Korg Forums

[Flansmose]

Hey guys

I am a poor student who doesn’t earn a lot of money. So I have considered buying a Korg Microsampler. I want to make some easy records which I can edit on my computer and make some songs. I think that it has the opportunity to be a mobile recording studio for me.
I want to record guitar riffs and bass riffs through the Jack input and then loop them together with keyboard and a drum loop. When it is all recorded I want to edit into a nice piece of music. How do you guys think that will work? Good or not good?
And another question: Does the Microsampler works as a midi keyboard too?

Best regards Flansmose


My gear:
Pc (windows XP)
Fender squire bass
Ashdown amp
Acoustic guitar (with mic)
Acoustic guitar (without mic)
Roland microcube
Old Yamaha keyboard
And some percussion

[floccipocci]

Come to think about it, a sampler is a recorder.
The recorder can only record 2 minutes total time per bank, so it is mainly useful for riffs and loops. When recording audio (not pattern), there is no metronome provided, so the workaround is to record a metronome loop (or drum loop) and play over it.
Then you can import the loops and stuff you recorded via the USB cable, into the computer.
And then import the imported files into a Digital Audio Workstation software (like Audacity/Cubase/whatever).

One thing to note is that the MS is not an audio interface. But it can be a MIDI controller, or a Tone Generator (but not both at the same time, I think.)

But you really really need to know what you really need, and how much recording you need to do. If you're thinking of doing full fledged multi-track recording, then the MS will not help you.

If you're doing loop-based work, then the MS should be ok. I've made full tracks (using loops and sampled instruments, running on the sequencer) using the MS alone, without the computer. (Actually, I used the computer, only to sample sounds found on the internet - no more wasting time downloading and importing for me!).

[Conkrete]

Actually, you can have the metronome running while recording an audio sample. You have to go to GLOBAL settings, METRONOME set to ON, SAMPLING TYPE dial set to LOOP, press SAMPLING once, then set how many measures you want to record and the sample trigger threshold, press PLAY/STOP button to start the metronome, then press SAMPLING again. It will record a sample exactly as many measures as you set it to so it helps if you have a drum track sequenced already to accompany you. Floccipocci has the rest of the process down.

He's right, if you are doing loop based stuff the MS will suit the majority of your needs. For half the price you could also get a BOSS RC-20XL LoopStation pedal, which is designed for guitars and mics mainly and gives you 16 minutes of recording time over 11 phrases. It does not sync to the PC though. It is much more intuitive and easier to operate, especially if you have a guitar in hand (it's a foot pedal). The other economical way to go would be to get a netbook with a mic/line-in jack and run Audacity (free software) and Tuareg (the best $30 sequencer/loop arranging software I've ever seen). That package would run you about $350 or so and leave you more freedom to upgrade in the future. That's my 2 cents anyway, but always investigate and research extensively before any purchase.

[Conkrete]

Forgot to mention, 2 plus minutes sample time per bank is at 48kHz, it's around 5 minutes at 24kHz (which is still decent quality to me).

[beatifictatter]

cheers conkrete, i'd missed this 'metronome when recording' tip before, going to be very useful.