RE: Korg Microsampler as a looping tool

[kelly maxwell <apacheci5@hotmail.com>]

i have a MS, it is kinda like a jack in the box....turn the handle....sampling on it is usefull...pain in the arse tryin to record power chords......and press the record button....found this on the korg forums....a lil dated, bot not too old...

mojofunk



Joined: 10 Jun 2011
Posts: 23
Location: Buffalo, NY

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:36 pm Post subject: microSampler is an awesome looper! However . . .
Live loopers, doubt not that the microSampler can be quite formidable! It took me a while to get my head around it, but with the help of some amazing folks around here, I've been having a blast doing live looping on the MS. I'm nearly ready to ditch my soundcard and netbook running ableton for live shows. Here's the set up: guitar and bass into sansamps, a/b switch, into the line in of a Kaossillator pro, with acoustic guitar into the mic in (the KPro is a good little mixer, with a few knobs for volume!). KPro outputs into a Boss Slicer, into the microSampler. On the microSampler the first 16 keys have drum loops, the next 12 get silly vocal snippets (like "Adventures in stereo!" from an Admiral stereo demonstration LP), and the remaining 8 keys are for looping. I have the sequencer loaded with midi files (created in ableton) which trigger the 8 loopers and one of the drum loops for 8 measures (including key 16, which is loaded with a silent sample). So once I have a few loops going, I can change the drum loop with the sequence selector. (For details on how the sequencer can initiate auto looping look around this forum) Of course, the 8 looping tracks are all 8 measures long, but for the stuff I am doing it's fine - and pretty terrific as compared to the anemic looping available on the KPro. And since its all midi'd up, I can always throw short KPro loops on top (as well as the looping ability of the Slicer!). Changing the drum beats on the fly, and muting/unmuting gives a great deal of arrangement ability. Setting the microSampler fx to audio in gives me a good bit of fx madness to play with as well. Ok - it is amazing fun, and the audio (even at 24 & mono) sounds great. But the one persistent difficulty I have encountered has to do with the little gap in the midi file notes necessary to trigger auto loop. I first tried no gap, and it would not trigger the sample the first time around, but it would the second time. This is doable - just keep playing for an additional 8 measures, and then the loop created previously kicks in (which feels a bit odd, but can sound cool). So I began widening the gap of the midi notes, and eventually got it to reliably trigger automatically at loop completion. Great! But no, at different tempos, it again failed to trigger until the second pass, boo hiss. So the question I have been building up to is this: has anyone been able to set up a template midi file that will auto loop reliably at any tempo? What have others determined regarding the gaps between midi notes? Anyone else working similarly, and what have y'all figured out? Thanks for all the help so far! _________________ http://www.thefreakness.com

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tonidude



Joined: 08 Oct 2011
Posts: 13

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:24 am Post subject: Re: microSampler is an awesome looper! However . . .
Sorry, no help from here. From what I understand, your solution is the best possible. If you make the patterns/loops within Microkorg, you not only have to trigger them a bit after one, you also have to make them shorter than 1 bar so as to not spill on to the second bar (creating a one bar play, one bar silence pattern). Just venting with you to share my frustration. I also have the Kaossilator Pro which is a mediocre looper (lots of noise, only 4 bars!) I really bought the Microsampler more for loops than one-shots but on that account it's proven a real let-down. Fortunately I have the right to return it for a full refund, an option I am about to exercise.

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mojofunk



Joined: 10 Jun 2011
Posts: 23
Location: Buffalo, NY

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:15 pm Post subject: Re: microSampler is an awesome looper! However . . .
tonidude wrote: an option I am about to exercise. Ouch! You and many others I think! This weird item hasn't gotten much love, I don't suppose Korg will attempt it's like ever again. Humorously, I predict that in the future someone will call it a classic - they will certainly be rare, 'cause most of them were sent back to be melted down and made into Monotrons. Admittedly, mine has sat attracting dust for months. The lack of true envelopes and loop points makes the keyboard mode not so hot, but I kept thinking what else has 36 triggers in such a small space for so little (now) $$? While the MS was cooling it's heels on my shelf, I read pretty much every word on this forum, and I began to realize that if I could use it in ways other than that for which it was designed, I could indeed find it useful. The 8x8 measures looping (or however you set it up, it could be more!) is not too shabby - lack of real time undo is a drag, but if you monitor input on key 37, you can replace a bum loop. Or just mute the bad track, and try on one of the other 7. In my stuff I simply embrace bad notes! The tempo synced effects are a total hoot - lots of performance fun to be had there. I am likely going to install a footswitch to engage the sample button, and I may try to swap the write and mute buttons wiring (so I can mute with one hand). But despite many perplexing design decisions on both products I find that I am creating a huge mess of interesting & inspiring sound with these gizmos - stuff I sure couldn't do before I obtained them. And audiences could care less about how you we make our noise, to them its all magic. When the religious wars begin, and the power grid goes down, our acoustic guitars are all that will work anyway, so if you ditch the MS you may want to get yourself one of those! Ciao! _________________

 

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From: simpliflying@gmail.com
To: loopers-delight@loopers-delight.com
Subject: RE: Korg Microsampler as a looping tool
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2012 15:59:38 +0100

Yes. I have an MS too. ANd I do not touch it ever. Actually, having the octatrack and the Kaoss Pad I was quite sure about selling it.

The reason why I am not selling it yet is that at first I would have liked at least to try it out :) ANd that I have a midi keyboard of 49 keys, and I think that sometimes I may need a little one, and this has got no transpose but, well, may work.

I like the mode where you can slice, I mean, record something in many different keys in sequence, so that you have the first 2 seconds in the first key, the other 2 seconds on the second key etc.

The Octatrack does it too, but I still am not sure how it works there...

I will try something in the future now that I will have time :)

Thanks!

> From: benoitruelle@yahoo.fr
> To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2012 14:44:12 +0100
> Subject: Re: Korg Microsampler as a looping tool
>
>
> Sergio Girardi <simpliflying@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Mmm, a bit complicated. The loops must have all the same length, right? THe same of the first one.
> Hi Sergio,
>
> That's what he's using in this case, yes.
> The pedal is just to "arm" recording', then you have to press the key
> on which to record. As he doesn't want to do it by hand, he has
> prepared a 2 bars pattern as a "container" of "empty" slots
> (note-on/note-off). Each slots is indeed 2 bars long (or almost so as
> the note-off is a bit before the note-on when the pattern restarts).
> He could have choosen some note as 1/4, 1/8, or whatever and any
> pattern he likes. It's a bit like using an MPC, preparing the sequence
> (midi) then only adding the sound later.
> The sequence is just needed to trigger the recording and then trigger
> the newly recorded sample. The MS has several sampling modes and he's
> using "sampling triggered by a note for a given amount of time
> (2bars)."
>
> > Or well, surely not more, or it happens what happened with the last loop to him.WHat if while preparing the slots you press the key less time than the first loop's length?
>
> With this technique the loop will be shorter but still retriggered
> every 2 bars by its note-on event so still in sync.
> You can do stutter effects if you like or do "replace" like in
> EDP/LPx, then change the pattern for other effects. The difference is
> that you can do this on 36 "tracks".
>
> So, there is no way to just press play and start recording and press
> again to stop recording and start playing, deciding on your own the
> length of each loop?
> >
> you can not do REC/PLAY, no. Its REC/STOP/PLAY but there are other
> modes (gate mode) where you can decide the length of course. It's a
> nice way to do quick multisampling. Just connect an external module
> via midi and record it's output. ARM sampling, play a "scale" on the
> MS keyboard; it will trigger the sound module and sample at the same
> time while the key is down.
>
> I haven't touch my MS for a while, but this video gave me the envy to
> start again.
>
> Ben
>
>