Members Anderton Posted July 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 29, 2008 Great review , My first question is about the amount of storage for samples. Let me first explain that I have learned all about synths starting from software and am now getting into the hardware side of things , so , I might be coming from a "software-centric" paradigm here!. Is the need for all those minutes of sampling time related to ambient , evolving pad type of stuff ? I mean most of the old romplers could make a hell of a lot of sound from 32mb of waves, right ? When you say up to 80 minutes of time , it makes me think someone needs a recording deck , not a workstation! You can never have enough sampling time Seriously, you could set up the M3 in a corner of your rehearsal room, record the entire rehearsal, then burn it to CD (the M3 can do that with an external USB burner) or chop it up into loops. Thing is, I don't think it takes that much more effort to engineer the ability to record 80 minutes of samples instead of, say, five minutes. So...why not? If the user has the storage space and the need, then the feature is there if they want it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jerrythek Posted August 1, 2008 Members Share Posted August 1, 2008 * If you want to use the sample as a sound generator waveform, it needs to go into the M3's RAM, so you have that 320MB maximum RAM limit. In other words, you can't load samples from the hard drive/stick that are longer than 23 minutes into the M3 itself. From what I understand (Korg Guy, correct me if I'm wrong!!) the USB hard drive is not like a "swap file" where if the M3 runs out of RAM, it pulls data from the drive. Instead, it's a way to store samples (and do resampling) that would otherwise not fit in the M3's internal memory. Yup, you're correct, Craig. An important aspect of this resampling to media is that this is how you can "record" a final stereo mix of your tunes and then burn them to an audio CD, all within the M3 (and an external USB CD-R drive). Another cool application is making an audio loop from the M3, perhaps using KARMA interactively, or playing the realtime controllers (including the X/Y touchscreen) and then bringing that back for more creative fun. Slice it up and play at any tempo, or use it as a Drum Track, or trigger using RPPR (realtime Pattern Play and Record) within the sequencer - there's plenty of ways to have fun. So don't only think of sampling as a way to make a new waveform for new sounds, not that there isn't plenty of application for that as well! Did I over-answer enough? :-) Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thedude5000 Posted August 4, 2008 Members Share Posted August 4, 2008 A little sidestep to previous discussed Guitarrig possibilities. As promised some example of the M3 being a Guitar rig.The following examples show what the insert effects are capable of. just connect a guitar to the input, set to IFX1 and scroll through the programs. I-A005 Attacking synth: flanger with limiter I-A011 r&b planet: compressor/flanger/ wahwah I-A018 dirty guitar + ac30: set gain to 100 for even more heavyness I-A076 Paddylicious: dreamy guitar! I-A066 Xfade guitar: flanger, biphase mod, gain U-C048: Blues tweed U-C060: New fuzz guitar: guitar in talkbox. Very good sounding. Ok, now back to sequencing business so are you saying all i have to do is just connect my guitar to the m3, no amp or nothing, just a straight connection to the m3 and this will work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tony Scharf Posted August 4, 2008 Members Share Posted August 4, 2008 well..I did it. I pulled the trigger on my CC and will be accepting delivery of an M3-61 this week.. I look forward to reading the rest of this review, and trying some of the excercises in it myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted August 4, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 4, 2008 so are you saying all i have to do is just connect my guitar to the m3, no amp or nothing, just a straight connection to the m3 and this will work? Yes! But you'll get the best sound quality if you use a buffer board or preamp between the guitar and line-level input. You can think of the M3 as a signal processor as well as a keyboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted August 4, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 4, 2008 well..I did it. I pulled the trigger on my CC and will be accepting delivery of an M3-61 this week..I look forward to reading the rest of this review, and trying some of the excercises in it myself! I really don't think you'll be disappointed. I thought I knew the M3 pretty well before starting this pro review, but it keeps doing more things that I expected...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tony Scharf Posted August 13, 2008 Members Share Posted August 13, 2008 My M3 arrived a week ago now...WOW. Very deep instrument. So far, I have been most pleased with the following aspects: 1. The keybed is the best I have ever played. It is so comfortable and controllable. 2. Sampling is very simple, and the sound quality of playback is exceptional. 3. Karma - I havnt gotten my head around it yet, but its way more than I thought it was 4. It looks really cool in the dark. I am still too much in the afterglow of the purchase to notice any blemishes. I am having trouble getting the Firewire interface and plugin to work, but I blame my crusty computer for that one.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted August 13, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 13, 2008 Make sure you download all available updates for the editor and such. I've been playing with the sequencer all day prior to doing some more posts, and one thing to be aware of is that while there may not be a function called "Undo," you can use the Compare button to revert to, say, a track before you made changes to it. Maybe The Korg Guy knows whether there's an undo function hidden somewhere... Glad you're digging the M3! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted August 13, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 13, 2008 Oh, and one more thing: Dedicate a USB stick to the M3 so you can save songs and such. Otherwise, you lose them when you power down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted August 14, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2008 I figured the best way to get into the sequencer's operation is to sit down and create a tune. I thought I'd start with a template sequence (I chose the Techno/Trance one) but realized that in general, I prefer to start from scratch so I left the template in place, but made quite a few changes along the way. Then again, I guess that's what templates are about The first thing is to set up any desired preferences, like whether you want newly-recorded notes to overdub or replace existing notes, how you want the metronome to make itself known, and the like. You can record either with "high resolution" (the sequencer's maximum resolution) or quantize your notes on the way in.Once those things are squared away, recording is pretty easy to figure out: You select a track, hit the Record button, hit the Start/Stop button, and start playing. To record on a different track, you just select it instead. As we already covered changing preset sounds and mixing, we won't get into that here.But of course, recording is only half the story as there's also editing. The first image shows the main track edit screen, which reminds me of the good ol' days of Passport's Master Tracks Pro - you can see all 16 tracks, and measures that have notes show up as little rectangles. This is a great way to get an overview of what's happening in the sequencer, but as with the other screens, it's the little downward-pointing triangle in the upper right that reveals all the good stuff.Unfortunately I can't grab that screen, but you can select Step Recording, Event List view, Erase/Copy/Bounce Track, Erase/Copy/Delete/Insert/Repeat/Move Measure, Quantize, set Fast Forward/Rewind Speed, Modify Velocity, Shift/Erase Note, Erase Controller Data, Create Controller Data, Set Location, and more. For example, suppose you select Quantize; the second image is what shows up. "Kind" is interesting, as you can choose just notes or various controllers, or all so that controller data moves with the note. Considering how long it took for this to show up in some sequencers (ahem!), it's great to find it in the M3's sequencer.Also note that you can specify the edit to occur over a specific number of beats and note range (this is in other editing functions as well). Of course there's the resolution value to which you want to quantize, and Offset, Intensity, and Swing. (By the way, in case you haven't discovered the power of swing in general, this is one parameter you shouldn't ignore. Even a little bit of swing can make sequenced material sound far more interesting.)Of course, you can also do "old school" editing and just punch where you want to make a change. You can do manual punch-in with either a button or hitting a footswitch, or select a range and do an Auto-Punch. You can also do Loop Recording, which is precisely what I did for recording the drum track so I could do kick first, snare next, hats next, etc. You can even set up a Multitrack Recording mode, which I'm not totally sure I "get," but it seems to let you put the sequencer in a sort of "record-ready" mode for all tracks, and when the sequencer is stopped, you can click the Record button for whatever track you want to record on, without having to select a particular track first. One other cool thing: The Play/Mute button status is recorded - handy when playing loops, and you want to mute some and have the sequencer "remember" where they were muted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted August 14, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2008 But what if you want really detailed editing? Well, there's the Event Editor. While I prefer working with a computer-based sequencer with a piano roll view and all those other goodies, I'm a realist! And I actually do use event lists quite a bit when doing computer-based sequencing, so I was happy to see that Korg's implementation is pretty user-friendly, given that you're not using a 19" monitor. When you first go into Event editing, you have the option to Set Event Filters (see the first image) so you don't have to scroll through, say, every single pitch bend event as you look for a rogue note. The screen shot shows only Notes being selected, because I wanted to delete a note that had been quantized on top of another note. The second image shows the Event List itself. While it seems straightforward (you can alter where a note falls, the pitch, the velocity, and length), there are a couple nice twists. First, in the "let's hope other companies steal this idea" category, there's an indicate for where bars begin, and you can change meter here. Second, if you touch any field for a note, it plays the note. It was a fairly simple matter to play the sequencer, note that the doubled note was somewhere toward the end of measure 24, and look in the list to find two consecutive entries with the same pitch and start time. Incidentally, it seems that if there are a bunch of notes with the same start time, they're sorted on the basis of pitch, making it particularly easy to find doubled notes. Also, note that you can insert, cut, and copy events, as well as play to hear the results of your edits without having to leave the screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted August 14, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2008 Time for a bit of a sidebar. Having created a sequence, it was time to learn about the details of saving to an external USB device - something you must do if you ever want to see your data again. When you hit the Media button, it shows a directory of files on the drive as shown in the first image (the directory doesn't "filter" only the Korg-specific stuff, it "sees" just about any extension). Before saving, you go to the upper-right and choose what you want to save - usually Save All, so you can be assured that things will play back properly (programs won't be "replaced," etc.) Upon saving, you'll see the familiar progress bar (second image). When the writing is finished, your work is safe. Question for The Korg Guy: What's the maximum USB memory stick size the M3 can address? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jerrythek Posted August 14, 2008 Members Share Posted August 14, 2008 Question for The Korg Guy: What's the maximum USB memory stick size the M3 can address? MUCH larger than any sticks they make - we support drives up to a terrabyte in theory... Picture draggin THAT USB stick around behind you... :-) regards, Jerry Korg Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jerrythek Posted August 14, 2008 Members Share Posted August 14, 2008 I've been playing with the sequencer all day prior to doing some more posts, and one thing to be aware of is that while there may not be a function called "Undo," you can use the Compare button to revert to, say, a track before you made changes to it. Maybe The Korg Guy knows whether there's an undo function hidden somewhere... You've already found it - COMPARE is the UNDO function. Regards, Jerry Korg Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted August 14, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2008 MUCH larger than any sticks they make - we support drives up to a terrabyte in theory... Picture draggin THAT USB stick around behind you... The way prices are going, I'll probably be able to get a terabyte stick at Office Depot next year for $99.95... Think I'll go out, get an 8GB stick fopr $28, write "M3" on it, and just save everything to it. Thanks Jerry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stephen Kay Posted August 30, 2008 Members Share Posted August 30, 2008 Hi Craig,Great job you're doing here. I wish I had time to stop over more often.I hope you won't mind me making an announcement that should be of interest to every M3 owner or prospective owner:===========================================================================Karma-Lab unveils the Karma-Lab Wiki, a new resource for Korg M3 and KARMA users===========================================================================Based on the concept of popular community-authored web references such as Wikipedia.com, the Karma-Lab Wiki (wiki.karma-lab.com) aims to build a library of useful "how to" information for working with the various keyboards, music workstations and software incorporating KARMA technology. Not only does it contain articles about KARMA technology, but general articles covering all aspects of the products that incorporate KARMA (such as Korg Keyboards like the M3, OASYS, Karma Workstation, Triton w/KARMA software and more). Over 90 articles are available at the moment, with more going up daily.While forums can be an immense repository of wisdom and helpful advice, finding specific information can be difficult due to their conversational nature. The Karma-Lab Wiki is based on the idea of enabling the community to share useful information in an organized manner that facilitates finding the answers and advice they need quickly.You can search for articles by category or by using the community-assigned tags in the sidebar. For example, use the category menu at the top fo choose the Korg M3 category for all articles specifically located in that category, click on the "korg-m3" tag for all articles that relate in some way to the M3 Workstation (but may also be in other categories), or click on the "pads" tag to see all articles that relate to using the pads on various keyboards.Thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted August 31, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 31, 2008 I don't mind at all, it's useful information as opposed to mindless hype. Hopefully when I get into the KARMA section (which isn't too far away...) you can pop over and at least let me know if I'm getting anything wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jerrythek Posted September 12, 2008 Members Share Posted September 12, 2008 Hi Craig (and Pro Review readers): As if you didn't have enough to do, we've just made this review a whole lot more interesting, and deep. Read about it here: http://www.korg.com/m3 Info, new MP3's and the OS will be available for download in the next few days. So... get back to work around here! Regards, Jerry Korg Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted September 12, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 12, 2008 Yes, I had heard rumors this was forthcoming...hence a bit of "holding back" the last few weeks (why write about something that's going to change?). BUT the rumors didn't really indicate just how deep this update is That's pretty cool. As people can probably figure out by reading this review, I'm quite taken by the M3 and if it does even more...well, guess I'll find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stephen Kay Posted September 12, 2008 Members Share Posted September 12, 2008 Hi Craig (and Pro Review readers): As if you didn't have enough to do, we've just made this review a whole lost more interesting, and deep. Not to mention:KARMA M3 Software for the Korg M3 AnnouncedWhat’s new in KARMA Version 2.2 for the M3 XPanded (v2.0)Sorry to heap more things to look at on you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tony Scharf Posted September 12, 2008 Members Share Posted September 12, 2008 I had just purchased my M3 in early August - its absolutely exceptional. I cant wait to get my hands on this update and particularly on the Karma software!. Not to sound like a fanboy, but than you Korg! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jerrythek Posted September 17, 2008 Members Share Posted September 17, 2008 Yes, I had heard rumors this was forthcoming...hence a bit of "holding back" the last few weeks (why write about something that's going to change?). BUT the rumors didn't really indicate just how deep this update is That's pretty cool. As people can probably figure out by reading this review, I'm quite taken by the M3 and if it does even more...well, guess I'll find out. The new OS was posted last Friday so have at it:http://www.korg.com/service/downloadinfo.asp?DID=1432Other files and locations that will help/apply include:Revised Editor with improved FW latency performance:http://www.korg.com/service/downloadinfo.asp?DID=1385Converted RADIAS + EDS Combis:http://www.korg.com/service/downloadinfo.asp?DID=1384Nice Wiiki article from Stephen Kay/Karma-Labs:http://karma-lab.wikidot.com/korg-m3:updating-custom-sounds-to-os2I thought Craig would want to take the user's perspective of what downloading and installing the OS is like - after all, he's got plenty of extra time for these things, right?Enjoy!JerryKorg Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted September 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 18, 2008 I thought Craig would want to take the user's perspective of what downloading and installing the OS is like - after all, he's got plenty of extra time for these things, right? Guess it's time to do some serious file downloading... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted September 19, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2008 I'm downloading now...256MB... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted September 19, 2008 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2008 Here's a link to the upgrade instructions so you can get an idea of what's involved. Note that you need a USB device with 512MB of storage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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