Using The Chord Pads - Korg Kronos Operation Manual

Using the Chord Pads

Overview
Programs, Combinations, and Songs all have a Pads
page on the ninth tab of P1:
Programs: Basic/Vector‐>Pads
Combinations and Songs: EQ/Vector/Controller‐>Pads
You can use these pads for:
• Storing and selecting chords for Chord mode
• Selecting and triggering chords, especially for use
with KARMA
• Playing drum sounds, especially in conjunction
with a compatible USB MIDI pad device
The pads can play up to eight‐note chords—and they
even remember the velocities of the individual notes
within the chord.
In addition to playing sounds directly, the pads are
also used to select chords for Chord mode. For more
information, see "Using Chord mode" on page 36.
To avoid damaging the display, use care when
playing the on‐screen pads. Do not press strongly
on the display or strike forcefully; instead, use a
light and precise touch."Velocity" is controlled by
position, and not by force.
Playing the pads
Playing the pads from the screen
You can play the pads directly from the screen.
"Velocity" is controlled by where you touch the pad;
lower is softer, and higher is louder. (You can also
enable Fixed Velocity mode; see "Fixed Velocity" on
page 36.)
If individual notes in the chord have different stored
velocities, these are scaled by the overall velocity.
Note: from the screen, only one pad can be played at a
time.
Playing the pads from MIDI or the keyboard
Pads can be triggered by incoming MIDI notes or CCs,
or from the local keyboard. To do so:
1. Go to the Global P2: Controllers page.
Playing Programs Using the Chord Pads
2. Under MIDI CC# Assign —Vector Joystick / Pads,
set Pads 1‐8 to the desired MIDI notes.
You can also use MIDI CCs, if you prefer. With CCs,
the value of the CC is used as the pad's "velocity."
It's as simple as that; the pads will now respond to the
specified notes or CCs on the Global channel.
Be aware, however, that this will completely dedicate
these notes to triggering the pads; they will no longer
trigger sounds normally. For this reason, you may wish
to assign notes either below or above the standard
keyboard range (for instance, C‐1 through G‐1).
All of this also applies to notes played on the Global
Channel from the local keyboard, with the same
restriction: the assigned notes become dedicated to
playing the pads.
For more information, see "2–1c: MIDI CC# Assign —
Vector Joystick / Pads" on page 782 of the Parameter
Guide.
Playing the pads from Korg USB MIDI controllers
You can also play the pads using Korg USB MIDI
controllers equipped with drum pads, including:
• nanoPAD and nanoPAD2
• microKONTROL
• padKONTROL
• KONTROL49
To use any of these Korg controllers, simply connect
the controller to one of the KRONOS's two USB A
ports. The KRONOS will automatically determine the
MIDI assignments of the controller's pads 1‐8, and
map them directly to the KRONOS pads.
For more details, see "USB MIDI controllers" on
page 1128 of the Parameter Guide.
Enable Pad Play button
The pads play every time you touch within their
boundaries. If you're editing the stored notes and
velocities manually, you may wish to temporarily
disable this feature. To do so:
1. Touch the Pad Play button at the top of the display,
to turn it off.
The button's light will go dark, to show that it is
disabled.
Once you're finished editing, turn it on again:
2. Touch the Pad Play button again, to turn it on.
The button's light will go on, to show that it is enabled.
Note: Enable Pad Play applies only to the on‐screen
pads, and does not affect pad triggering from MIDI,
the local keyboard, or USB MIDI devices.
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