As I have mentioned before I just briefly try these features out when I try a keyboard live, as I am more interested in how easy I can make it sound to my liking rather than to the manufactures liking.

Looking more in depth at various other manufactures manuals (Regarding Songbook functions) I can see that the more extensive range of features you can save on a Korg compared to others would probably be beneficial live, however I can save pretty much the same as songbook and more (Selection of what you want to save is slightly different) in a Total Pre-set, then I just name the pre-set the name of the song and save it into the appropriate group (Or create one if it doesn’t exist) thus it becomes easy to find. (In most cases I know the number of the pre-set so just switch to the on-screen number pad and select it like that. (Although how professionals remember 8000 or so pre-sets (The typical settings most pro’s use) is a bit beyond me.

On the other hand using the playlist function you can also set up specific groups of pre-sets (Songs) for different types of jobs, so if it pops into your head it’s probably already in the play list for that job.

In the final analysis it’s all down to personal choice and what you feel happy with. (I’ve had my Abacus for almost 10 years now, and there’s nothing come out that gives me even the slightest incentive to change)

Bill