Korg Forums

Hi all.

I'm having a dilemma over here.

I've been playing with my korg emx-1 for about half a year, got it at xmas, but because of college I've only just got time to sit down and learn how to use it with the manual.

I thought it would be a good idea to delete the preset patterns such as A1 to C64, to clear some space for songs I wanna make. But the problem is, when I did this, when I went to create a new pattern and to copy sound to pick some synth parts, they were all gone away with the patterns. What's that all about?

So I thought, to hell with it, I don't care if i lose some of my pattenrs i made, I went to restore it to the factory settings. But...after having done so, I can't copy a sound to a synth part that had the original ones when I first got the emx. Such sounds from D01 to D64 are gone, and most of the synth parts from the copy sound function are blank, simple and aren't as they used to be.

I can't remember if it was like this when I first got it and maybe i had modified the sounds, forgot about it, and perceived them to be that way originally.

If its just me, I'll deal with it but if not, is this what happens when you restore an emx-1 to its factory settings?

I'm tearing my hair out, cos I love electronic music and produciton, and if this doesnt work the way it originally had, it's going to put me off it altogether and that's not good.

Hope someone can help, thanks

There is nothing wrong with your EMX, all is as it should be. D is blank- apart from a bass drum doing four to the floor @ 120 bpm. You are free to create your own sounds etc on these from scratch starting with that first sound you get on parts 1-5 which we all know and love. Don't forget you have a real synth to play with here as opposed to sampled sounds to manipulate.You can copy sounds from any other pattern but if you delete the pattern- the sound goes with it and it's back to the above. The sound is created as part of your pattern production. Store favorite sounds on some unused patterns ready to copy them when you need.

Thanks a lot, thats really taken a weight off my mind.

So the prebuilt patterns such as A1, the electro sound that starts up when you turn the emx on...if I delete these patterns, do I lose all the synth sounds associated with them if I choose to start a new pattern at an empty demo pattern when I use the copy sound function?

You may have already said this, but I'm still confused. I just don't want to lose anything again.

Lastly, would it be better to just save all my own material onto a smart media card? That way all my patterns and sounds would be safe and wouldn't take much space up?

Thanks again!


BTW; I know I replied with a different account - I for the love of me can't remember my password for the account I used to start with as I made it in such a hurry and worry

So the prebuilt patterns such as A1, the electro sound that starts up when you turn the emx on...if I delete these patterns, do I lose all the synth sounds associated with them if I choose to start a new pattern at an empty demo pattern when I use the copy sound function?

Yes, you'll lose the sounds if you delete them this way.

My solution when I was just getting started was to go through all the factory presets with a fine-tooth comb -- i.e. soloing each synth and drum voice, figuring out which filters gave it its character, dissecting the motion sequences, etc. When I found something I thought might inspire me in the future -- which I did on about three dozen of the preset patterns -- I saved those to the empty pattern slots in the D bank. Then I wiped banks A-C clean and had lots of room to play.

Lastly, would it be better to just save all my own material onto a smart media card? That way all my patterns and sounds would be safe and wouldn't take much space up?

You should do this anyway. Buy a couple of cards off eBay and back up all your patterns to both periodically. Keep one card handy but put the other somewhere safe. Might sound a bit anal :) but I had my studio ripped off a few years ago and would have lost hundreds of hours of work if I hadn't done this.

That's quite interesting. So just find what patterns have the sounds which I find interesting to me and save them to the blank patterns? Well that would save space and help me pick out what's got potential.

Is it possible to create your own synth parts? For example, if I were to record a sound from an external source such as a keyboard, via MIDI or another option, and save that as a synth pattern? I keep thinking it would be better to sync it with a sound card using software such as pro tools etc (for example) and multi track the sounds. But then again, I can't apply modulation and oscillation manipulations to the sounds; or can't I?

I know I should read the manual. That's what I was initially doing that day I scrubbed everything, thinking I would be smart to organise what I don't need. How vain I was! XD It's better to hear the truth from mind to mind rather than the context of technicalities and acronyms.

Thanks for all your support so far though; you've put a nearly walk-away back into potential gear slut.