Kronos and King Korg

[podmed2]

I have a Kronos 61 that I use sparingly, but find I am needing the Analog Modeling sounds available in the King Korg for my 80's cover band.

Would it be redundant to have both keyboards, or does the King Korg offer a better choice for performance synths (70's, 80's sounds)?

I love the Kronos, but just never use anything other than the presets.

Thanks in advance!

[Scott]

Would it be redundant to have both keyboards, or does the King Korg offer a better choice for performance synths (70's, 80's sounds)?

Not redundant...

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=81296

Sonically, there are clearly differences in things like the tube or the specific filter modeling. Operationally, they are different in the KK being much more "hands on" for easy, real-time sound creation/manipulation.

I'm sure you're not alone in sticking with the presets on the Kronos. The interface is overwhelming and obtuse. But the KK invites you to tweak.

[Vlad_77]

I have a Kronos 61 that I use sparingly, but find I am needing the Analog Modeling sounds available in the King Korg for my 80's cover band.

Would it be redundant to have both keyboards, or does the King Korg offer a better choice for performance synths (70's, 80's sounds)?

I love the Kronos, but just never use anything other than the presets.

Thanks in advance!

Looking at your sig, I see that you have two Kronoses and I WISH I had two of them; such immense power MIDIing those two together!

I don't think that Kronos and King Korg together are redundant at all. King Korg is a dedicated VA that seems to be more approachable in terms of programming, and, from the reviews I've read and the demos I've seen, already has a lot of what you want for those 70's and 80's sounds. That said, the Kronos also has 3 VAs and is considerably more powerful synthesis wise. If anything, I would say that the two (or in your case three) together are greater than the sum of their parts.

Dan from Korg posted a great tutorial on AL-1 that you might want to look at. AL-1 is a very powerful VA that I would argue rivals dedicated VAs like Virus, etc. That said, it's not an easy engine to work with. But, Dan's tutorial is a great starting point. It's a very detailed tutorial but I promise you won't get lost. Dan's instructions are so good you'll feel as though he is there in your studio walking you through each step and the results are superb.

I would also argue that an instrument as powerful as Kronos is never redundant. Maybe in this project you are finding that KingKorg fits your needs, but, what of future projects? Even in a 70s and 80s cover band, a great piano is indispensable and KingKorg cannot duplicate the Kronos German Grand; it's not meant to.

I am involved in a few projects and I am finding that of the seven synths I currently own, Kronos, Jupiter 80, and Kurzweil PC3 can do almost everything I want. . In one project, we're doing some prog and MS-20 and PolySix provide killer leads. The Jupiter is phenomenal for monster pads, and the Kurzweil is just off the charts for anything a bit more eclectic like the two crescendi in The Beatles A Day in the Life.

I would advise getting your hands dirty and do some Kronos programming. Start with PolySix as it is the most accessible engine. Do a search for Qui Robinez's tutorials on MS-20 as well as HD-1 and other magic. The Kronos has respectable factory presets but the REAL power of this beast is in diiging in without too much trepidation and creating sounds that are yours.

The only reason I haven't pulled the trigger on KingKorg is that the Jupiter 80 covers a lot of ground that KingKorg does. The SN stuff on the 80 is cool, but the VA is insanely good. The 80 does killer leads too so, in that respect, there is no redundancy. I believe it would be the same situation with KingKorg and Kronos together.

As far as live performance goes, KingKorg and Kronos are superb instruments as each offers a truckload of real time controls. In addition, with Kronos you have a universe of AMS for modulation.

It gets back to my assertion that you need to get into your Kronos and work it such that it and your KingKorg can combine to give you all the VA you'll ever need PLUS the power to explore virtually infinite possibilities.

It's not redundant when you augment the starship Enterprise with additional phaser banks (KingKorg)! If I wasn't GASing for a V-Synth, I would snag a KingKorg and never look back.

Best,
Vlad

PS: Not a Korg fanboi here if you look at my sig, but, there's nothing wrong with simply praising great instruments.

[podmed2]

Thanks for the help!

[Vlad_77]

Thanks for the help!

I wanted to add that long time programmer Kid Nepro has a series of great analog soundsets for sale at a nice price. There's a series devoted to AL-1 and another called Dark Energy that focuses on PolySix and MS-20. The price for each is 39.00 USD.

I'm not in any way connected to or work for Kid Nepro. I do know that Kid Nepro has been programming great synth sounds since the 80's. (I collect Keyboard magazine).

www.kidnepro.com

On the site you find some short examples of the sounds.

Best,
Vlad