameters go where classic synth parameters have never gone, and then each of those Karma GE parameters can be adjusted to anywhere across the range of settings -and the adjustment control in real time performance is flexible to your prefered control configuration.
And parameter scenes that let you greatly expand what diversity of phrases you have bring up in a real time performance.
So much you can do with Karma, it may be the hardest part of Kronos to master, and it works with every other performance mode of kronos.
Every factory program or combi, comes with a Karma setup, there to be turned on or already turned on as soon as you enter the program or Combi.
Montage has an arppegiator that it uses for everything from drum beats to arps. It is a bit flexible and can do a few things that basic Karma cannot.
Those few things can be done in Karma if you get Karma software on your computer and connect to Kronos. And i would rather have kronos and take Montage arp midi data to Kronos for use in Karma and RPPR.
Karma software is what you would need -to have Karma work with montage and you will have a harder time getting started on an already challenging Karma wonderland, if you have to learn Karma anew, on Montage via Karma software on Computer.
You may end up with less total karma modules on Montage with karma software.
Kronos comes with 4 modules built in and then adding karma software to kronos, adds more Karma modules to the original 4.
Where Montage does drum beats via arpeggiator, Kronos does it via Karma but also in other ways via drum track feature that ties into sequencer mode for working custom drum beats or melody patterns.
And when in Kronos sequencer mode working on midi patterns for drums and Melody, you have the world of “Pattern RPPR” to do some very impressive performance stuff. And it can also be any kind of sample based sounds.
Not just drum and instrument phrases.
RPPR can work with drum track patterns as well as Karma patterns.
They can all share midi data, but Kronos Karma can only put out its midi data to share and not take in midi data from sharing sources, unless you get Karma software with that intaking feature included.
Karma works one very multifaceted way, and RPPR in sequencer mode works another way that is impressive in its own right. Drum track works very basically but it has user banks that you can fill with patterns you put together in RPPR or Karma and any source that you can get into Kronos sequencer.
Montage hardly has a sequencer when you consider what kronos sequencer comes fitted with. Kronos sequencer with Karma and RPPR can do amazing things and mimic a wide range of devices that serve a diverse range of performances.
I am even concerned that you may miss out on some amazing capabilities by choosing to favor a DAW sequencer for its better editing capabilities.
Kronos sequencer would still be relevant with the best of DAW sequencers because kronos sequencer is not just about recording and editing for final playback. Kronos sequencer has some great creative tools for recording ideas, and those tools allow it to also be a realtime performance beast that gets its teeth from Karma and RPPR.
Even being very general about, Kronos is still too much to detail.
I have doodled on Montage and it was not as easy to navigate as Kronos or even the triton for myself. And this is even after i had gone far in navigating and using Kronos with Karma, RPPR and more.
Made no sense to me that tempo adjustment on Montage was not simply staring me in the face like it does on kronos. On kronos, in the dark, you will see the tempo knob flashing at you.
On montage, menu diving to dig tempo out and i never found it.
I had to look it up on youtube long after i left the location where i played the Montage.
I was not able to get deep enough into Montage to understand it well. Barely managed to scroll through sounds, even after 10 years with Korg flagship work stations.
I eventually followed youtube tutorials to get a general understanding of montage and saw that it is simple once you learn its navigation methods and learn where to dive in the menu for all the hidden things.
My preference turned me away from Montage when a simple Tempo control was not considered for intuitive placement on a control surface that is packed full of knobs and far more buttons than Kronos has.
And kronos touch screen control does real justice to its lack of control surface buttons.
And you would think with all those buttons on Montage, it should have Karma and RPPR and “space shuttle command” relay built in.
But.... something to be said about hard old fashioned buttons if that is the work style you come from.
The button panels are never as fickle in tactility as a touch screen can be at times, but they are old fashioned and the system they follow has an outdated efficiency.
In kronos, i use touchscreen to set up for my few button operations, other than Control panel mode changes and Program,Combi,Gloabal,Song,Disk mode changes. I am mostly on the dial, sliders and perofmance controls.
Montage Button panel seems more like it uses buttons to set up its touch screen operations and that must be why i was not able to navigate far on Montage. But i don’t know enough about Montage to be sure about that.
