Kronos + Midi keyboard controller

[cristianicolau]

Hi guys,

My story goes like this: a few years ago (in fact more than just a few) I owned 2 Roland keyboards - an EXR7 and a A30-midi keyboard controller. Sound quality sucked but what i liked about it was the possibility to extend the EXR7 keyboard with the help of the A30. In fact I was assigning tones to the A30 and played them separately from what I was using on EXR's. (for example on the EXR7 I had piano and on the A30 brass band or something) Also, splits, volume, velocity, pitch, transpose etc, worked perfectly on each unit individually. I did not have knobs, faders etc on the midi controller but I had 2 banks with about 14 buttons (channels perhaps), very easy to select different type of instruments - the buttons were also named <piano> easy and fast to select, between songs.

With my present setup, Motif ES7 and Korg Triton Classic, I could not do this or at least nobody guided me properly. Now, I've decided to try the 73 Kronos both for sound quality and hopes to ease my work on stage.

So, I would like you to guide me in order to take a decision on what type of midi keyboard to buy in order to use it with the Kronos so I can do the same, or as close as possible, as I did with the old Roland(s).
1. Is this possible with Kronos together with a midi keyboard controller? to be able to play Kronos instruments/tones also from the controller during a live performance?
2. What type of midi keyboard to buy? What I think it should be able to do is: to have assignable channels (buttons, banks etc) from where to chose tones/instruments, 61 semi weighted keys, sustain option, pitch band and modulation (preferably korg type - joystick) , octave, transpose, after touch and so on. I don't know If I would need too much knobs and pads and others.

I hope I was clear enough with this but if my message is too blurry I can try to explain it again. I'm a beginner with midi stuff but trying to improve.

Thank you.

[cristianicolau]

In case this subject is already covered somewhere else around here, please show me where.
Thank you.

[MRedZac]

Hello cris,

well, in fact you can use every midi enabled keyboard to control sounds on the Kronos. Easiest, if it would be a controller keyboard with USB - you´ll find a list of 100% working controllers in the very first thread of this forum, called index or something.
On the other hand, if you already have a couple of other boards, you can use these as well by connecting it via Midi or USB or Class Compliant Midi USB Interface cable (e.g. http://www.thomann.de/gb/miditech_midilinkmini.htm) to Kronos.

Setup is rather easy: Make sure your Kronos is on Global Channel 1 (You can find this in the Global Menu -> Midi Tab -> Top left. The second keyboard you want to connect, should be set to global channel 2, which you have to define on the Keyboard you want to connect. (If possible, turn off local control on the second board as well!)

Now you go to Combi Mode on Kronos and there you assign to track one for example a piano and to track two an organ. On the Tab "Timbre Parameter" you assign Midi Channel 2 to the second track.

If your midi connection has been setup correctly, you should be able now to play the piano on the Kronos and the Organ on the second board.

Connected by USB you are able to use up to 7 external boards with the Kronos, each of these assigned to another global midi channel.

For further reference, consult the manual (http://www.korg.com/uploads/Support/USA ... ide_E5.pdf), starting from Page 58 or just do some reading across the forum - you´ll find your answers for sure.

Cheers
Garfield

[Bugra Ekuklu]

Depends on what you need. Roland has 2 keyboards, A-61 and A-88. First one has synth-action (SH-01 like keybed), which perfect for playing such solo instruments of brass, reed and strings; latter one has hammer-action keyboard, I tried it and has a similar action to RD700GX.

At last days, with some forum support, I managed to create a combo organ with one external controller. Henceforth, drawbars are important to me, now I'm thinking of buying another A-500Pro to getting rid of Kronos heavy action keyboard, as lower one.

Korg has the best modulation and pitch bend system, compared to Yamaha and Roland. If you need to use pitch bend or modulation wheel too much, Novation may be a better solution. It is more about being used to something, I hate Roland's system.

Also, RedZac is correct, you can use 7 different MIDI controllers just via USB (you will need a hub, though) and you have traditional MIDI still.

Buğra

[cristianicolau]

Thanks guys for the info.

However, now that I'm getting some answers other questions are starting to fill up my mind.

For example, i saw that nowadays 2 of the most appreciated USB midi keyboard controllers are Novation Impulse and M-Audio Axiom 2. They are very similar, equipped with a lot of knobs, faders, pads etc, but not too many assignable buttons for me to "charge" from Kronos, but I may be wrong. Even though, if I edit a combi on Kronos, including midi address for the the controller, everything will be saved like that? I mean, changing combi(s) on Kronos will automatically change the settings on the controller without having to do changes separately on it? (instruments, splits, volumes etc). In this case I would not need too many assignable banks as everything, on both keyboards, will be modified by Kronos instantly.

The setup I am considering now would be something like: Kronos 73 + M-Audio Axiom 2 + Korg nano pad 2 (very nice toy which I would like to try) - a normal USB hub will work to connect both of them or do I need anything special?

Also, would you recommend a controller, now that you know what I would like to do with it? Or maybe the ones I mentioned above are more than enough?

Anyway, tomorrow I will receive the Kronos and I'll begin studying it. This will certainly help me to understand things better.

[Bertotti]

I remember reading somewhere that the impulse had some issues with the Kronos over USB, might have been in the USB keyboard thread. I have the novation sl mk2 49 key I have not tried to use it USB yet hopeful his weekend but others have and I believe it worked out. I would double check what others have done and check the USB with Kronos thread. I do like the a toon on the sl not the same as the Kronos x61 but well writhing the ball park, I reall like them both.

Just to add I do have an rp301 Roland piano and the action on it is the same as the A88 which I also like but I understand the ivory feel keys will dirty up quicker be ause Roland tried to simulate real ivory, at least that is how I understand it. Some one please correct me if I am wrong.

[SanderXpander]

Actually, you will not be able to get exactly what you had before. It sounds as if your A30 sent program changes to your other board in order to select sounds. This will not work like that with the Kronos, or at least it will, but you won't be able to copy the fx with each new program you select via PC, so the programs will sound somewhat differently (sometimes significantly) from regular program mode if you were to select them on the Kronos.
This works actually the exact same way on the Triton.

If you don't mind using preprogrammed "sets" of sounds (called combinations in Korg speak) such as controller=piano and Kronos=brass or whichever other combination, you can get it to work perfectly, imcluding all effects and such. You will have to select each new combination from the Kronos. Thankfully, due to the newly featured smooth sound transition, switching from piano+brass to piano+strings doesn't actually cut out any sounds so witch some clever programming you should get useful combinations.

Hope this makes sense. The main thing I'm saying is it's not going to work to select sounds individually on the controller side of things. You seem to already be thinking in at direction in your last post.

As far as controllers, I have good experience with the Roland keybeds and the Novations are getting good reviews. Check if they are "class compliant" - that means they will work with the Kronos directly over USB. Alternatively, check the Kronos info sticky thread in this forum to see which comtrollers are already confirmed to work with Kronos over USB.

[cristianicolau]

The main idea is that I would like Kronos to be the only sound source when I play. As everyone here already knows, playing with a cover band requires sometimes a lot voices used in the same song so I have to do everything possible to get them ready to be played ... just by repositioning my hands and press the keys.
Also, since some of the songs need only a strings piano and a hammond for solos, it's useful to have some assigned buttons only for this and be used multiple times. For me, because I'm not to experienced with "midi language", now is a little bit difficult to understand and choose the controller. Most of the explanations (found on youtube or in manuals) refer to the situation of using the controller with a software on a laptop and other alike, where all the changes are made with the mouse, in a studio for example. There you can take your time to adjust everything, not like when you're in front of an audience.

For example: Let us randomly take "Just a Gigolo". It begins with piano, to the 2nd verse I would like to add some strings along with the piano. In the meantime, some brasses need to be ready on the second keyboard because there are a lot of short interventions during verse, especially on the chorus. More to this, at one point there's the sax, used for a short period during solo but it requires at least 2 octaves. Then I need to return to strings piano ... brass still ready for interventions.
Normally, this is easier than it looks but the "secret" is having the right tools (setup) to put everything in reach. I'm more interested in pressing the black&white keys than running over the buttons, looking for the needed voices... but this is also important when playing keyboards . Here SST will certainly come in handy.

Normally, I should tryout several controllers, together with the Kronos, and decide which one meets my expectations. However, there's no place I can go with my Kronos and test several midi keyboards, it's not something you can do in an hour o two, in a shop.
Does anyone use their setup like this? Is this achievable or I'm on the wrong path? maybe all of this is done differently?

(Please excuse me if I'm getting annoying with my posts! I'm trying to be more careful now, when choosing the setup. I bought the Motif ES and Triton classic without considering that it may be more complicated for me - Yamaha's menu was like hell: abbreviations over abbreviations, manual was so technical that it looked like English but sounded like Chinese, etc.

But one thing I know for sure: Kronos is the workstation I want for the next years ... i tried it and in a matter of sound it gives me exactly what I need.)

Thank you.

[SanderXpander]

If you are fine with doing a lot of song-specific programming this kind of setup will work really well for you. You can make a piano/strings layer for one keyboard and use a fader or foot pedal to bring in the strings, meanwhile having brass ready on the other board. You could conceivably use mute switches to switch between brass and sax, keeping everything in one combi. Alternatively, you could have one combi with piano/strings and brass and one with piano/strings and sax. Switching between the two would effectively only switch between brass and sax, although your mix levels will be reset every time you switch between combis.

I use a lot of splits cause I play only with my 88 nowadays, and apart from some specific combis for specific somgs, I solve a lot of "standard" stuff by having a page with eg
Piano left, brass right
Piano left, strings right
Piano left, hammond right
Rhodes left, brass right
Rhodes left, strings right
Rhodes left, hammond right
Full keyboard piano (strings on a fader)
Full keyboard rhodes (pad on a fader)
Etc etc.

Works pretty well but as you can see it takes a lot of programming compared to just being able to select one sound on one board and one on another. Every combination will need to be made beforehand.

[maxibrady1]

Hi guys could I do this from Kronos to m1 korg. ..?

[hois68]

my live setup consists of a korg kronos 61 and an m-audio keystation 61...all my sounds are from the kronos and anything that I want mapped to he keystation I set (in combi mode) to midi channel 16 and set the keystation to receive on ch 16...we play everything from heart to lady gaga to bruno mars to genesis...works great - plus I usb it so I don't need a power supply for the keystation...

[mikeyd]

Sander...quick question. Are you writing those as Combis and Adding them in set lists? I like the idea of having all of those as kind of "stock" splits.

[crawfish]

my live setup consists of a korg kronos 61 and an m-audio keystation 61...all my sounds are from the kronos and anything that I want mapped to he keystation I set (in combi mode) to midi channel 16 and set the keystation to receive on ch 16...we play everything from heart to lady gaga to bruno mars to genesis...works great - plus I usb it so I don't need a power supply for the keystation...

Old thread I know sorry.... but I was wondering if you used channel 16 for some specific reason? ie does Karma often use the other midi channels?

[geoelectro]

In my case, I use a Yamaha P-80 with my Kronos 61. The default MIDI channel of the P-80 is channel 1. It can be changed, but the memory only keeps that change for about a week. So, to insure I don't run into a conflict, (I play every Sunday), I just keep it on channel 1. So, On the Kronos I changed the global channel to 16. As far as I can tell, this has no bearing on the operation of the Kronos. Sounds expected to play from it's own keyboard were set to Global channel rather than channel 1. So changing the Global channel didn't change anything from the Kronos perspective. However, having it set to 16 keeps it from conflicting with the controller.

Years ago I came to this from using the Triton. It works the same way. I was using softsynths at the time and making use of the lower MIDI channel numbers. Having the Global set to a higher number kept it from conflicting with the software. Remember, the Kronos always sends on the Global channel.

Geo

[Almeen]

I want to use a different controller with my 61 key kronos. I've been lugging around an old (heavy) Roland as my lower-tier weighted controller. Does anybody know if I can use a keyboard that has no MIDI connections, but just USB to host? I have a converter kicking around. Can you use a keyboard that only has USB to host as a controller in general? I have a line on a yamaha p115 for incredibly cheap.