New interesting demo of the KORG PA3x Musikant version


KORG PA3x Musikant Version Demo

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Note to all Korg PA3X and PA900 users: if you can, try to get the Musikant styles and registrations: while in most cases they are the same as those in the "regular" PA3X, there are a few styles that are unique, like the 66 Swing (perfect to play Route 66), while other styles or registrations have been tweaked, with very interesting results. The quality, overall, is excellent and blows away all the converted styles, like those from eBay.

thanks Dreamer for the information

Il n'y à pas de quoi

And PA600 users.

WOW!

... classy guy, that Andrea ...

My PA3x crashed when I used a style someone gave me (not sure where they got it). I had to reformat.

While discussing the situation with a Korg insider, he advised me NOT to use the Musikant styles as they are NOT made for the standard PA3x, and that they might also "corrupt" the OS.

Now I don't know if he was telling me like it is, or did he have some other motive for saying that, but, ever since, I've been weary about using "outside" styles.

Regards the Musikant styles.....if I had my choice, I would rather have had those loaded into my PA3x rather than what it came with.

Mark

Mark,

I have loaded the Musikant styles/registrations into my PA3X without a problem (and I think that Don Mason did the same). The styles that give problems are usually the converted ones (especially from Yamaha or Ketron, because they lack important parts, like the SA voices or the audio tracks).
I like a lot what they did at Korg Germany, to the point that now I have two copies of a few styles or registrations because they have been tweaked in a clever way and sound different, so to me it's worth keeping both versions.

Andrea,I would guess you are correct. I haven't heard anyone else having problems using just the Korg styles. Still when you crash that first time, it stays in your memory for 17 lifetimes!



I don't even play my PA3x because the styles are so bad....cha-cha doesn't sound like a cha-cha, no Strauss waltz, polkas are for kids, etc. But, in all fairness I haven't tried any of the Korg download styles from the Korg site.

I have a few Musikant zip files I found somewhere that I haven't opened yet (because of the "crash" I had and because I'm not sure if they are 3rd party or pure Korg files). May I ask where you got a copy of the Musikant files that you're using? I know that with the PA3x versions, Korg allows them to be interchanged. Correct?

I'd love to get back to playing regular again if I can only get some decent styles to work with on this keyboard!

Mark

Not play the PA cause the PA styles are so bad??
Send your PA to me, I'll sure play it. I got the MicroArranger just to learn a bit about Korg and Korg OS to se if I should convert to PA3xPro.
Lot's of lovely styles, easy to just grab and play the board as is, but unfornately, Musikant styles are not compatible.

But is'nt the Musikant USB stick possible to buy from Korg and compatible to load into PA3 as is?

Mark,

here you will find all the styles you can wish for (you have to register first, but it's free).
And yes, the Musikant styles are perfectly interchangeable with the internal ones.

Dreamer

May I ask you something : just your opinion about the keybed of the PA3x 76 version. Did you have any problem or trouble with it ? Or have you heard someone having such a problem ?

FWIW ...I've D/L the Musikant styles into my Pa600 with no problem ...

Serge,

all I can say is that the keybed of the PA3X-76 is a dream come true: to me it's the best among the 76 notes keyboards I have played. I still have a Roland G-70, whose keybed is also highly praised, but I consider the PA3X-76 even better: it's a real joy to play and offers the perfect degree of resistance, at least to my fingers. And I can tell you one more thing: contrary to what some believe, it's not the same keybed as the PA2X-Pro, which I never really liked.
Maybe, when you write of problems, are thinking of the Kronos 73 (or 88), whose keybeds used to have defective contacts; that was a real problem, now apparently solved, even if many, just to be safe, buy the more expensive "X" version, that seems to work perfectly.

Thanks Andrea

In fact I've heard a lot of contradictory things about Korg's keybed.
I have not played on the Pa3x 76 , but on the 61 keys and the pa900. I hesitate between the pa3x 76k and the pa900 61k...
Not the same things you may say

but I already have the T5 61k and would like to have a 76keys (Pa3x) but too much difference in price with the pa900 which shares the same sound engine !

I would like to be sure and make the right decision
thanks Andrea

PS : Andrea : the registration at CSS is not completely free

Serge,

you really should try the PA3X-76 before making a decision. I agree that the PA-900 seems to be a terrific value for the money but I have never played one so cannot comment. Anyway, these days you can find a PA3X-76 (used or ex demo) for about 2200-2400 euros, vs 1800 for a new PA-900.

I am sorry for the CSS registration problem: when I registered it used to be free, but in any case that site is a gold mine, so... it's really worth the admission fee.

I will follow your advice Andrea, thanks a lot, if I have more specific questions about it, would you mind me asking you all the time ???
next week, I will go and try the Pa3x.

I was registered to CSS a long time ago too, I just want to say for future new members that there is really a little fee but worth it million times

See ya

Serge

Ahhh, so that's why my username and pass don't work at CCS anymore, have to pay a fee to get it work again.
I was not aware of that ....

I feel SD-1 is better than G-70, so if Korg is better than G-70 as well, it most be great to play at.
Not easy to find any near by to try out, same shit happens here as many places, shops are too far away and trades being done via internet.

If you do not connect for a year, your account is no longer valid, I think. So you have to contribute a little fee again. But it is worth the cost

It might help, rather than a blanket "I don't even play my PA3x because the styles are so bad...", you elaborate as to WHY you feel them so bad. Not everyone's musical tastes are the same, not everyone plays the same music as you, or the way you do, and many people LOVE the Korg styles (or most of them!).

So a little bit info might help us understand your position (far removed from most Korg players) about the styles.

I have always said, it is probably best to define WHAT you mostly want to play, then look for the arranger which does THAT the best, then put up with whatever that forces on you. Yamaha excel at Broadway, orchestral and bigband, Korg have smooth jazz nailed, Roland does great rock and pop, they all have their strong and weak areas.

Plus, some players tend to want to play a lot themselves, some just want to peck out a melody and have the machine do everything else. The wrong choice here can also color your impression...

So, before a blanket "Korg styles are bad", it helps to lay out WHY...

....the WHY is: many of the styles sound like they were made BY kids and FOR kids. Others are so "busy" you have to fight against them to play a song the way YOU want to play it and NOT the way the style wants you to play it. Then there's that awful cha-cha that sounds more like a cross between a bolero and the French can-can. Additionally, there is no Strauss waltz (like Roland used to have). The Latin styles are OK, but not real authentic. And they're so much in your face, that you get tired of hearing the same riffs.

Other styles too, but I can't remember because I haven't touched that thing in six months now and that's the reason why.....the Styles.

I think we all know that "styles" are neither good nor bad. It's all about perception. But had I gone through all the styles on that machine before I bought it, I would have opted for the Tyros instead.

I bought the Korg because of it's many editing features. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough foresight to see there's not enough hours in a day to work with them. Just to make my own drum rhythms (forget the "accompaniments" and "fills") I'd have to take drum lessons. How do you do all this when you also have to get the oil changed on your car, get your teeth cleaned, mow the lawn, and maybe once in a great while take in a movie?

Roland had great styles for years, and they still do, but when I bought the PA3x the only choices were Yamaha, Korg and Audya. I liked the Tyros styles, but the machine was too big and clumsy. Same with the Audya, too big, pitch wheel in a bad position, and way too undependable with no support other than AJ.

The PA3x is a great machine, just not for me. I like Rocky Road. If you like butter pecan, that's OK by me!

Mark

]

Funny how our perceptions differ: I fell in love with the PA3X after listening the latin styles, and especially the brazilian ones. The Bossa Nova style is a joy to my ears: finally a real bossa nova a la Jobim, smooth, laid back and relaxed the way it's meant to be.
And what about the sambas? There is even one that starts with a simple cavaquinho in variation 1 and then builds up gradually variation after variation, just like a real brazilian band would do.
If you fancy a cha cha cha I suggest that you buy or download the so called eBay styles: there are enough cha chas to keep you happy for a lifetime.
To sum up: to my ears the PA3X has the best latin styles among all the big three and -as far authenticity goes- I consider them on the same level as the Audya audio styles.

I dont see the need for special versions of arrangers... everything done to the Musikant could have been sold in an expansion pack available for all

Nice detail, if you buy the Tyros expanion packs Entertainer and Alpen, you probably get the same things that Korg put in the Musikant.

IF arranger keyboards would support playing samples directly from an ultra fast and large SSD then everyone could finally get all things he wanted in his arranger, withouth the need of changing expansion packs out and in because of the limited memmory..

Oh... and an ultra fast 500Gb SSd (Samsung EVO 840)costs less then 300 euro and is way way faster then the current Yamaha flash memmory..


The first arranger taking the step to standard PC hardware, like the Korg Kronos did, is the big winner..

I hope this will be the PA4X-Pro.

Or Kronos 2 adding PA style features..

Frankly, this seems less likely, considering the number of Kronos users that are asking for this feature (more or less = 0, if you look at all the posts on KorgForums.com)

I know.... But then 80% of the Pa3x users on the same forum are screaming they want all the K has to offer in their Pa4x. In the end it would give the same results..

And as the rumors say allow korg to concentrate on a single software design line...

It's all a matter of point of view: PA3X users would be more than happy to see a greater integration with the Kronos, while the other way around...hmmm.
Just think how Kronos users, being accustomed to a thing like the Karma, would react to the addiction of little buttons that read "polka", "rhumba" or "cha cha cha".

I agree with you.. Start stop and fill buttons should not be on a Kronos..

But it could be done with a bigger touchscreen and all style buttons being part of the touchscreen...


Personally i prefer thinking more out of the box, and i see possibilities for an Ableton live like interface combining arranger, karma, sequencer, arpeggios, audio and more...

But a simple flat arranger interface would add nothing to the kronos, i fully agree..

Nothing wrong with 'kid' styles for 'kids'...

By which I imagine that you mean almost anything from THIS century...

If ancient old musical styles are what you are shooting for (I pretty much cringe at ANY cha-cha style!) I think on the whole, Yamaha have nailed the senior citizen market.

Just don't blame Korg for making something that MIGHT appeal to players under the age of 40 (50+, to be honest!). Either they start buying arrangers, or the market segment dies, and arrangers go the way of the 'home organ'.

No reasons not to add an arranger section to the Kronos (It would take time and be more expensive though) so long as it is called a different name, that way pro users will buy the Kronos and home players will buy the arranger, thus keeping the product segments separate.

Bill