Kronos question...

[Karma1]

In the latest edition of Keyboard Magazine they review the Korg Kronos. In the article they say:

"The only physical controls you give up compared to the OASYS are the velocity-sensitive pads that triggered drums or memorized chords. In their place is a touch screen page with eight playable strips - the vertical axis translates to velocity."

 

Just wondering if anyone can elaborate on these "strips"? I have an M3 module and a Karma keyboard and I use the pads quite a bit in designing soundscapes. At first I thought that they did away with this function on the Kronos, but it seems like it's still there but implemented in a different fashion. I'm just wanting to get a better understanding of how this works. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Citizen Klaus]

From what I've heard, that Keyboard quote basically says it all. There's a "Pad" page selectable within the touch-screen UI. The screen gets divided up into 8 pads, each of which can be routed in exactly the same ways as the OASYS/M3 pads. The only difference is that, since the touchscreen isn't velocity sensitive, the on-screen "pads" are rendered more as vertical rectangles. Touch the bottom of each pad for low velocity, the top for high.

[McHale]

yes to what CK says. It works OK, but it's not handy... It's kind of a PITA to get to the pads. You have to do a bit of menu diving to get to them.

[Karma1]

Thanks for the replies. I'd have to see how it works in reality , but that sounds like an inconvenient setup and not very user-friendly if you have to page through menus to get to the control strips. I often use the pads on the M3 or Karma while I'm editing combi's. I don't know how that would be if you have to navigate away from the edit page to get to the controllers. I'd love to see a video of the control strips in action. Not that I'm ready to run out and buy a Kronos - I've hardly scratched the surface of what the M3 can do, but I'm still interested to know for future consideration.

[Son of HuHefner]

 

Thanks for the replies. I'd have to see how it works in reality , but that sounds like an inconvenient setup and not very user-friendly if you have to page through menus to get to the control strips. I often use the pads on the M3 or Karma while I'm editing combi's. I don't know how that would be if you have to navigate away from the edit page to get to the controllers. I'd love to see a video of the control strips in action. Not that I'm ready to run out and buy a Kronos - I've hardly scratched the surface of what the M3 can do, but I'm still interested to know for future consideration.

 

 

I like Karma and hope to get my K88 in a few weeks.

 

I also plan to get a vestax pad controller for KArma. I am not going to rely on the LCD

[psionic11]

Regarding menu diving, is there not a way to setup custom shortcuts? Like, say, assign this deep-menu-diving "Pads" page to some kind of button combination, so that you can get there in one or two presses instead?

[Karma1]

There might be a way to set up shortcuts, but it still takes away from the immediacy of having the pads right there while you are editing or searching through combi's. It may be possible to use something external like the Korg Nano Pads or Vestax, but it's kind of a shame to spend three thousand dollars on a state of the art synth and then have to use some cheap external accessory to get the most out of it.