KORG TR 61- How do I change Sound On Stage

prince5067 · Post by **prince5067** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:11 am

I have a korg TR 61 and was wondering how can I go from one sound to another instead of going over the categories when you dont have time in the stage or middle of a performance. Appreciate in advance

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:57 am

I struggled with this also, finally sucked it up, and loaded all my band sound patches into Combi slots, in order, so thery're just a single button push away in most cases.
I even went so far as to split several, so that I have Brass in the upper register, and Piano in the lower, or Organ and EP, etc. and it worked so well, that I'm down to just using the single TR for gigs, the Karma stays home now.

It does take some time, and effort, but it's well worth it.

HTH
Good luck.

Xenomorph · Post by **Xenomorph** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:08 pm

tisk tisk Stephen, leaving the Karma at home

I do the same, the Karma stays put and is permanently connected to my mixer & recorder.

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:22 pm

Xenomorph wrote:tisk tisk Stephen, leaving the Karma at home

I do the same, the Karma stays put and is permanently connected to my mixer & recorder.

My hope is to eventually integrate my M3 into my stage setup, but it's not nearly as easy to customize as the TR is.

I notice you have a TR, and an X-50, do you use both on stage?

Xenomorph · Post by **Xenomorph** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 2:40 pm

The TR seeing as my Dad had the X50 for a few months. I did use both recently and I got caught up in changing sounds in a hurry and went to start a song and made an "oopsie" and started out playing the wrong ones

Come February when I get the M50, it'll get tossed into the mix for sure. I may unload the X50 when that happens. I just don't see the need for it when the M50, Karma and TR will be capable of far more than I'll ever be able to squeeze out of them anyways. Even the little microKorg has been collecting dust as of late.

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:57 pm

Even the little microKorg has been collecting dust as of late.

I hear ya, I have a Motif Rack, with two controller keyboards, one 49 key, and one 61, and they all sit turned off, and covered.

A couple of my bandmates are of the opinion that we should jump right from one song into the next, and although that's ok most of the time, there are songs that use two different patches, that for whatever reason, I'm forced to use one program patch, and one Combi patch, instead of splitting the keyboard, and punching up two patches takes a few seconds, so there are times when I'll miss part of an intro, or the first measure or so, because they start before I can get punched up.
Drummers, bass players, and singers, don't have to face this issue, and fail to understand why we can't be ready to start when they are.

I've spent many many hours setting up splits, and customizing the TR for the band, but since they're not involved, they don't understand all that.
The M3 has lots of "USER" space I'm hoping to take advantage of for band use, but again, many many hours of work lay ahead of me before that happens.
Best of luck with the M50, I sometimes think I should have waited, the KARMA feature is awesome, but useless on stage. For me anyway.

sonaroid · Post by **sonaroid** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 6:01 pm

I found a way to collect favorite patches / combis: it' SEQ mode! Create a song and simply perform "copy from combi" command. In case of a single patch: in the PROG mode choose needed patch and press ENTER+REC/WRIGHT, then OK, then START/STOP twice. Thus you create song with single patch.

Don't forget to save all songs to the memory card.

The only drawback is that you have to press ENTER each time you select a song, but it seems not a big deal.

BTW, in SEQ mode you can do any splits or layers just as in COMBI mode.

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 6:07 pm

People have mentioned this before, but I'm strictly a computer sequencer, and therefore totally unfamiliar with the sequencer in the Korgs, I'd almost need a tutorial I'm afraid.

sonaroid · Post by **sonaroid** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 6:28 pm

Well, you don't have to actually do sequencing... Think of it as FAVORITES bank. Songs become kind of universal bank of combis and patches. For example, Song 1 = ac. piano, Song 2 = strings etc; Song 11 = ac. piano+pad, Song 22 = synth strings etc. In this case if I need piano, I press 1 > enter, if I need piano+pad, I press 11 > enter and so on.

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:22 pm

I may take a hard look at that, thanks much!

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:30 am

I do it quite similarly to this...
except i have a different 'song' file for each song, or maybe set (not yet been tested live extensively).

I also use several MIDI controllers instead of using splits because I prefer to have a full keyboard.

but the main point is if you do it right, you don't even need to remember any numbers, you can just order and duplicated your sounds so that to go to the next one you just need to hit 'inc', as long as you have the song name selected like default.
you can extend this further to send out patch change messages to all your other gear too (e.g. an extra TR or X-50, etc, in program or combi mode), in my case a Radias-Rack, and a PC rig.

bsr2002 · Post by **bsr2002** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 3:28 am

[quote="Xenomorph"]tisk tisk Stephen, leaving the Karma at home

I do the same, the Karma stays put and is permanently connected to my mixer & recorder.[/quote]

Haha...I do the opposite, My TR is in the studio and I still use my KARMA for live gigs

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 2:54 pm

Haha...I do the opposite, My TR is in the studio and I still use my KARMA for live gigs

I loved using my KARMA for live performances, but alas, the function buttons are so slow to react, and it took forever to change my patches, which frustrated my bandmates, so the TR took over, the lack of EFX don't seem as significant live, and otherwise, it does just fine.

solitary_shells · Post by **solitary_shells** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:02 pm

is there any way for changing sound quickly by using a midi foot controller, for example, FCB1010.. Instead of using footswitch pedal?

kanthos · Post by **kanthos** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:42 pm

Yep; send a standard MIDI program change event (and, if necessary, bank change event). I used to own an FCB1010 and know that it'll do what you need.

If you haven't done so already, I suggest upgrading to the unofficial firmware for the FCB1010; it adds a lot of capabilities (like a proper stomp box mode) and makes the controller compatible with a couple programs you can use to edit its settings on your computer. MUCH easier than using the board to do the programming.