korg kronos workflow for worship - tj cornish kronos workflow for worship i have been playing korg...

KorgKronosWorkflowforWorshipIhavebeenplayingKorgkeyboardssincetheOASYSin2005.Korghasgraciouslycarriedovermostoftheworkflowtotheircurrentproduct–theKorgKronos.Thiskeyboardissingularlypowerfulandisagreatfitforcontemporaryworshipduetoitsincrediblebreadthofsoundsincludedwiththekeyboard,andtheeaseoflayeringmultiplesoundstogether.ThisarticlewilldescribethebasicworkflowofthekeyboardandtheapproachItakeforusingitinaworshipapplication.TheBasicsTheKronoshasseveralmainoperatingmodes,selectedbythebuttonsrightofthescreen.ThemainmodesareSetList,Program,Combi,andSequence.Program–Thisisthesinglesoundmodeofthekeyboard,usedforauditioningsoundsinthekeyboardandforcreatingnewsounds.Combi–ThismodeisthemainperformancemodeoftheKronoswheremultiplesoundscanbecombinedandlayeredorsplitacrossthekeyboard.SetList–SetListmodeallowsyoutoordercombisorprogramssotheycanbeeasilyrecalledinorderforaset.Youcanaddnotesforeachsetlistitemforlyriccuesornotesaboutthesounds.WorkflowOverviewThebasicKronosworkflowis:

1. Createacombiwiththebasicsettingsandpreferenceswhichyouwilluseasatemplateforfuturecombis(onetimetaskonly)

2. Copyyourtemplatecombitoafreecombilocation3. ChooseProgramsinProgrammodeandnotethebankandprogramnumbers4. Usethe“CopyfromProgram”functionintheupperrightdropdownmenuofCombi

modetocopyyourprogram(s)intoslotsintoyourcombi5. Adjustcombisettings–pitch,layer/splitpoints,effects6. VERYIMPORTANT–Adjusttimbrevolumelevels7. Savethecombi8. Optional-CreateaSetListentryforthecombi

Theseitemswillbediscussedinmoredetailbelow.Initialsetup–GlobalSettings

TheKronosisveryflexible,andcanbeusedinmanysituations–bothforliveperformanceandforrecordingworkflows.Thereareafewglobalsettingsthatarehelpfulforliveuse.

- Basic->Basic->Knob/SliderMode–settoCatch.Thismeansthesliderswillnotbegin

controllingthetimbreleveluntiltheyarephysicallymovedtomatchthevirtuallevel.Thispreventssuddenvolumesurprisesthatcanhappenin“Jump”mode.

- Basic->Basic->MuteModeSetthistoLive.Thismeansthatmutedcombichannelsdon’tusepolyphony.

- Controllers/Scales->Controllers->FootPedalBehaviorSetthistoReset.Thiswillcausethefootpedal(thevolumepedalifyouhaveone)toresettothesavedvalueofyoursound,ratherthanremainingwhereitwasonthelastsound.Thisisanimportantsettingifyouusethefootpedalforcontrollingvolumeofasound–commonlydonewithorgansounds.

Besuretosaveyourglobalsettingschanges.

InitialSetup–TemplateCombiIhavefounditextremelyhelpfultohaveacombisetupwithbasicsounds,settings,androutingsthatcanbeusedasastartingpointfornewcombis.It’sworthspendingafairbitoftimegettingthisright,asyouwillmakemanycopies.Thisiscriticallyimportant,butcanbeabitarduous.Iwilldescribetheprocessofcreatingmytemplatecombiinafuturearticle.Youcanchoosetofollowthatarticletocreateyourowntemplatecombi,oryoucanstartwithmyPCGfilewhichcontainsthetemplatecombiIcreated.SoundOrderThefirstdecisionyouwillneedtomakewhetheryoumakeyourowncombiorusemineishowtoorderyoursoundsinyourcombi.Therearetwoprimaryoptions–eitherorderingyoursoundsinorderofimportanceputtingthedominantsoundontimbreone,thenextontimbretwo,etc.,orbyorderingyoursoundsbycategory–i.e.pianoalwaysgoesontimbre1,pads/stringsontimbres2-3,leadsoundson4,etc.

Ihaveadoptedthecategorymethod,asIfinditeasiertokeeptrackofsoundsifIknowtheyarealwaysinthesameorder,evenifthatmeansonsomesongsI’monlyusinghigher-numberedtimbres.Thisismylayout:

1. Acousticpiano2. Pad1–lowestintensity/simplest3. Pad2–mediumintensity4. Pad3–highestintensity/mostcomplicated5. ElectricPiano6. Lead7. Pulse8. Organ16.Click

ItisimportanttonotethatnoteverycombiIcreatehasallofthesethingsinthem–thatwouldcreatesignificantpolyphony(howmanynotescanbeplayedatatime)andeffectslotproblems.Rather,everycombiIcreatefollowsthispattern.Forexample,ifIneedacombiwithanelectricpianoandapad,Iwilluseonlytimbre2forthepadandtimbre4fortheelectricpiano.Mybasictemplatecombihasonlypianoontimbre1andclicktrackontimbre16.IalsohaveatemplatecombithatcontainstwopadsoundsandaHammondOrgansound.ClickTrackTheKronos’drumtrackfunctionisextremelyusefulasabasicclicktrack.Onceitisconfiguredinthetemplatecombiitisveryeasytouse–enterthetempoyoudesireintothecombi,thenpresstheDrumTrackbuttontostarttheclickrunning.PressDrumTrackagaintostoptheclick.Ihaveconfiguredtheclicktracktooperateontimbre16andbeoutputtotheOutput1jack.EffectsTheKronoshasseveralkindsofeffects–MFX,TFX,andIFX.MFXaremastereffectsthatcanbeusedlikeeffectsonasoundboard–therearetwoMFXchannels,andeachcombitimbrehasalevelcontroltoeachofthesetwoMFXchannels.TFX(totaleffects)arealwaysoninthechainandaffecttheentirecombioutput.Idon’ttypicallyusethese.IFX(inserteffects)aretheprimarysourceofeffectsforindividualprogramsinthecombi.IFXIFXsettingsgetpopulatedwhenadditionalprogramsarecopiedintothecombi.MFX

IhavesetmineupasMFX1reverbandMFX2Delay.TheinputlevelcontrolstotheseMFXarefoundontheIFX->InsertFXpage.NotethatyouneedtogototheIFX->RoutingpagetoseewhereeachtimbremapstotheIFXinusesoyouknowwhichlevelyouneedtoedit.ChoosingProgramsNowthatwehaveatemplatecombi,wecanchoosesoundsforit.Thisstepisbothfunandfrustrating.Itisfuntodialthroughallthesoundsthatcomeintheboard,butitcanalsobefrustratingthattherearesomanysoundsthatcomestockintheboard,andfindingwhatyouneedcantakeawhile.Rememberingthesoundsyoulikecanbedifficultaswell.Fortunately,theKronoshasacoupletoolstohelpwiththis.Forthissection,makesureyouareinProgrammode.Categoryselection

Theeasiestwaytostartauditioningsoundsistoturnthewheelandstartplaying;however,theKronos’soundlistismassiveandit’snotorderedinaparticularlystructuredway.Categorymodeismucheasiertouse.Toselectsoundsbycategory,clicktheCategoryfieldatthetopof

thescreen.Theleftlistcontainsthemainsoundcategoriesandtherightlistsubcategories.Therearestillmanysoundstoauditionandsometimessounds–particularlysynthsounds–maybedescribedbymorethanonecategory,butthisnarrowsthefieldconsiderably.SoundAddressingOnceyoufindasoundyoulike,youneedtonoteitsbankandprogramnumber.TheKronosisorganizedintobanks–Int-A,User-B,etc.,andthenprogramnumbers0-127.Bothbankandprogramnumberarerequiredtorecallthecorrectsound.Forexample(inthedefaultKronos2soundset),KRONOSGermanGrandisInt-C:000.FavoritesOnceyouhavefoundsomesoundsyoulike,TheKronoshasanadditionaltooltoflagthemforeasierrecall–settingtheFavoriteflag.Toflagasoundasafavorite,clickthedrop-downmenuintheupperrightofthescreenandselectFavorite,thensavethesound(upperrightdrop-downmenu->Save).Afteryouhavesavedanumberofsoundswiththefavoriteflag,youcanfilteronthesewhenyousearchfornewsoundsbycheckingtheFavoriteboxineithertheprogramselectorcategoryselectwindows.CreatinganewcombifromyourtemplatecombiSwitchbacktoCombimodeifyouhaven’talreadydoneso.It’sagoodhabittoalwayscopyyourtemplatecombiintoanewcombislotbeforeyoustartmakingchangessoyoudon’taccidentallychangeyourtemplate.

Tocopyyourtemplatecombi,selectyourtemplatecombi,clicktheupperrightdrop-downmenu,andchooseSave.Changethecombislottoafreelocationandnamethenewcombi.PressOK.Anoteoncombinaming–Mycombisarenamedeitherdescriptivelyforwhattheyare,orasthenameofthesong.Somecombisareveryspecifictoaparticularsong,andfortheseit’sanobviouschoicetonamethecombiafterthesong.Othercombisaremoregeneric–apianowithacouplepadsthatImayuseonseveralsongs.ThosegenericcombisImaynamesomethinglike“Pianowithbrasspad”.SinceInearlyalwaysplaywithaclicktrack,genericcombistendtobecomesubtemplates,andIwillusuallymakeacopyofthatgenericcombi,setthetempoforthesong,andthensaveitasthenameofthesongjusttocapturethetempo.Ifyouaren’tgoingtobeusingtheclicktrackfunction,youmaybeabletousethegenericcombimodel.CopytheProgramsintoyournewcombiMakesureyouareeditingthenewcombiandnotyourtemplate!!Presstheupperrightdrop-downmenuandselectCopyfromProgram.

Thescreenthatappearshasseveralimportantsettings.

TheProgramNamefieldiswhereyouselecttheprogramyouwanttoimport.TheTimbrefieldiswhichtimbretheprogramwillbeimportedinto.Theothersettingsrelatetohowtheprogram’seffectswillbehandled.InearlyalwaysusetheIFXAllUsedsettingwhichimportsonlytheinserteffectsusedbytheprogram.Youprobablydon’twanttoselectMFXorTFX,asthesewilloverwritetheeffectssettingfortheentirecombi.Afterchoosingyourprogram,selectingthedestinationtimbrenumber,andselectingtheeffectsyouwanttoimport,clickOK.Testouttheimportedprogram,makingsureitsoundsthesameasitdidinprogrammode,andthatitrespondstothecorrecttimbreslider.Ifeverythingchecksout,saveyourcombi,andrepeattheCopyFromProgramprocessforanyadditionalsoundsyouwanttoimport.Ifthereisaproblem,eitherreverttoyoursavedcombiandtrytheimportagain,orcheckouttheTroubleshootingsectionattheendofthearticle.Note–ifyouareusingmytemplatecombi,soundswillprobablyhaveadelayassigned.Seethesectionbelowforhowtoturnthatoff.AdjustCombiSettings

Programsgetimportedintothecombiforthemostpartastheyare.Sometimesthingsneedtobeadjusted.Hereareafewcommonadjustments:Split/LayerpointsandPitchWhenprogramsareimported,theycoverthewholekeyrange.Thisissometimesdesirable–i.e.youmaywanttolayerapadsoundwithapiano,andissometimesnotdesirable.Tochangethekeyrangeofatimbre,gototheMIDIFilter/Zones->Kbd/VelZonesscreen.Hereyoucanchoosethetopandbottomkeyforeachtimbre.

Youmayalsowanttochangethepitchofatimbre,forexampleifalayeredpadisplayinginthewrongoctave.Tochangethepitchofatimbre,gototheTimbreParameter->Pitch/DelayscreenandadjusttheTransposesettingforthetimbreinquestion.

Tomakeanoctaveadjustment,changethevalueto+12togoupanoctaveor-12togodownanoctave.EffectsYoumaywanttoadjusttheinsertormastereffectsforyourtimbres.Thisisparticularlytruefordelay–frequentlyprogramsaresetwiththeMFXsendsallthewayup.Ifyouhavedelaysetupinyourtemplatecombi,thiswillcauseyourprogramtohavedelayinthecombi,evenifitdidn’thavedelaywhenitwasaprogram.TheKronos’effectssystemisverypowerfulandmostofthetimetheIFXnumberswillnotcorrespondtothetimbrenumbers,eitherbecausesomeprogramsusenoIFX,orbecausesomeprogramsusemorethanoneIFX.Becauseofthisweneedtochecktheeffectsmappingtoseehowtheeffectsarewired.GototheIFX->Routingpageandyoucanseehoweachtimbreiswiredup.

Onceyouknowwhichsettingsyouneedtochange,gototheIFX–InsertFXpagetomakebasic

changes.

TheMFXsendscomefromthelastIFXforthetimbre.Toturnofftheundesirabledelayforaprogram,turndowneithertheSend1orSend2knob(mytemplatecombihasdelaysetonSend1).AdjustingTimbreVolume,akaNormalizingyoursoundsAnextremelycriticalstepistolevelyoursoundssoyouaresendingthesoundpersonconsistentandusablelevels,soheorshedoesn’thavetochaseyouaroundeverytimeyouswitchsounds.Icannotemphasizeenoughhowimportantthisstepis.Themainsliderscancontroltimbrevolume,ofcourse,butitisdifficulttoreturntoapresetvolumeonceyoumakeachange.Also,somesoundsmaybewaytooloudfortheirfunctioninthecombi-theslidermaybebarelyabovezero,makingitdifficulttohavefinecontroloverthepartlevel.Thereisanothercontrolthathelpsgetthevolumeintheballpark–InputTrim.

GototheEQ/VectorControl->TimbreEQpage.Therowofnumbersbelowthebypassbuttonistheinputtrimvolumecontrol.Thisrangeis0-99.Loudsoundscanbetamedhere,makingthemeasiertocontrolwiththefaders.Theprimarygoalofnormalizingistosendpredictableandevenlevelsofallyourpartstothesoundsystem.MostofthetimethebeststartingpointistoleavetheslidersallthewayupandusetheInputTrimcontrolstoadjusteachpartlevelforthecorrectbalance.BalanceNotethatbalancedoesn’tnecessarilymeaneachparthasthesameperceivedvolume;ratherthateachpartisthelevelitshouldbefortheroleinthesong.Forexample,usuallypianosoundsaredominant,whilepadsarequieter.Inthiscase,youwouldadjusttheInputTrimlevelssothepadsaresomewhatquieterthanthepianosound.Workwithyoursoundpersonandaskhimorherhowyou’redoingwithyourparts.Thesoundpersoncanhearthewholebandandcangivemuchmoreobjectiveinformationthanwhatisapparentwhileatthekeyboard.Ihaveobservedthatmostkeyboardplayersoverestimatethedynamicsneeded–loudpartsareplayedtooloudly,andquietpartsareplayedtooquietly.

Savethecombi!!Remembertosaveyourcombifrequently.We’vecoveredbasicsaving(upperrightdrop-downmenu->SaveCombi),butthisonlysavesthecombiintotherunningmemoryofthekeyboard.Thismemorydoespersistwhenyoupowerdownthekeyboard(NOTE–waitatleast10secondsaftermakingachangebeforepoweringdownthekeyboardtoensureyourchangeissavedtorunningmemory),butitisagoodideatoperiodicallysavetheentirekeyboard’smemorytodisk,andideallyalsotoaUSBdrive.ThesefunctionsareinDiskmode(rightofthescreen).Tosavetherunningmemorytodisk,selecttheupperrightdrop-downmenuandchooseSavePCG.Makesureallitemsarechecked,andnamethefile.Tosavetoadifferentdrivethantheinternaldrive,insertaUSBdriveinthekeyboard,waitafewseconds,thendropthedriveselectionatthebottomofthescreendownandchoosetheothermenuchoice(namewillvary).Presstheupperrightdrop-downmenuandchooseSavePCG.Makesureallitemsarechecked,andnamethefile.SetlistModeSetlistmodeisaconvenientwaytoorganizecombissotheycanberecalledinorderduringaperformance.Setlistitemsarepointerstocombisorprograms–theyarenotsoundsthemselves,soifyouupdateacombiorprogram,thatupdatedcombiwillbereflectedinyoursetlistobject.Setlistobjectsalsocanbetitledsomethingdifferentthantheprogramorcombiname,andhaveanotessection.Important:Aftermakingyoursetlistchanges,remembertosaveyoursetlist!Gototheupperrightdrop-downmenuandsavethesetlist.Ifyoudonotsaveyoursetlist,yourchangeswillbelostwhenyoupoweroffthekeyboard.EnterSetlistmodebypressingtheSetlistbuttonimmediatelyrightofthescreen.

PresstheEdittabatthebottomofthescreentoentereditmode.

Selecttheslottype–combiorprogram,thenselecttheprogramorcombinumber.Giveyoursetlistslotaname.SelecttheCommenttabandenteracommentifyou’dlike–songkey,roadmap,afewhardtorememberlyrics,etc.Toduplicateasetlistslot,selecttheslottobecopied,presscopy,gotothedestinationslotandpresspaste.Toinsertanewsetlistitem,firstselectthesourcesetlistitemandpresscopy,thenselectthesetlistitemAFTERwhereyouwouldlikethenewsetlistitemandpressInsert.Aftermakingyoursetlistchanges,remembertosaveyoursetlist!Gototheupperrightdrop-downmenuandsavethesetlist.Notes:

- Makesureyousaveyoursetlist!!Gototheupperrightdrop-downmenuandsavethesetlist.

- Commentsaresavedaspartofthesetlistentry,notthecombiorprogramobject.- Ilikemakingamasteralphabeticallistofsongsinthecatalogstartingatthebeginning

ofthesetlistfile,andthencopyingsetlistentriesfromthemasterlisttofreeslotslaterinthesetlistfortheactualset.Forexample,slots1-30arefilledwithsongsintherepertoire,completewithcomments.Thefirstsongofasetwouldstartatthenext

emptypageafterthemasterlist–inthiscase,number32.Icopythesecondsongfromthemasterlisttoslot33,etc.ThiswayIamneverworkingoutofthe“master”setlistobjects,butratheracopyofthemlaterinthefile.

- Color-codingsetlistobjectsisveryhelpful.Forexample,thefirstsongofasetisred,thelastsongofthesetorlastsongbeforeabreakblue.

- Ifyoueditaprogramorcombithatisreferencedinasetlist,yourchangesincombiorprogrammodewillbereflectedinsetlistmode–youwillbeworkingfromyourlatestcopy.

- Ifyoueditaprogramorcombiobjectreferencedinsetlistmodebutthensaveittoadifferentcombiorprogrambankorslot,setlistmodewillNOTbeupdated–thesetlistslotwillcontinuetopointtotheoriginalcombiorprogramslot.