Korg Forums

[jeremykeys]

I'm trying an experiment. Has anybody done anything with different time signatures using the drum tracks in their Kronos? I'm trying something where the first bar is in 5/8, the next in 6/8, back to 5/8 and then 7/8. It's all just for fun and to learn more. Eventually I hope it will end up as part of a Dream Theater-ish idea. So far I'm having to program each individual drum hit on my Yamaha sequencer as I can't find anything suitable in the drum tracks. Any ideas?

Thanks

Jeremykeys
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If music is the food of love, play on and play loud!
Gear: Kronos 73, Triton Pro-X, Wavestation EX, Polysix, King Korg, Monotron and Monotron Duo, Minikorg, Moog Grandmother, 1 Roland U-20, Hammond M3, 4 acoustic and 6 electric guitars, 1 Ibanez 5 string bass, a bunch of microphones and other very cool toys, 1 wife and 3 cats!

[EddyDeegan]

I too was inspired by Dream Theater's excellent use of odd time signatures. I've been doing some work on it and it's a lot of fun. To come up with decent drum patterns that fit, the best way I've found is to design them using an external step sequencer.

You need a step sequencer that plays repeatedly so that you can add/remove/move notes and hits in it while it's playing. So far I've had good results using three specific sequencers:

1) The matrix pattern sequencer in Propellerheads Reason. I just use a redrum instrument for the sounds, then program the resulting pattern from scratch into the Kronos once I'm happy with it, using similar sounds.

2) The hardware step sequencer in my Radias-R module (installed in my M3).

3) I'm also working on a custom step sequencer using MaxMSP which plays external MIDI instruments. This permits me to put features in that I want. I should have a working prototype version of this in the next couple of weeks, and it's already proving a very useful tool. It supports 8 simultaneous 16-step tracks, each with it's own pattern length and tempo, 0-2 notes per step per track, variable step length and each individual step can be set to any MIDI channel from 1-16. Each track can address a different MIDI device too. Before I regard version 1 as finished I want to add the ability to link multiple tracks together to make much longer patterns, and also the ability to chain patterns together into songs. I'm doing it as an 'in the gaps' project at the moment so the full version probably won't be ready for a month or two yet, but when it is I'll be making it available as a free standalone app for anyone who wants to use it.

Good to see someone else experimenting with this, good luck
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Korg: Trinity+ HDR, Triton Rack, Triton, M3 + Radias-R, Kronos 88, KingKORG, Korg Monotribe. Yamaha: 2xSY85, S90, Motif ES7, Motif XS8. Kurzweil: K2500

[X-Trade]

Whilst it's not visual, you may also have some success with RPPR
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Current Gear: Kronos 61, RADIAS-R, Volca Bass, ESX-1, microKorg, MS2000B, R3, Kaossilator Pro +, MiniKP, AX3000B, nanoKontrol, nanoPad MK II,
Other Mfgrs: Moog Sub37, Roland Boutique JX03, Novation MiniNova, Akai APC40, MOTU MIDI TimePiece 2, ART Pro VLA, Focusrite Saffire Pro 40.
Past Gear: Korg Karma, TR61, Poly800, EA-1, ER-1, ES-1, Kawai K1, Novation ReMote37SL, Boss GT-6B
Software: NI Komplete 10 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection, Ableton Live 9. Apple OSX El Capitan on 15" MacBook Pro

[jeremykeys]

Right now I'm doing my drum patterns on my Yamaha QX-3 hardware sequencer. The tricky part is you have to pre-set up each individual bar with it's own time signature.
_________________
If music is the food of love, play on and play loud!
Gear: Kronos 73, Triton Pro-X, Wavestation EX, Polysix, King Korg, Monotron and Monotron Duo, Minikorg, Moog Grandmother, 1 Roland U-20, Hammond M3, 4 acoustic and 6 electric guitars, 1 Ibanez 5 string bass, a bunch of microphones and other very cool toys, 1 wife and 3 cats!