Switching Combi's; patch remain

[StaleYolk]

Has korg fixed the problem of the dynamic drops and cut-outs of sound that occured when switching combis on their other keyboards? I must Know. Thanks korg community

[Mike Conway]

No.

[X-Trade]

KORG haven't 'fixed' the 'problem' as such, but there are many more opportunities for workarounds on the OASYS, and the M3 too now.

For example KARMA can be used to switch timbres in a combi on and off when configured in a straight-through mode and using the scene selection system.

Similarly in sequencer mode, RPPR can be assigned to keys or operated through the pad to send SYSEX messages to enable and disable effects, timbres, routings, etc.

Personally, I have a TR and I just use an extra MIDI controller or two to reduce the need to change combis in the middle of a song. This also appears to be what many other users and pros alike do too for example tony banks on the recent genesis tour.

The way I see it, KORG decided not to waste a third or more of excess processing power (that would most of the time be unused) on less than a second worth of audio. Because that is what would have to happen. The main reason KORG's combis and programs drop out when changing patches is because the effects system is so flexible - we are given access to the entire effect processing power of the synth (talking right from the triton and trinity up to the OASYS) in program mode as well as combi or sequencer mode. When you switch to a new combi, new effects are loaded and the old sounds dying out would have to go through the new effects which would just sound wrong. There would also be less than a second drop without and effects when loading the effects for the new combi (I can hear this on my RADIAS when I start playing too early - straight after selecting the program, no effects, then bam!).
So I think they mute the sound to prevent this. Imagine your piano tail reverb suddenly turning into a distortion overdrive or rotary speaker. It would be disruptive.

I also find in heavier rock music and in really snappy pop/dance that the cut out when playing with other members actually helps to emphasize the different song sections. you don't really want that massive reverb or tape delay from the chorus organ playing dying away over half of the verse.

Other manufacturers like Roland and in the Access Virus get around it by having the same effects setup or the same type of effects (e.g. chorus/flange slot, filter/phase slot, delay/reverb slot, distortion/waveshaping slot) that can easily morph from one to the other when changing sounds (just providing a slight blip in the delay for example when changing tempo). But then you are limited to those effects, and part of the beauty of the KORG system is the flexibility of the effects system - you can do anything you want in each slot and route it however you like.

so as I said, having a third or more extra processing power standing by just to carry over the effects of the previous combi or program for less than a second seems rather wasteful and wouldn't really be in keeping with korg's to-the-max processing usage that they have given us in every other workstation and synth in the past.

[ksounds]

Kurzweil uses an approach that I see as the best of both worlds. With KDFX, you get access to the full power of the effects engine in any mode AND the sounds can carry over seamlessly - even across setups (combis). The trick to avoiding glitches is to maintain the same effects algorithms on the busses that will be audible when the sounds are changed. This may require a lot of advance planning, but it's cool that Kurzweil gives users the option.

[StaleYolk]

yah i noticed in my reading that the roland has chorus and reverb on every patch

[Mike Conway]

yah i noticed in my reading that the roland has chorus and reverb on every patch

The OASYS Master FX allow that also. In fact, the masters can be any effect.