I loved the way my Kn7000 was set up for the jobs I played and when I played at home for my own enjoyment. I used the same system years ago when I bought a Kn5000; each time I ungraded to the new model I improved my set up. That translates into well over 10m years of working on the same setup.

The question I am now left with is;
How can the Pa800 be made to do the same job?

My results are based on my needs and desires. Please keep in mind that I am working with limited knowledge of the Pa800.

STYLES AND INSTRUMENT SET UPS:
Yamaha and Technics will not allow you to change the factory styles; A Rom and Ram thing; so the possibilities when working with Korg are many. It is possible to change the factory styles without saving them in user files. Most of the work I’m doing now work is with the factory settings.

1-There are 20 Performances where I can save my set ups; I also have a choice of adding a style to saved Performance if I wish. Performance is called Panel Memory in Technics keyboards.

2-On a job I need to get to the next song or type of song as soon as possible. The Song Book handles this very well. I have the songs arranged in categories in the Song Book; Old slow – Old medium – Old up. The same for the other types of songs. The songs are also arranged in sets blending different types of beats. The song book can do this and more. Many times I have the same song in different places.

3-I select a song from Song book; now I have 4 instruments and 4 pads of my choice. Because I do not always feel a song in the same way (instruments) I have pages set up in Performance; each one is set up with 8 instrumentations giving me 8 more instrument options to add to what I am playing.
More on Performance latter.

4-At home I enjoy adding instrument changes to cover the boredom of the styles; I use the performances I set up to add different flavors to the song I am playing. Talk about freedom.

PERFORMANCE SET UPS:

1-20 Performance areas. 10 above and 10 below on the same selection. In #1 selection there is 8 above and 8 below, a total of 16 Performances.

2-Example; Big Band Medium:
Performance #1- Above 8 instrument set ups; 1- PIANO 2- Trumpet 3-Bone 4-Sax Section 5- Clarinet Section 6-Mute Brass 7-Medium Brass 8-High strong Brass

3-Example; Big Band Soft in Performance #1 below.
Performance #1 –Below has all the same instruments as above but they are softer with less drive.

4-For Performance #2 Above; Big Band STRONG – Again the same instruments with but with a strong drive . Performance #2 Below; Big Band Miscellaneous instruments.
With this method I am not limited to the OTS and selecting another instrument is not a problem.
When selecting an instrument I also change a mood of the song.

This is one long tedious job; and it needs to be upgraded as you grow in the instrument. Sometimes on a job I feel the instrument setting is not just right; when I go home I adjust; it is a continuous editing job leading to a better job.

The keyboard can be used without all this extra work and your job or playing at home will sound good. With the additional work the song can sound great; in fact fantastic.

I need to put this in caps:
THE JOB THAT I HAVE UNDERTAKEN HAS BEEN MADE A GREAT DEAL EAISER BECAUSE OF JOHN SIMIES. John has supplied me with many sounds, styles, and performances cutting my work by at least 60%. JOHN HAS HAD MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE DOING THIS KIND OF WORK; THE STYLES AND THE PERFORMANCES ARE GOOD , VERY GOOD. I compared the factory styles and Performances, mine and then to John’s; most of the time I have found John’s to be better. But ---- when I select his work I will always add a touch of me. I want the keyboard to sound like John C. and Korg has made that possible. Donny’s set up will not sound like John C’s set up and mine will not sound like his; AMEN!

I am open for questions and helpful hints, John C.

PS, I will post my method as applied to a KMA soon; it is a bit different.

Bottom line is what does it sound like? ...there is no getting past that result....resources, do it yourself, etc, etc, etc, etc, ... I have pro friends that still use a Technics KN5000 arranger & let me tell you they sound fantastic....why? because4 they have the playing skills & chops to make it sound awesome!!!....when I asked him ever think of getting the new T4, PA3x .....he looked at me with a straight face and said "FOR WHAT?" & if you ever heard him perform you would understand his answer

Hey Donny nice, you’re right. Back in the 60’s I met a one-man-band I could not believe. Grand piano, Electric Drums, a Synth and foot pedals. He did such a good job that my organ player hired him to play for his wedding; he was a talent – did one great job. I have met only three musicians like him since then.

I doubt that we have anyone on this forum that is that talented,and please don’t misunderstand me; we have some great musicians here on this forum some more talented than others but none who could make a Kn5000 sound as good as a Tyros4 or a Pa3x.

I am talking keyboard players here and not singers; if someone is are making it because of his/her singing ability then we are no longer talking keyboards.

My subject is what you are doing with the keyboard you have. I am sharing what I am doing to possibly help others and hoping to learn more about my own keyboard; there is always someone who has something to offer.

John C.