Glossary Of Terms; Sound; Style; Pad - Korg Pa3X 76-keys User Manual

Glossary of Terms

28

Sound

Glossary of Terms
Before you begin, take a few moments to familiarize yourself
with the names and terms we will be using to talk about the vari-
ous elements of the Pa3X.
In this section, you will find a brief description of various key
elements of the Pa3X. A professional arranger (Pa) keyboard
uses different terminology than a traditional synthesizer or
workstation. By familiarizing yourself with the names and func-
tions in this section, you will get a better understanding of how
all the different parts of the Pa3X work together to create a real-
istic musical performance. This will also help you to get the most
out of the rest of the User's Manual.
Sound
A Sound is the most basic unit of an Arranger Keyboard perfor-
mance. A Sound is basically a playable instrument timbre (piano,
bass, sax, guitar...) that can be edited, saved, recalled and
assigned to any track. An individual Sound can be played on the
keyboard in the Sound mode. In the Style Play, Song Play or
Sequencer mode, Sounds may be freely assigned to Sequencer
tracks, Style tracks, or Keyboard tracks.

Style

The Style is the heart of a professional arranger keyboard. At its
basic level, a Style will consist of up to eight parts, or "Tracks".
Drums
The Drum track will provide a repeating rhythmic phrase,
played by the standard instruments of a Drum Kit.
Percussion
An additional rhythmic phrase played by various percussion
instruments (conga, shaker, cowbell, etc.) is provided by the Per-
cussion track.
The Drum and Percussion tracks will play the same phrase
repeatedly, regardless of the notes and chords being played on
the keyboard, although it is possible to assign a different Drum
Kit to either part, or to edit the Kit itself.
Bass & Accompaniment
The Bass track and the (up to) five additional Style tracks will
each play musical phrases that are musically related to and in
sync with the Drum and Percussion tracks. However, the notes
being played by these tracks will change to follow the chord pro-
gression that you play on the keyboard.
Again, any Sound you choose may be assigned to any track in a
Style.
Variation
For each Style, there are four Variations. In general, each Varia-
tion is a slightly different version of the others. As you progress
from Variation one to Variation four, the arrangements will
become more complex, and more parts (Tracks) may be added.
This allows your performance to have a more dynamic arrange-
ment, without losing the original "feel" of the Style.
Fill-in & Break
During a performance, a drummer may often perform a "fill" -
such as when transitioning from a verse to a chorus – adding
extra dynamics and keeping the beat from getting too repetitive.
The Pa3X offers four Fill-ins specifically programmed for each
Style. A Fill-in may be drums alone or drums with instrumenta-
tion. Then, there is even a silent "break".
Intro & Ending
Each Style also allows you to embellish your performance with a
set of musical introductions and endings. A long and short ver-
sion of the Intro and Ending are usually provided, with the for-
mer more harmonically elaborated, and the latter with a fixed
chord. A "count-in" style Intro is also provided, as well as the
quick Ending 3.

Pad

Pads are like single-track Styles, that can be triggered by using
the dedicated PAD buttons. They can be used to play in realtime
single sounds, as well as short, cycling sequences that play in
time with the Style or Standard MIDI File, and are transposed
according to the recognized chords.

Keyboard tracks

In addition to the Style and Pad tracks, up to four additional
parts can be played on the keyboard in real-time. Each of these
Keyboard tracks can be limited to a particular range of keys or
velocities, but in general three can be assigned to play above the
split point (Upper), and one below (Lower). This allows the
Upper Sounds to be layered together. The split point can be set
to any note on the keyboard. In addition to performing along
with a Style, these same Keyboard tracks will allow you to play
along with the Player.
STS (Single Touch Settings)
Single Touch Settings allow you to instantly change the sounds
assigned to each of the Keyboard tracks with a single button
press, allowing for wide variation in sounds during a perfor-
mance. Four STS (Single Touch Settings) can be saved with each
Style or SongBook entry.