These sequencing tips illustrate ideas you can use to get more out of your KORG i-Series keyboard. Please read your reference guide for full instructions on using the various editing facilities which are only outlined in this text. If you have any problems with the above methods or would like to contribute some tips of your own please Email me.
On the i-series workstations there is no option to create a dedicated control track for the lead part. When you want to play the lead track of a song you need the program changes, volume changes etc. to take place automatically. Let's assume track 01 contains the lead part of the song (and the MIDI channel of this track is set to 01/G by default). You could just put all the control changes on this track, without any note data, and play the lead part manually. This works fine.
Alternatively, if you want the option of playing the lead part manually or listening to the lead track playing automatically, without having to create 2 separate files (i.e. one for live performance and another for playback), then the trick is to use another track as a CONTROL track (I use track 09) and set it's MIDI channel to 01/G i.e. tracks 01 & 09 are both set to the Global MIDI channel. Now you can put all the control/program changes on track 09 and record the lead part (note data) on track 01. To change between performance or playback you can either set track 01 to MUTE or PLAY respectively. Note: Make sure you set the program value of your control track to OFF.
If you have a piece of music which requires a lot of pitch bends e.g. a lead guitar solo, then you will often find that it is difficult to control the joystick accurately enough to achieve all the different length's of bend in the same piece. The method I use to get around this problem, is to make several copies of the PROGRAM I am using for a particular solo part, and then give each program a different pitch bend joystick value. If you put the appropriate program changes in your control track (see #1), you will then be able to get the perfect pitch bend just by moving the joystick from left (or right) to centre. You must also make sure that the pitch bend range of the track you are using, is set to PROG (Page 2, SONG MODE). Download Stairway To Heaven to see an example of using variable pitch bends in a guitar solo.
The korg i-series and X3 have some great EFFECTS but you can only use two at a time (normally best with the PARALLEL 3 option). If you want an echo on a particular track e.g. the mute guitar section on Atlantis then (i) make a copy of the original track. For example make a copy of TRACK 01 to TRACK 02 using COPY TRACK. (ii) We now need to shift the notes along in time i.e. to create a DELAY (or echo) effect. To do this you will need to use the QUANTISE option, set to Q:HI, and increase the offset value e.g. O+10. This will shift the notes by about a 10th of a beat in time without quantising them (Q:HI essentially turns off quantisation). (iii) An echo normally has a lower volume, so you can either change the volume of the echo track or use MODIFY VELOCITY to change the velocity of each individual note in the track.
Repeat this process on various tracks to create a MULTI TAP DELAY effect. If you have used the MODIFY VELOCITY to decrease the volume of your echo tracks, you can then use the BOUNCE TRACK function to merge all of them together into one track, which is more economical if you are running low on tracks.
There are 2 ways to get a fade in/out, manually or by using MODIFY CONTROL DATA. Lets assume we want a fade out at the end of a song. These methods are for SONG mode.
Manually: i) On Page 1 of SONG mode change the recording mode to Overdub. ii) Change the 'Parameter Select' to Volume so that you can now see the volumes of each track. Using the cursors highlight the volume of the track you want to fade out. iii) Use the cursor keys to decrease the volume of the track in real-time while you are recording.
Using MODIFY CONTROL DATA: This is the best & quickest method for fade out's. First, a few points that may be useful. Different control functions have a different control code. The code for Track Volume is C007, Panning C010, Effects send level (C) C091, Effects send level (D) C093 and Sustain Pedal C064. These codes are the most useful to know. All of these codes can take on a value between 0-127. Hence to get a volume fade out we need to change the code C007 from C007=current volume to C007=0.
i) First make a note of the measure number where you want the fade out to start & finish. ii) Go to page 8 of SONG mode and select MODIFY CONTROL DATA. You can now enter the start measure/beat and end measure/beat. Change the control code to C007 and set it's value to zero (i.e. C007=000). iii) Press MODIFY (key H) and that's it.
If you want a big drum roll for an orchestral piece or an intro if you are playing live then here's how to do it (SONG mode).
i) Choose a track (1-16) and select the Timpani Drum Program (A68). On 2 other tracks select the GM Drum Kit and the Percussion Drum Kit. From the GM kit you will need the Crash Cymbal (C#3) and from the Percussion Kit you will need the Orch. Bass. Drum (E3) and the Orch. Crash (C#6).
ii) Select the Timpani Drum track, and go to SONG mode Page 6. Select Step Recording. Change the note to a demisemiquaver and then step record 2 bars on middle C (or another note).
iii) Now go to Page 8 and select Modify Velocity. You now need to set the start and end measure for the 2 bar drum roll, the start Velocity (try 30), the end Velocity (127 i.e. Maximum Volume) and the Velocity Curve (Curve 2 gives a Crescendo which is what we want). The bottom line should now look like this:
Trk01 M001>002 V=30>127 100% Cv2
Press Modify (H key) to make the change. Repeat this process on the track you have assigned the GM kit using the Crash Cymbal (C#3).
iv) Finally, on the 1st beat of Bar 3 record a single Orch Bass Drum & Crash Cymbal (Percussion Kit). If you want an intro drum roll then increase the velocities of the first few timpani notes.
v) If you are a real perfectionist edit all the individual velocities of each timpani note by adjusting it slightly up or down. This will give it a more human feel by adding a touch of randomness to the volume of each drum beat. It's probably worth doing once as you can then save it as a PATTERN and paste it as many times as you like. Click here to download a basic 2 Bar timpani roll (drmroll.zip).
Using SONG mode (16 track sequencer) you can have up to 10 SONG's (0-9) in memory at any time. If you want to move a track or several bars of music from one SONG to another there is no dedicated editing facility for doing so. The way to achieve this is to use a PATTERN as an intermediate step. i) Go to Page 9 and setup the Pattern Parameters. ii) Use Get From Track to copy the measures from the source SONG. iii) Go back to Page 0 and change to the destination SONG. iv) Finally, go to Page 7 and use Put/Copy Pattern to paste the sequence into the destination SONG.
Quantising notes in the right place, in the right way, can make a big difference to the quality of your sequence. On the other hand, quantising in the wrong situation will spoil a good tune. This is something I have learned by experience, although it is still a matter of personal preference when to use QUANTISE or not. The following tips are general notes on using QUANTISE and can be applied to most of the i-Series modes (although I nearly always use SONG mode these days). Some of the following tips might be more obvious but I'll list them anyway.
i) Always QUANTISE drum & percussion tracks.
ii) Always QUANTISE bass tracks.
ii) Never QUANTISE your lead track.
iii) Refrain from QUANTISING piano tracks.
The more you use QUANTISE the more computerized your sequence will sound, but drums, bass, and arpeggio's have to be in perfect time to hold the rest of the tune together.
A good example is a bass guitar track with the occasional pitch bend. The trick here is to record your bass track first without using the QUANTISE in real-time (i.e. Quantise is set to HI). Now, QUANTISE the whole track using the 'NOTE only' option. This will quantise all your notes leaving the pitch bend data (and any other control data) untouched. If you try to record a track using quantise in real-time, and use pitch bends, the pitch bends will be extremely jerky when playing back. The same rule applies to Joystick modulation and Aftertouch control.
In general it's best not to quantise strings, but occasionally it can be useful. Most string type programs have a longer attack than most other programs i.e. they take longer to reach their maximum volume after playing a note on the keyboard. If you QUANTISE strings as normal you will find that it sounds like they are being played late because of the long attack time. The key to this problem is to set the offset value when you quantise to a small negative number e.g. O-10. You can always UNDO the quantise and keep experimenting until it sounds just right.
I know, I'm contradicting myself again here, but sometimes you might find it necessary to quantise a piano (or percussive program) track. I'm personally not a pianist of any sort, so it takes me a hell of a long time to play difficult piano parts well. I still rarely use quantise but it can be useful just to polish up a couple of difficult bars.
The trick here is to lower the 'Quantise Intensity' setting. When you quantise anything you will notice a percentage figure of 100% by default (this is the Quantise Intensity). By lowering this value e.g. 75% the notes will brought closer to the beat without being exactly on the beat. This will polish up your piano sequence without making it sound too computerized.
by Jair Ruiz (jairr@panama.phoenix.net)
There is a beautiful way to obtain a great "rim shot" sound! You only have to pitch up (with the joystick) the 'gated snare' (E2) using the Power drum kit. I discovered it by accident while I was listening to a rock cd, suddenly I realised that the rim shot's sound was the same as the one on the cd.
Hint: If you go to GLOBAL MODE (PAGE 5) and COPY DRUMKIT 2 into one of the USER drum kits you can then add a permanent pitch bend (by changing the TUNE setting to +120) to the Gated Snare (E2) so that you can use the sound without having to use the joystick. You can then use SAVE ALL PROGRAM to save your modified drum kit.
Before we go on to mention effects send levels, always make sure when you use a drumkit program in any i-Series mode, that you adjust the panpot setting to the PROGRAM setting (i.e. PRG). This ensures that you get the stereo effect of different drum sounds coming from different positions (depending on the DRUMKIT panpot values).
The following notes assume that you are using at least one HALL (or similar) EFFECT in your EFFECTS SETUP in any mode (I find that I nearly always need a basic HALL effect in my sequence's).
If you load a ROM drum kit into one of the user drumkits (in GLOBAL mode) you can then edit the individual parameters of each drum sound. Here you can adjust the EFFECTS SEND levels C & D of each drum sound and volume, decay, pitch etc. It we help me here if I use a common example of an Effects set up that I normally use. I mostly use the PARALLEL3 set up which gives me complete control on how much of the output from any program is passed through the effects processor. i.e. by increasing the C-level of a program, more of it's output will get passed through FX1 (Which I normally assign to HALL) and by increasing the D-level more ouput will get passed through FX2 (e.g. CHORUS). If the C & D levels of a program are set to 0 then it will sound completely 'dry'.
With drumkit programs I find that it is best to set the C-level to the PRG value (i.e. CP). This is because each individual drum sound has a different C-level. Normally Kick drums tend to have a zero or very small C-level and Snares have a larger C-level. The C-level (in my setup) will determine the amount of HALL effect given to that drum sound. In most cases drumkits sound best with 'dry' kick and 'wet' snare (wet meaning more HALL). I should point out here that all the drum sounds in the ROM drumkits have various C-level values but the D-level's are all set to zero! so no output will get sent through FX2 (in my PARALLEL3 set up). By editting the drumkits (GLOBAL mode) you can determine how much HALL you want on each drum sound by changing it's C-level (or D-level if your HALL effect is assigned to FX2).
Summary: i) Setting the drumkit program C-level to the default (CP) will ensure that each drum sound has a differnt amount of HALL applied to it (assuming the C-output is routed through a HALL EFFECT). ii) Edit the drumkit in GLOBAL mode to change the C-level settings if you want more or less hall on a particular drum sound. iii) Don't forget that the overall result will depend on your EFFECTS SET UP in which ever mode you are using. Hint: If you have a PARALLEL3 set up with FX1 (Hall) and FX2 (Delay) you could increase the D-level of a drum sound (in GLOBAL mode) so that you could get an 'echo' on a snare or tambourine etc.
Sometimes when I have been recording (Song or Backing Sequence mode), I have received the message 'Can't Undo this change, continue Y/N'. This is irritating because the recording mode stops dead in the middle of playing! This is because of the UNDO (which is actually called COMPARE) feature which allows you to UNDO your last recording and retrieve your previous version. This means that when you are recording on a particular track, the original data is aslo kept in memory just in case you want to UNDO or COMPARE the new and old recording. This is a very useful feature, but if you are re-recording a long section of music, you end up running out of memory because the keyboard has to keep the original data that was already previously recorded on that track. Note: You will only experience this problem if you have several Songs or Backing Sequences in memory at the same time, or a long Song/MIDI sequence.
I've found that there are 2 ways to get around this problem:
i) ERASE the track you want to re-record completely. This will free up the memory you need, but you will lose the ability to use the COMPARE option.
ii) If you have several SNG's or BSEQ's in memory and are having the above problem recording your n'th Sequence then the best solution is to start recording your last sequence in a new empty file i.e. Save your work so far (let's assume we are using a file called MUSIC1), Switch off and re-power the keyboard so that the memory is clear. Now load the n'th BSEQ/SNG using LOAD ONE BSEQ/SNG from the oringinal file MUSIC1 into any of the available sequence numbers (i.e. SNG/BSEQ 0-9). Now you have plenty of memory to re-record any track you like and will still be able to use the COMPARE option. When you have completed re-recording this last sequence save it under a new filename e.g. MUSIC2 (using SAVE ALL SONGS/BSEQ). We now want to put the finished n'th sequence back onto the end of the original group of sequences in the file MUSIC1. Load the original file again (MUSIC1) using LOAD ALL SNG/BSEQ. Finally use LOAD ONE SNG/BSEQ to load the one sequence from the file MUSIC2 into the appropriate slot in memory
Note: If you are using SONG mode be careful when using PATTERNS, only to use pattern numbers that are vacant in the original file e.g. if in file MUSIC1 patterns 0-29 are being used only use patterns 30 onwards in file MUSIC2. Important: Don't forget to load any new patterns from the new file (MUSIC2) into the original file (MUSIC1) by using LOAD ONE PATTERN for each new pattern you have used.
I have found that sometimes the BASS line in a particular STYLE is inappropriate for the song I am sequencing. This can be because there is too much movement or the accents are in the wrong place for a particular song. If you have the bass line written in the score you are using then you can use that instead of the pre-programmed BASS line of the STYLE. To do this MUTE the BASS track (either by MUTING it in ARRANGEMENT mode, or by inserting a MUTE BASS in the CONTROL track in BSEQ mode), and record your own bass line using an EXTRA TRACK. This can sometimes have a large effect on the overall sound of a sequence. I recorded the complete bass line using this method in my BSEQ version of Copacabana (At The Copa)
Hint: If you have a sequence in which the STYLE BASS is only inappropriate for a few bars, then you can MUTE the bass line just for that phrase, record your few bars of dedicated bass in an EXTRA TRACK, and then bring the STYLE BASS back in again.
A pause in a piece of music can be just as important as a phrase. With pre-programmed STYLES the only way to achieve a break in the music is to use a FILL-IN, which can somtimes be a bit 'over the top'. When you need a more subtle break (or fill in) it's best to MUTE some or all of the BASS, DRUM, PERC and ACCMP tracks and record your own section using EXTRA TRACKS (in exactly the same way as method #14 above for BASS lines). I've used this method in my BSEQ version of Copacabana (At The Copa) where I have muted all the STYLE tracks except for a piano part, and recorded a dedicated DRUM and BASS line to give the accents in the right place.
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