Question on Kronos guitars

sfernald · Post by **sfernald** » Sun May 22, 2011 4:45 am

Kronos will be my first synth other than a little microkorg.

I have a lot of sheet music with guitar parts. If I play the guitar part on the kronos keyboard with a guitar instrument will it sound just as if I had played that part with a guitar? Will it be close at least - will it pass if I push to the back of the mix with effects / reverb?

MidnightPackage · Post by **MidnightPackage** » Sun May 22, 2011 5:17 am

I think it depends on a number of factors: what type of guitar sound are you wanting to emulate, how well you understand the differences between a keyboard and the guitar (you cannot play a part as you would on a piano) and how discerning your ears are. I think that modern instruments can go a long way toward emulating stringed instruments, but they are not magical. The timbre should be very close, but a lot of the rest is up to you. There are some feature of Karma that could help you, such as strumming and other articulations.

synthguy · Post by **synthguy** » Sun May 22, 2011 6:08 am

Watch video demonstrations of workstations like the OASYS, which is essentially a Kronos Jr. Or the M3 which is similar. There are a number of them in which the keyboardist plays guitar parts. Note how they perform them, and how convincing it is. As MidnightPackage says, the fingering technique is completely different for a keyboard, so you have to learn to think like a guitar player.

I actually went through this myself way back in '91 when I got my first rompler workstation, an Ensoniq SD-1 which I still own. I lost track of my guitar pals, so I realized I had to school myself on how it was done if I wanted any "guitar" parts on my tunes. Eventually, I even impressed one of my guitar buddies.

sparkie · Post by **sparkie** » Sun May 22, 2011 1:41 pm

Sternald, here is a couple youtube videos..that shows a sample of what to expect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h93ta0pOO0 scroll to about 2:25

also here is an excellent one .. go down to the second streaming video.(Korg Launch CityMusic Showroom) .You have to watch the ad first then scroll to about 23:30

http://musicartlifesg.blogspot.com/2011 ... wroom.html

Slovenec · Post by **Slovenec** » Sun May 22, 2011 1:42 pm

The Ensoniq SD1 (and TS10) after it, had some fantastic lead guitar programs. I'm not sure how the SD1 did for acoustic guitars but the TS10 was quite good for 1993.

Why couldn't Korg eventually implement some of the RX technology that they use to make acoustic sounds more 'authentic' in their PA series? The PA guitars are awesome.

It will be interesting to see what type of guitar programs/combi's, Korg will provide straight out of the box in Kronos.

burningbusch · Post by **burningbusch** » Sun May 22, 2011 2:24 pm

Stephen Kay has some excellent examples of using KARMA to produce realistic guitar effects.

Guitar Strumming & Finger Picking

Pitch bending and glissandos

OASYS STR-1 Demos

STR-1 Acoustic Guitar + other STR-1 sounds

STR-1 Nylon String

Busch.

sfernald · Post by **sfernald** » Sun May 22, 2011 9:28 pm

Thanks guys for the excellent demos. I think I'm going to be more than happy with the guitar sounds. Some of those karma ones are amazing.

Out of curiosity, what is the instrument that plays at about 1:20 ON THE STR-1 Acoustic Guitar demo? I never hear that thing except in classical music and movies from that era. That thing sounds like it would be intense to play! I love that sound - I think they nailed it.

Teh Mick · Post by **Teh Mick** » Sun May 22, 2011 9:55 pm

sfernald wrote:Thanks guys for the excellent demos. I think I'm going to be more than happy with the guitar sounds. Some of those karma ones are amazing.

Out of curiosity, what is the instrument that plays at about 1:20 ON THE STR-1 Acoustic Guitar demo? I never hear that thing except in classical music and movies from that era. That thing sounds like it would be intense to play! I love that sound - I think they nailed it.

Sounds like a harpsichord

kenackr · Post by **kenackr** » Sun May 22, 2011 11:24 pm

Synthguy,

When you call the Oasys a Kronos Jr. you are showing a lack of knowledge about the Oasys. The Kronos is in fact an Oasys Jr..

I'm not sure where you got your information, but you are misinformed. Yes, the Oasys came before the Kronos but that does not make it lesser than. There is still no synthesizer on the face of this planet, including the Kronos, that is as as powerful and deep.

Newer is not always better. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not knocking the Kronos and I may eventually wind up owning one if nothing else comes along in the meantime until the Oasys dies from old age with no more replacement parts.

Happy trails,

Ken

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Sun May 22, 2011 11:34 pm

kenackr wrote:There is still no synthesizer on the face of this planet, including the Kronos, that is as as powerful and deep.

Wow. Please explain. Considering that the Kronos has every engine that the OASYS has, has added some, added additional functionality and hardware improvements and sounds just as good. I'm confused by your statement.

synthguy · Post by **synthguy** » Mon May 23, 2011 12:16 am

That's kind of what I was thinking, Mac.

The larger tilt/touch screen is nice. The extra ins and outputs are really nice, including phantom powered mic inputs. So if you were wanting something that functioned a bit like a Pro Tools MBox with the best workstation in the world as host, OASYS would have the lead. But other than that, the new piano engines and all those new drum samples, and those spanky new programs Jack Hotop and the team came up with and their seamless transitions, PLUS the setlist, make me think Kronos is the stuff.

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Mon May 23, 2011 1:16 am

A friend of mine who HAS an OASYS is selling it for the Kronos. The reason I keep hearing him say over and over is DAW integration. The OASYS doesn't have it.

And if anyone here decides to buy his OASYS 76 (at a decent price), you'll know it's been fully gone through, updated and repaired by yours truly by this:

And by the way, if Korg is reading this...

THANK YOU for the easy access on the OASYS! It was EXACTLY like working on the DSS-1...

zahush76 · Post by **zahush76** » Mon May 23, 2011 3:47 am

burningbusch wrote:Stephen Kay has some excellent examples of using KARMA to produce realistic guitar effects.

Guitar Strumming & Finger Picking

.

On the info - on the left side - is says:

Part 3 of the 40 minute presentation at Music Player Live (October 2005, NYC).

In other words, this is a six year old technology...