Korg Forums

[blazerunner]

Or has the new technology and gear that's come out in these past few years persuaded you to use it less?

I know the Kronos is old and there's plenty of other tech to take its place but how many of you are still manning the Kronos? I sometimes feel like I'm in a limited category compared to what other folks use these days. Outdated I might even be but the years I've spent learning how to operate the Kronos have paid off for me.

When I fumble with stuff like Protools or those program synths (yuck) I feel a better musical connection with the Kronos. It still makes me feel like I'm playing an instrument because I am.

I'm just me but I don't believe in using a lot of stuff to make music. There's more power in the Kronos than anyone had in the 60's,70's,80's and even part of the 90's to make hit songs. I'm still discovering new ways to use the sequencer musically all the time.

The Kronos to me is a song making machine. I know it's not the same for some of you so what are you guys using these days and how have things shifted for you?
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I make all the mistakes for you so that you can learn what not to do.

[voip]

The Kronos still gets used on most days, as it is a joy to use. Other synths/keyboards, that also get a fair amount of use, include Wavestate, Radias, Novation Supernova, and EMU Proteus 2K. Korg M1, Wavestation, and M50 see use on a regular basis. Spectrasonics Omnisphere is the main VST, and is used several times a week.

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[Xenophile]

Absolutely. My Kronos2-61 is my gigging keyboard, along with a Studiologic SL88-Grand for piano action. It failed me once on a gig just a few weeks after I got it about 4 years ago... It booted up fine, but there was no audio output. I brought it in for warranty service and they found a loose connection.

Since then it has thrown the occasional error message at home when things have been shaken loose inside. I open it up periodically and re-seat the memory sticks and other connectors, and search for the odd loose bits of hardware that can cause problems. It has not failed me on a gig since that first time.

I bought a spare power supply board, and made a couple clones of the SSD, as those seem to be the most common points of failure, apart from loose connections.

It works great for me on gigs. One power cable, one USB cable from the SL88 to Kronos, one expression pedal, one sustain pedal, and a pair of TRS audio cables to a DI out to the house sound system and I'm good to go. On most of our gigs, I take a monitor send to my in-ears and do my own monitor mix with my iPad. Easy!

[KK]

My Kronos is by far the best keyboard I have ever owned and played. Like others, it gets at least a few hours of playing daily, unless I am unwell or too busy with boring chores of life. To me, computer and music software are mainly tools to record live performances. As a musician I have always played everything with my hands, including drum sounds with the keys as interface.

And for the few annoyances/imperfections I felt I had with my Kronos, I simply designed solutions myself. To me, it is the most inspiring and fun to play musical instrument ever, regardless if it is for improvisation, classical piano, prog or any other style. I also enjoy creating new sounds and multisamples with it. Simply the best.

[Mike Conway]

I'm scoring a new set of commercials with it. My Kronos workload has not let up in the slightest. I have bought new gear, like the Force, Lyra 8, etc, but just to spice up my Kronos meal.

I've also bought new sound libraries, mainly KApro stuff, as he continues to release new content.


I was scoring to a sequence, and just pondering about what a wonderful workflow the Kronos is. I use a foot pedal to start and stop sequences/recording, while mousing with my computer. But honestly, I was thinking how great it was to have no latency, while recording 2 tracks, 2 sounds, with 2 keyboards, at the same time. Oops, made a mistake. Press COMPARE and do it again. It even automatically goes back to the same measure, until I've got it just right. Really handy, when doing multiple attempts!

I also love having multiple SONGS available, as I often copy a song to a new slot, and work on a different part, then toggle to another section. We just shot some commercials with Jake the Snake (former wrestler), and I love having multiple songs for doing perspective parts. 100% Kronos sounds, with 2 controllers (OASYS & Kronos).

Jake and I:

[wocongming]

[Mike Conway]

[ronnfigg]

It's all I gig with these days.
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"To me the synthesizer was always a source of new sounds that musicians could use to expand the range of possibilities for making music."
Bob Moog

[holdsg]

every gig....every time....for the last 10 years.
bands have come and gone (and some came again), but the one thing is constant, my baby, my Kronos.
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Bass and keyboard player, not usually at the same time, but sometimes in the same song!
Boards: Kronos 2, and Hammond SK1
Basses: Fender, G&L

[SeedyLee]

Not using mine a heap at the moment, but that’s more a consequence of having two young kids, a full-time job, wife and a master’s degree. Oh; and a lack of room to leave it setup full-time owing to the aforementioned factors.

It’s under the bed in its flight case, ready to go when the time is right.

I’ve tried software-based solutions on the Mac (eg Logic) but their UIs and latency issues don’t gel with me. Last time I fired up Logic I got a bunch of requests to deauthorise various plugins and I kind of just lost interest.

These days I spend a fair amount of time with my little Portastudio and boxes like the Microkoeg, JU06A etc, and am pretty satisfied.
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Current Equipment:
Korg Kronos 2 88, Reface CS, Roland JV-1080, TE OP1, Moog Subsequent 37, Korg ARP Odyssey, Allen & Heath Zed 18, Adam F5, MOTU MIDI Express XT, Lexicon MX200 & MPX1, Yamaha QY700, Yamaha AW16G, Tascam DP008ex, Zoom H6, Organelle, Roland J6 & JU06A

Previous: Triton LE 61/Sampling/64MB/4GB SCSI, MS2000BR, Kronos 1 61, Monotribe, NanoKontrol, NanoKeys, Kaossilator II, Casio HT3000, Roland VP-03, Reface DX, Novation Mininova, MPC One

[Derek Cook]

Still using my Kronos X61 purchased in 2014 as my second tier keyboard, and I still feel like I have only scratched the surface of what it can do.

AL-1 remains a really powerful VA.

Whilst it seems Korg now have the Nautilus as their flagship, it is a step backwards in my opinion for all sorts of reasons, around loss of Karma and the control UI - Aftertouch was a deal breaker for me as well, but at least that is back.
_________________
Derek Cook - Java Developer



Follow kronos.factory development and submit ideas over at the kronos.factory Trello Board

My Echoes Music Website
My Carreg Ddu Music Website

[drama1]

[Derek Cook]

I also have tracks that depend on Karma (and the control surface), so unless I retire them, I need something with Karma
_________________
Derek Cook - Java Developer



Follow kronos.factory development and submit ideas over at the kronos.factory Trello Board

My Echoes Music Website
My Carreg Ddu Music Website

[Gaston]

I bought my first Kronos 88 in 2009. I'm still playing it. I've replaced all the felts inside of it twice from use. It's become my studio rig. I then bought another Kronos 88 in 2020 which stays packed up for the road. I duplicated all the gear necessary so that the road gear and studio gear are exclusive. Smartest thing I ever did, and saves me tons of time, trouble and back pain moving gear. Roadies often do it for me now. I made the decision to roll with Kronos X 2 because it's such a remarkable instrument. I've still not explored all of it's features. Beauty is I can work in studio, then drop everything onto a flash drive and upload it to the road Kronos in less than a minute. So thrilled with this instrument. Thank you Korg!

[KingKronos]