thank you Dennis, I could do with some cheering up really. Everything that could be said has probably been said meanwhile on the Korg Forum. I am grateful to you and Willem H. in Holland for your efforts to make my resources work on the PA-800 and PA-2X and I also rejoice in the comments of those who have bothered to give feedback, which you can find on my webpages.

regards,
John Smies
Holland
http://pasounds.intropagina.nl/user-comments-2011-resources.html

John....may I ask you why in the first place did you think that the KORG PA units needed to be revamped with your new program vs the factory as is?.. Maybe it would be better received if people knew that.Just wondering.

Thanks

Hi Donny,

My pleasure.

Although we have come a long way since the 1990 the final touch to any keyboard, filling it up with hundreds of ready-made performances, user programs, registrations, or whatever you call it, is the last thing added by the manufacturer and they generally do not spend too much time or money on that.
Too many keyboard players imho , and I am sorry to say so but Yamaha here tops the list, play with what they get and do not tweak or if they do they barely scratch the surface. You can hear from a mile that a certain entertainer is using e.g. a Tyros or PA-800 and even a particular style to fit a wellknown popsongs. Sorry I get a bit carried away.
The performances in the Korg PA-500m (in my instance) lack any tweaking in depth. Though the 3.0 update by Korg Germany was a worthwhile endeavour and heading the right direction. Unfortunately I am no Nedim or Manuel Dorantes so I can not create styles but I do manage to make the most out of one good style and to really tweak a performance.
Of course my tweaking and results are very much subject to personal taste but for starters nearly ALL righthand sounds are not bright enough,drowned in buckets of reverb etc. Basically most factory presets can be done in a few hours. They simple take an onboard style (no tweaking in any way) and they add one or four (STS) righthand sounds from the gamut of sounds available. Again no or hardly any tweaking.
For starters I very often find that the choice of righthand sounds is not always that logical to the style with which it is combined. With STS settings even worse, they simply had to add three more righthand sounds in a hurry.
A righthand sound can improve dramatically by changing values for eq, reverb and choosing different effect instead of the obligatory chorus/delay. By doing so e.g. I stumbled upon some great guitar sounds, Uncle Dave and others may testify to that.
Of course a little in depth tweaking of a sound by altering e.g. the basic sample(s) etc. can do even greater wonders.
STYLE WISE I think it is a must to tweak. Most styles needs fine tuning as regards volumes,eq, reverb and effects. A second phase implies allocating different instruments to certain accompaniment tracks.
It is often refreshing and a bit of a revelation (either in the positive or in the negative) to replace ALL acc. tracks (not bass and drums obviously) by the best acoustic piano sample on your keyboard, and cutting the reverb completely.
DRUMS is a chapter onto itself at least for me. Fortunately the drums on any PA arranger can be tweaked more than on any other arranger in my experience. Not only choosing different drum sets, but actually tweaking indivual volumes of e.g. snaredrums or hi-hats, etc. can bring about substantial or tiny little changes.
Now I guess you and everyone else here KNOW all this but more often than not do not get down to it for lack of time,willingness, or whatever reason.
Well there is your answer to my question. I make a point of it to get down to all those changes which of course are in a way only the tip of the iceberg. But Uncle DAve did not remark in vain as did some others "it is as if I have got a complete new keyboard on top of it by installing your resources ".
Whether all of it is your cup of tea is another matter. (it would be yours Donny, my guess). The thing is that my PA-500m now sounds substantially different and imo substantially better because of all my tweaking. Only some people are expecting too much when they expect they could replace their complete resources by mine. That is silly. Besides then I should not be asking for a contribution but charging them a fair amount !!! No, I am convinced that many PA owners will find a certain amount of things
(sounds, styles, registrations) that they like and which they should be able to incorporate into their own set up. Sadly many of them are unable to do so...........
Ah life is what it is. A life long learning curve, my friend.

wishing you well,

John Smies
Holland

[This message has been edited by john smies (edited 01-05-2011).]

John,

Thank you for that very informative answer. After reading it I understand better into your heartfelt mindset in creating these changes to the PA units performances. It is true that many just play OOTB and never venture into the tweaking process or even know how to do that which is another thing lacking from manufacturers in supplying instructional multi level DVDs on different features and operations of each unit so players can LEARN how to do these things for themselves. the whole SUBJECTIVE sound thing is very complex & personal to each individual player determined by playing skill, country they reside in, hearing, type of music, & application, etc,....then if ever when they think they finally get a grasp of what they are doing another NEW keyboard is released and everything goes to hell in a hand basket because the latest and greatest mindset comes into view and it starts all over again.
John you did good my friend never doubt your abilities, sometime things don't work out as planned, but know in your heart you tried to help people....Happy New Year!