Operation Guide E 10 i ii Thank you for purchasing the Korg KRONOS. To help you get the most out of your new instrument, please read this manual carefully. About this manual On-board Help system* The owner’s manuals and how to use The HELP button gives you built-in, context-sensitive them access to the user manuals, right from the front panel. References to different KRONOS models For information on any front-panel button, knob, slider, or These manuals apply to all KRONOS models running real-time controller, just hold down HELP and then press the software version 3.1 or later, collectively referred to as “the button or move the controller in question. KRONOS.” The front panel and rear panel illustrations show For information on the current LCD page, press and release the KRONOS2-61, but they apply identically to the the HELP button. KRONOS and KRONOS X. For more details on using the Help system, see “HELP The bank and number of programs and combinations button” on page 3. corresponds to those on the New KRONOS. *English-language only. Three manuals The KRONOS includes three owner’s manuals: Supplementary guides • Quick Start Guide Voice Name List • Operation Guide The Voice Name List lists all of the sounds and setups that • Parameter Guide are in the KRONOS when it is shipped from the factory, All of these manuals are available as PDFs on Accessory including Programs, Combinations, Multisamples, Disc 3, and are included in the on-board Help system. A Drumsamples, Drum Kits, KARMA GEs, Wave Sequences, printed version of the Quick Start Guide is also included. Drum Track Patterns, Template Songs, and Effect Presets. Quick Start Guide Updating and restoring the KRONOS Please read this first. It introduces all of the basic features of This document contains information on updating and the KRONOS, and is designed to get you up and running restoring the KRONOS software. It’s provided separately as quickly. a convenience; all of its information may also be found in the Parameter Guide. Operation Guide Put simply, the Operation Guide is designed to answer the Conventions in this manual question, “How do I do this?” It explains the names and functions of each part of the Abbreviations for the manuals: QS, OG, PG, VNL KRONOS, basic operation, an overview of each mode, how In the documentation, references to the manuals are to edit sounds, record on the sequencer, sample, and so on. abbreviated as follows. This guide also explains the basics of effects, KARMA, QS: Quick Start Guide Drum Track, Wave Sequences, and Drum Kits. OG: Operation Guide Finally, it also contains a troubleshooting guide and supplemental information such as specifications. PG: Parameter Guide VNL: The Voice Name List Parameter Guide The Parameter Guide is designed to answer the question, Symbols , , Note, Tips “What does this do?” These symbols respectively indicate a caution, a MIDI- Organized by mode and page, the Parameter Guide includes related explanation, a supplementary note, or a tip. information on each and every parameter in the KRONOS. Example screen displays PDF versions The parameter values shown in the example screens of this The KRONOS PDF manuals are designed for easy manual are only for explanatory purposes, and may not navigation and searching. They include extensive PDF necessary match the values that appear in the LCD screen of contents information, which generally appears on the side of your instrument. the window in your PDF reader and lets you jump quickly to MIDI-related explanations a specific section. All cross-references are hyper-links, so that clicking on them automatically takes you to the source CC# is an abbreviation for Control Change Number. of the reference. In explanations of MIDI messages, numbers in square brackets [ ] always indicate hexadecimal numbers. iii * KARMA® (Kay Algorithmic Realtime Music Architecture) Technology has been licensed from Stephen Kay, and is pro- tected by U.S. Patents 6,084,171, 6,087,578, 6,103,964, 6,121,532, 6,121,533, 6,326,538, 6,639,141, 7,169,997, and 7,342,166. * KARMA® and the KARMA Logo are registered trademarks, and Kay Algorithmic Realtime Music Architecture, Gener- ated Effect (GE), Melodic Repeat, Direct Index, Manual Advance, SmartScan, Freeze Randomize, Random Capture, Random FF/REW and Scene Matrix are trademarks of Ste- phen Kay, Karma-Lab LLC. This manual copyright © 1994- 2014 by Korg Inc. and Stephen Kay. All rights reserved. * Screen shots from the KARMA software that appear through- out this guide are © 1994-2014 by Stephen Kay, Karma Lab LLC. Used by permission. All rights reserved. * KARMA Technology can be located on the internet at: www.karma-lab.com. * This product was developed under license of physical model- ling tone generator patents (http://www.sondius-xg.com) owned by Stanford University USA and Yamaha Corporation. * Linux is a trademark or registered trademark of Linus Tor- valds in the United States and in other countries. * All product names and company names are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. iv Contents About this manual . iii Playing and editing Combinations . .67 Playing Combinations . 67 Introduction to KRONOS . 1 Selecting Combinations . .67 Front and rear panels. 1 Easy Combination editing. 70 Front panel . 1 Changing the Programs within a Combi . .70 Rear panel . 8 Adjusting the mix . .70 TouchView user interface . 10 Easy KARMA editing . .71 Basic information . 13 Quick Layer/Split . 72 About the KRONOS’ modes. 13 Quick Layer example: adding strings to a piano About the KRONOS’ PCM memory . 16 Combination . .72 About polyphony. 16 Quick Split example: adding a lead synth to a Basic operations . 17 Combination . .74 Setup . 20 Detailed Combination editing. 76 Turning the power on/off . 20 Combination overview . .76 Connections. 21 Layers, Splits, and Velocity Switches . .77 Update information . 26 MIDI Settings . .78 Altering Programs to fit within a Combination . .79 New features in software version 3.1 . 26 Editing Programs from within New features in software version 3.0.3. 26 a Combination or Song. .80 New features in software version 3.0 . 27 Effects. .81 New features in software version 2.1 . 28 Automatically importing a Combination New features in software version 2.0 . 29 into Sequencer mode . .81 New features in software version 1.5 . 29 Saving your edits . .82 Playing and editing Programs . .31 Creating songs (Sequencer mode) . .83 Playing Programs . 31 Sequencer overview . 83 Selecting Programs . 31 About the KRONOS’ sequencer . .83 Using Controllers . 35 Sequencer mode structure. .83 Using the Chord Pads . 39 Using Chord mode . 40 Playing Songs . 86 Playback . .86 Easy Program Editing. 43 The control surface in Sequencer mode . .88 Quick edits using the knobs, sliders, and switches . 43 MIDI recording . 90 Quick Layer/Split. 47 Preparations for recording . .90 Quick Layer example: Recording MIDI in real-time . .92 adding strings to a piano sound. 48 MIDI step recording . .95 Quick Split example: Recording the sound of a Combination or Program. .96 adding left-hand bass to a piano . 49 Recording multiple MIDI tracks from Detailed Program Editing. 51 an external sequencer . .98 Editing HD-1 Programs . 51 Recording System Exclusive events. .99 Using LFOs and Envelopes (EGs) . 54 Recording patterns . .100 Using Alternate Modulation (AMS) Other ways to record . .102 and the AMS Mixers. 55 Audio recording. .103 Controlling Pitch. 56 Audio recording overview . .103 Using Filters . 57 Audio input settings and recording source selection .104 Using the Amp section . 60 Recording procedure . .107 Using EXi . 62 Other variations of audio track recording. .113 Using Vector Synthesis. 64 Placing a WAVE file in an audio track . .115 Effects . 66 Automatically importing a Program Song editing . .117 into Sequencer mode. 66 Songs . .117 MIDI Tracks . .117 Common to MIDI tracks and audio tracks . .118 Audio Tracks . .119 v Using RPPR (Realtime Pattern Play/Record) . 120 User Sample Banks . 170 Creating RPPR data . 120 Overview . .170 RPPR playback . 121 Saving User Sample Banks . .170 Recording an RPPR performance. 121 Loading User Sample Banks . .172 Sampling in Sequencer mode . 123 Editing User Sample Banks . .172 User Sample Bank IDs and limitations . .173 Saving your Song . 124 Other notes about Sequencer mode. 125 KRONOS sequencer file formats . 125 Global Settings, Wave Seq., The Compare function . 125 Drum Kits. 175 Memory Protect . ..