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Kronos...cp80 and Electric grand sounds...
Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:35 pm
by apex
short and sweet...
I had a client in the studio yesterday. He found a really nice cp80 (electric grand) sound that he liked in the Yamaha EX5...BUT he wanted to use the Kronos sound engine on his new record.
Would you believe that I could not find ONE nice thick electric grand stock sound in the Kronos? I was so ashamed. lol
I convinced myself that I was just overlooking it or that maybe it was named something other than what I was looking for. (cp80, electric grand is what I searched for)
COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING...
ended up connecting a midi cable to the Kronos and used a plugin. He was very satisfied with that.
Just couldn't believe I could not find anything stock on the Kronos in that electric grand family.
fwiw....The Kronos is my hero keyboard. So there will be no Kronos bashing on this thread whatsoever.

Re: Kronos...cp80 and Electric grand sounds...
Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:53 pm
by GregC
apex wrote:short and sweet...
I had a client in the studio yesterday. He found a really nice cp80 (electric grand) sound that he liked in the Yamaha EX5...BUT he wanted to use the Kronos sound engine on his new record.
Would you believe that I could not find ONE nice thick electric grand stock sound in the Kronos? I was so ashamed. lol
I convinced myself that I was just overlooking it or that maybe it was named something other than what I was looking for. (cp80, electric grand is what I searched for)
COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING...
ended up connecting a midi cable to the Kronos and used a plugin. He was very satisfied with that.
Just couldn't believe I could not find anything stock on the Kronos in that electric grand family.
fwiw....The Kronos is my hero keyboard. So there will be no Kronos bashing on this thread whatsoever.

I don't know exactly. You would expect the EX5 to 'be ' or have the epic CP80 sound. Its been used +1000 times on recordings.
Sound is also highly subjective. So here is mine, layer 2 Kronos AP's. Detune or micro tune 1 slightly. Add chorus, touch of reverb, per client taste.
Thats my simple mind approach. It might get you 80-90% there.
Re: Kronos...cp80 and Electric grand sounds...
Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 3:03 pm
by apex
GregC wrote:apex wrote:short and sweet...
I had a client in the studio yesterday. He found a really nice cp80 (electric grand) sound that he liked in the Yamaha EX5...BUT he wanted to use the Kronos sound engine on his new record.
Would you believe that I could not find ONE nice thick electric grand stock sound in the Kronos? I was so ashamed. lol
I convinced myself that I was just overlooking it or that maybe it was named something other than what I was looking for. (cp80, electric grand is what I searched for)
COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING...
ended up connecting a midi cable to the Kronos and used a plugin. He was very satisfied with that.
Just couldn't believe I could not find anything stock on the Kronos in that electric grand family.
fwiw....The Kronos is my hero keyboard. So there will be no Kronos bashing on this thread whatsoever.

I don't know exactly. You would expect the EX5 to 'be ' or have the epic CP80 sound. Its been used +1000 times on recordings.
Sound is also highly subjective. So here is mine, layer 2 Kronos AP's. Detune or micro tune 1 slightly. Add chorus, touch of reverb, per client taste.
Thats my simple mind approach. It might get you 80-90% there.
the cp80 in the ex5 is great. but the ex5 wasnt the issue lol.
as far as the suggestion... just imagining it in my head, that doesn't seem like it would give an electric grand vibe. but I may still try it
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2019 3:54 pm
by BillW
I'd recommend this:
https://shop.korg.com/Kronos/EXS-143
I contributed a couple of the programs and I use this in my Genesis tribute band.
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2019 5:15 pm
by Sweat
It seems that the only cp80 available from a stock Kronos is perhaps the E.Grand Piano in the GM bank. It is sort of thin sounding too.
Purgatory Creek's EXS-143 is hard to beat.
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2019 3:55 pm
by yeskeys
Whoa now! Genesis tribute in Virginia??? I'd love to see that. I have/had my own prog band here in Va Beach. The only Genesis tunes I could get them to do was Turn it On Again and ABACAB.
Here's a couple vids. That's me playing guitar, as well as my Keith Emerson impression....2nd impression(?)....
YES:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWwPF6sdiJs
ELP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1IU34zopV8
Let me know if/when you have a gig....
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2019 8:29 pm
by IAA
The Yes medley was really good well done Sir.
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 12:15 am
by yeskeys
IAA wrote:The Yes medley was really good well done Sir.
Thank you very, very much
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 1:31 am
by psionic311
Lucky you to have been in a band with a lot of great musicians. Never seen 3 bassists play at once before, like in the middle of the Yes medley, that was great!
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 3:21 pm
by psionic311
Sweat wrote:It seems that the only cp80 available from a stock Kronos is perhaps the E.Grand Piano in the GM bank. It is sort of thin sounding too.
I agree, that E.Grand Piano is kind thin. I pulled up the factory CP80 on my MODX7 for comparison. But these tweaks make the Kronos E.Grand sound pretty darn close to the MODX7 CP80 (without FX on either):
Layer 2 of the E. Grand multisamples to add strength to the basic sound:
OSC1 Basic tab
- copy all settings from MS1 to MS2
- on MS1, set Xfade Range to 127
- set Curve to Layer
Sounds improved, right?
Now add a bit of sweetness, and it rivals the MODX7 CP80.
Basic/Program Basic tab
- turn on Unison, 2 voices only
- set detune to 002 or 003
- set Stereo Spread.
There ya go! CP80 on the Kronos.
Final tip: The Kronos CP80 may still be a bit dark for your taste. Easy fix is adjusting how velocity opens the filter.
Filter/Filter1 LFO tab
Under Filter EG, Velocity to A is set at +77. Change that to 90 and try playing the keyboard to see how it feels. Adjust to taste.
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 6:06 pm
by Derek Cook
Hi,
The best CP80 I have ever heard (other than a CP80) is Pianoteq's CP80 model. Play that through a chorus pedal effect and a dose of reverb and it is instant Tony Banks!

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2019 1:25 am
by Sweat
Hey psionic311, I tried your tweaks to the El.Grand Piano in the GM bank. This does help quite a bit, but since it is just one multisample layer, it is very limited to relying heavily on the Filter EG velocity setting for dynamics too.
I really wanted a good CP70/80 piano, so during the recent summer sale I compared EXs60 KARO Electric Grand and EXS-143 Purgatory Creek CP-70b. I decided to purchase EXS-143, and I have been playing it a lot and love it. It is very flexible for use in soft or loud playing and sounds great.
Although not quite as robust as the EXS-143 CP-70b, I also found that Purgatory Creek has a good CP-80 in the Free download section of his website, included with this library:
https://www.purgatorycreek.com/index.ph ... ansistors/
Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2019 2:19 am
by psionic311
Glad that CP-70b is working out for you.
Having never personally played a real one,
I couldn't tell how accurate the MODX CP80 was to a real one.
Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2019 4:24 pm
by dfahrner
psionic311 wrote:...Never seen 3 bassists play at once before, like in the middle of the Yes medley, that was great!
...see "Big Bottom", by Spinal Tap...
Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2019 5:03 pm
by psionic311
dfahrner wrote:psionic311 wrote:...Never seen 3 bassists play at once before, like in the middle of the Yes medley, that was great!
...see "Big Bottom", by Spinal Tap...
Ha, nice one. Double neck bass, that's also a first for me.