On the other hand, there will be more beginners, and it may be of a certain limited use for them, if others share their first experiences, including typical trial and error journeys, providing some feedback and helping to avoid falling into the same traps. So I dare beginnning a kind of casual mini-blog-entries, just mirroring experiences while working my way into Kronos use. If it bores others to death, I will stop it.
Today I made my first test with sample import.
I had expected several stages of import procedure and parameter wrestling, but then all was done before I could even think of complications. And that went this way:
- picked some old Wizzoo library with a 4-velocity multisample instrument, neither too big nor too small for testing (around 30 Mb)
- loaded it into a sample converter (in my case Extreme Sample Converter, allowing to convert many formats up to Kontakt 4 sounds)
- had it converted to SF2 and saved
- copied it to USB-stick
- put the USB-stick into one of the Kronos USB ports
- went to disk mode
- opened the USB directory
- loaded my converted soundfont from there into a User-G slot
- played the instrument
The whole conversion and import lasted about a minute once I had understood how to do it.
One more thing:
I tried to add an insert effect and switched it to “on”.
No effect.
I checked the dry-wet values etc. All ok and still no effect. I guess this is a possible trap for anyone not familiar with the Korg/Kronos system: you see the effect switched on, but it isn’t on.
I thought by myself: the reason must be visible, even without reading the whole parameter guide effects section. Then I found it on the routing page: there you have to route Osc 1+2 to IFX (instead of directly routing to your standard output).
Now imagine doing the same thing with 1.3 Gb available RAM!
You don’t need any factory sample libraries (Nord stage etc.), but can convert and load existing instruments from sample libraries with a tool like Extreme Sample Converter or similar, or even VSTis and hardware keyboards with the help of automatic sampling programs – and have the result on board of a Kronos in no time!
After hardly a week, this keyboard already feels so powerful and flexible that it’s really fun to use it.
