2nd keyboard for King Kronos

lunaluna · Post by **lunaluna** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 3:26 pm

King Kronos is my main board .It would be useful to have a second keyboard to play bread and butter sounds instead of having to be switching programs on the Kronos..I have a macbook pro and was thinking of getting a controller and softhsynths. I've never used the mac along with any program .I'm mainly a hardware person but would like to venture into the controller with computer and softsynth world..My question is for those that use a Mac with softsynths..What would be a recomended software to use ? I've been reading about Mainstage and Ableton live and they seem interesting ..I won't be using back up tracks or sequences since we play everything live.I just need some back up sounds from time to time...any input would be greatly appreciated..

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 3:37 pm

If you just get a MIDI keyboard then you can hook it up to the Kronos and in Combi mode, assign different sounds to another MIDI channel (that matches the channel the controller is set to).

Mainstage is a good choice on the mac for live performance with plugin instruments. It allows you to set up splits and layers and change between them a bit like Combi mode on Korg workstations.

Native instruments used to do a cool program that was even more like Korg Combis, called Kore, but sadly they dropped it and I feel there I'd now a gap in this market..

Ableton is really great but not as a live softsynth host. It is more of a production station/looper/sampler aimed at live performance and building tracks out of ideas and loops.

lunaluna · Post by **lunaluna** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 4:53 pm

X-Trade wrote:If you just get a MIDI keyboard then you can hook it up to the Kronos and in Combi mode, assign different sounds to another MIDI channel (that matches the channel the controller is set to).

Mainstage is a good choice on the mac for live performance with plugin instruments. It allows you to set up splits and layers and change between them a bit like Combi mode on Korg workstations.

Native instruments used to do a cool program that was even more like Korg Combis, called Kore, but sadly they dropped it and I feel there I'd now a gap in this market..

Ableton is really great but not as a live softsynth host. It is more of a production station/looper/sampler aimed at live performance and building tracks out of ideas and loops.

....Thanks for the info X-trade

DocBambs · Post by **DocBambs** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:47 pm

lunaluna wrote:King Kronos is my main board .It would be useful to have a second keyboard to play bread and butter sounds instead of having to be switching programs on the Kronos..I have a macbook pro and was thinking of getting a controller and softhsynths. I've never used the mac along with any program .I'm mainly a hardware person but would like to venture into the controller with computer and softsynth world..My question is for those that use a Mac with softsynths..What would be a recomended software to use ? I've been reading about Mainstage and Ableton live and they seem interesting ..I won't be using back up tracks or sequences since we play everything live.I just need some back up sounds from time to time...any input would be greatly appreciated..

How about a good stage piano? I've run a two keyboard setup for most gigs for over 10 years and it's very practical. When I was looking I tried Korg, Roland, Orla, Yamaha, etc and ended up with a Yamaha P80 - it had a good piano (better than the Triton & X3 that I was using it with), a couple of nice "jazz" organs and string sounds and you could do a 2 instrument layer. I have used it as a controller too as well as an occasional solo instrument - the Triton sound range is far superior, but for quick selection of predictable sounds it has been great.

I don't know what the modern day equivalent would be - perhaps an SV1 or Nord, and Roland and Yamaha will have good instruments too. (10 years ago, so not so useful, I found the best sounding piano was the Roland, but the Yamaha was more gutsy - it had more bite and you could get a good cutting tone from it.)

DB

Darmin De'flern · Post by **Darmin De'flern** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:05 pm

How about a Roland Axe Synth

.

Melodialworks Music · Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:11 pm

How about a Korg Kronos? I have no idea what a King Kronos is!

timg11 · Post by **timg11** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 2:49 am

What about USB keyboard controllers? I've noticed that some 49 key controllers no longer provide a MIDI output - they are USB only.

Could one of these be plugged into the Kronos USB port and act like a MIDI keyboard connected to MIDI in?

zzz · Post by **zzz** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:21 am

What's your budget?

lunaluna · Post by **lunaluna** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 1:38 pm

zzz wrote:What's your budget?

Hi..Good thing you ask.I have a M-Audio controller already so software is the only thing missing.Budget right now no more than $300 give or take

timg11 · Post by **timg11** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 2:04 pm

Personally, I'm looking for a second keyboard to play organ parts. If the Kronos 73 had the same keyboard as a Triton Studio 76, it could be my only keyboard. I know others have said the Kronos RH3 action is not an issue, but I find it difficult to play fast B3 organ parts. My priorities are in this order:

1) Quality of keyboard and action. Fast, snappy synth action is essential. Many controllers have an action that seems too "spongy" to me.
2) Light weight and quick, easy setup. USB would be ideal - a single cable to Kronos and no power brick.
3) Cost - since the Kronos has everything I need in a control surface, I don't need another one on the controller, so I would prefer to not pay for a large set of knobs and buttons.

MarPabl · Post by **MarPabl** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:07 pm

timg11 wrote:Personally, I'm looking for a second keyboard to play organ parts. If the Kronos 73 had the same keyboard as a Triton Studio 76, it could be my only keyboard. I know others have said the Kronos RH3 action is not an issue, but I find it difficult to play fast B3 organ parts. My priorities are in this order:

1) Quality of keyboard and action. Fast, snappy synth action is essential. Many controllers have an action that seems too "spongy" to me.
2) Light weight and quick, easy setup. USB would be ideal - a single cable to Kronos and no power brick.
3) Cost - since the Kronos has everything I need in a control surface, I don't need another one on the controller, so I would prefer to not pay for a large set of knobs and buttons.

You need a MIDI controller. When I had my Korg Radias rack (no keyboard because it has way so many limitations and the komponent concept doesn't really work well with Radias), I tested may brands: M-Audio (high end models), Akai, Novation, Roland, Behringer and I was looking specifically for great synth (or semiweighted) action (with aftertouch) and then for build quality, I didn't care about features. Therefore, my preferences were: Novation (ReMOTE), Akai (MPK), Roland (A?00), the rest of the controllers have a crap action. Regarding build quality, none of those really scores high... Another good option is to get yourself a "vintage" synth which BTW have great actions, one example being the Korg 01W

Cpilot · Post by **Cpilot** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:53 pm

I use an Axiom 61 as a second keyboard. Works like a charm in either USB or MIDI mode. I use the MIDI connection through a little box which converts the MIDI CCs to sysex for the CX-3 drawbars.

Bryan

scales · Post by **scales** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 5:44 pm

Casio XW-P1

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:39 pm

JX10. Best semi-weighted action I've ever felt and cool vintage pads and synth brass to boot.

jeremyjcs · Post by **jeremyjcs** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 4:22 pm

I use Mainstage controlled by a Novation SL61 MkII as part of my live set up. I've also got Native Instruments Komplete 7 loaded on which gives me plenty of options on sounds.

The Novation has lots of buttons, knobs and sliders for functionality and is decent build quality for a pretty lightweight controller.

With Mainstage , you could also connect in your Kronos as an additional controller if you wanted , thus playing Logic sounds or other software synth programs from either or both keyboards.

I cautiously went into the world of soft synths but I haven't had any major problems playing live with it. You need a decent spec Macbook pro to run it on and make sure you close down unrequired applications, particularly Airport.

I wouldn't replace hardware synths with it but I'm happy enough with it as part of the rig.

Korg Forums

2nd keyboard for King Kronos

2nd keyboard for King Kronos

Re: 2nd keyboard for King Kronos