Korg Forums

So I just saw a Korg R3 in a pawn shop, used, selling for 200 dollars. I picked one up and it works great. I am kind of a one man band, So I got a looper pedal (digitech Jamman) looper to loop my guitar and now R3.

I do have a couple questions though.

1. So the looper is fun, but I could never play a live set with it because of its flakiness, but its good practice. Anyway, I need something more efficient for looping, like maybe program on the computer that I could use with the korg r3? Any thoughts? I haven't used ableton before.

2. I also have an MPD that I would love to incorporate into my set as the drum pad. Is there a way to put a usb in the back of an MPD and then in the back of the Korg r3, and use the mpd24 as a run off the Korg R3?

3. Can you put whatever patches you want on here? LIke I created a great synth in reason, would I be able to get it on my korg?

Thanks for all the help! ANd the 1st question is the most important, really just looking for a better looping software that I can use with the korg r3, maybe ableton?

gregbankley wrote:3. Can you put whatever patches you want on here? LIke I created a great synth in reason, would I be able to get it on my korg?

No, you cannot transfer sounds from Reason to the R3 or vice versa.

gregbankley wrote:So I just saw a Korg R3 in a pawn shop, used, selling for 200 dollars. I picked one up and it works great. I am kind of a one man band, So I got a looper pedal (digitech Jamman) looper to loop my guitar and now R3.

I do have a couple questions though.

1. So the looper is fun, but I could never play a live set with it because of its flakiness, but its good practice. Anyway, I need something more efficient for looping, like maybe program on the computer that I could use with the korg r3? Any thoughts? I haven't used ableton before.

2. I also have an MPD that I would love to incorporate into my set as the drum pad. Is there a way to put a usb in the back of an MPD and then in the back of the Korg r3, and use the mpd24 as a run off the Korg R3?

3. Can you put whatever patches you want on here? LIke I created a great synth in reason, would I be able to get it on my korg?

Thanks for all the help! ANd the 1st question is the most important, really just looking for a better looping software that I can use with the korg r3, maybe ableton?

Congrats on your purchase. You got a good deal if everything work OK on it.

Regarding your questions:

1. There are hundreds of different ways to do looping, so yeah, you should try as many hardware and software loopers as you can. Each has a different workflow and benefis or drawbacks. There are two basic kinds of looping: audio looping and midi looping. The Jamman is an audio looper only. Ableton Live and other software like Maschine can do both. Arrangers only do midi looping (in general). Hardware sequencers like the QY100, QY700, and RS7000 do midi looping. Some hardware samplers do audio looping, like the KP3, and SP404/606/555.

2. Your MPD can only directly control the R3 if it has MIDI out. If it only has a USB-midi interface, then it can only be connected directly to a USB host computer. The host computer can have software that resends the midi messages to any other devices connected by midi, so you could use the pad to indirectly trigger the R3. The R3 doesn't have sampled drum kits, so there's not much incentive to do this.

3. Synths are sound creation factories. Different synths can be used to create similar sounds, but the resources, tools, and process to do so are generally incompatible unless the synth has been specifically designed to be compatible. It's safe to assume that synths aren't compatible with each other in any way unless it's a primary stated feature. Softsynths aren't compatible with each other, much less with synth hardware. The exceptions are softsynths like FM8 that is specifically designed to import DX7 patches, but even FM8 can't create patches that work on a DX7.

Download the latest Korg USB-midi driver and the R3 editor librarian software from Korg's website to get the most out of it. The editor software is a great way to learn how the R3 works inside.

200 bucks? Damn, wish I could find one for those clams...