I'd like some DISTORTION

Ilovemusique · Post by **Ilovemusique** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 12:06 pm

I'd like to add some distortion on to some notes I am playing on my R3, but not on all of them. I'd like to trigger it myself by turning one of the knobs on the pages (I thought this may be possible) but which knob and which page? I've been through them all and can't seem to find distortion... where is it? Thanks

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 3:44 pm

It would be quite a bit easier to find how to do this if you're using the R3 software editor librarian, so that you can better see how programs are organized. There's at least one hundred different ways you can set the knobs, the mod wheel, the pitch wheel, or the assignable pedal to control distortion.

Distortion can be done with the waveshaper, FX1, FX2, or MFX, and each one of these have different ways to control kind of distortion and how much you want. So if the program already has distortion, you need to find out what kind of distortion it's using and where it is in the chain, so that you can assign a knob to control the amount. If you're adding distortion to a program that doesn't have any, then you need to learn the various kinds of distortion and amp/tube simulations that you want to use, based on how they sound. They all sound different from each other. Trying to figure all that out using the LCD menu on the R3 is like trying to drink a whole pool of information through a little straw.

Dogmatic1010 · Post by **Dogmatic1010** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 2:53 pm

Is there any way to add a good amount of distortion to the Jazz Guitar? Thanks.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 5:13 pm

Yes, there is. I mentioned the various ways. You have to modify the program to add distortion. Did you download, install, and try the software editor, as I suggested? If you didn't, that explains why you're having trouble adding distortion. With the editor it only takes a few minutes to add any effect you want to a program.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:37 pm

xmlguy wrote:Yes, there is. I mentioned the various ways. You have to modify the program to add distortion. Did you download, install, and try the software editor, as I suggested? If you didn't, that explains why you're having trouble adding distortion. With the editor it only takes a few minutes to add any effect you want to a program.

Worth pointing out that you don't need the editor to do anything, and all of the same features are available from the synth's panel itself.

It is just a LOT easier to explain and see what is going on and what the options are when you are using the software editor compared to going through the various edit pages on the R3 itself.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 8:19 pm

X-Trade wrote:
xmlguy wrote:Yes, there is. I mentioned the various ways. You have to modify the program to add distortion. Did you download, install, and try the software editor, as I suggested? If you didn't, that explains why you're having trouble adding distortion. With the editor it only takes a few minutes to add any effect you want to a program.
Worth pointing out that you don't need the editor to do anything, and all of the same features are available from the synth's panel itself.

It is just a LOT easier to explain and see what is going on and what the options are when you are using the software editor compared to going through the various edit pages on the R3 itself.

Yes, of course it can be done through menu diving on the R3 LCD. The problem is using that using menu diving to learn what the R3 can do is tantamount to self abuse compared to using the software editor. Once someone learns everything that the R3 can do by using the editor, then changing a few parameters here or there using the LCD isn't difficult. It's not too hard to learn where those parameters exist in the menu pages, but you have to have some idea of what you're looking for in advance. It takes much longer to use the menus to explore the possibilities. The LCD descriptions aren't very descriptive and they aren't organized as well as the software editor, since the menu pages are inherently limited to just 4 parameters at a time due to the number of knobs on it. The Radias is a different story, of course, because it has controls for the most common program parameters, so there's much less menu diving required to learn what can be edited. You know this xtrade, so I'm only mentioning it to explain why I so highly recommend using the editor instead of using the R3 menus, for the benefit of anyone else reading this thread.

Dogmatic1010 · Post by **Dogmatic1010** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 9:11 pm

I dont recall getting some software with my R3 when I got it. Just the wires and manual.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:45 pm

Dogmatic1010 wrote:I dont recall getting some software with my R3 when I got it. Just the wires and manual.

The software is normally included when you buy it new, but you should generally toss that software in the garbage right away, since it has been updated long ago. You can download the latest, greatest fresh version from the Korg website. That's also where you can download the latest Korg USB-midi driver. You don't even have to have the R3 connected to use the editor to view patches, only to hear them. I have the editors for a lot of synths loaded on my music production workstation even though I don't necessarily have the synth, since it's useful to look at the details of patches, since I remember what the patches sound like but I don't have all the parameters memorized. You can also use the editors for synths you don't own to manually translate patches to the synth you do own.

Dogmatic1010 · Post by **Dogmatic1010** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:51 pm

Thats a great idea, I'll look into that. I dont usually look at stuff for the R3 since its what I call, "a Korg in the past" plus I didnt know they offered that.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 11:25 pm

Dogmatic1010 wrote:Thats a great idea, I'll look into that. I dont usually look at stuff for the R3 since its what I call, "a Korg in the past" plus I didnt know they offered that.

The R3 is still being produced and shipped by Korg. Good thing it is, too, since it's significantly better than the Microkorg XL, which is newer and is a cutdown version of the R3. The MicroKorg is even older, but it's still one of the top selling synths of all time and is also still being produced and shipped by Korg. The R3 also is significantly more powerful than any other VA synths in its price range, and that includes the Venom, Mini AK, UltraNova, and GAIA, all of which are newer but have less powerful synth engines in many respects. A lot of newer synths are just rehashed versions of older synth designs.

That's probably why Korg is still selling the R3. They haven't needed to update this product line based on what the competition has produced in the mean time. The R3 has many more waves on OSC1 than any of the competitors, which much greater variety of sampled waveforms. The R3 vocoder is the most powerful in its class, by far. It has all of the effect types of the Radias, and the most powerful FX in its class. The Radias is even older, and it's also the most powerful synth in its class.

Dogmatic1010 · Post by **Dogmatic1010** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 5:56 pm

So I tried downloading the R3 software editor libarian from the Korg website, it said it installed onto my computer sucessfully but I cant find it on my computer like wtf. What should I do?

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 9:00 pm

It should've been installed to \Program Files\KORG\R3\R3SoundEditor.exe.