Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards New Owner of a Korg PA1000 Has a Few Questions

Just received my Korg PA1000 today and started exploring its functions and playing around a bit.

I've got lots of questions about it (and I'm sure that I'll have more in the coming days). And although I'm not sure whether PianoWorld is the right place to ask them, I'll start here anyway. So my first questions are:

1. Is there a forum or website specifically dedicated to the Korg PA series where a new user can ask questions?

2. I have watched some instructional videos on YouTube, but they move along pretty quickly and are a little general in nature. So is there somewhere (free or otherwise) that provides more step-by-step instruction for someone who has played some piano but is unfamiliar with the most efficient manner to use an arranger keyboard as a "One Man Backing Band"?

3. Is there an online source for downloading (or purchasing) "keyboard sets" for use with specific songs or for collections by specific artists? A searchable database with this info would be ideal.

Thanks!
Bert

Some possible arranger-specific resources:

There's a PA1000/PA700 section at KorgForums -- http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/index.php

and there's an arranger forum at http://www.synthzone.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/category/5/The_Arranger_Keyboard_Forums which also has a Korg subsection, though the Korgs also get discussed in the general arranger section.

I've got a lot of midi files that also include lyrics and chord prompts that will appear on the screen of your Pa1000 that you can play along to. I've previously shared them on Korg Forums. You will also get some pretty helpful advice on Korg Forums.
You can download them from here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MEQVjZkULO0VcB0UA-aprNsbMqw9v5CH/view?usp=sharing
Just unzip and put them on a USB flash drive.
Note that the correct way to play midis on the Korg is to either play them direct from the flash, or more prefereably copy them to your Korg Drive.
Make a new folder on your drive first (say call it myMidis) using the drop down menu and copy them to there.
Note also midi's are not "Loaded" they are "Copied" across (Loading is for Keyboard sets and new sounds).
You select and play them by touching the song name on the main screen and navigating to them.
The best way to access them is to put them in the Songbook but that will take a little getting used to.

Thanks, JP!

I'm still getting familiar with the PA-1000 after receiving delivery earlier this week. But I'll try copying these MIDI files to the Korg Drive.

[b][/b]

Hey Jonky Ponky, Thanks again for those MIDI files. Your taste in music is very similar to mine!

I've unzipped and copied the files onto a USB drive, but am having problems once I try to copy them onto the PA1000 (since it's operation is still new to me). So could you clarify a few things?

1. Exactly how do I "make a new folder on my (Korg) drive first (say call it myMIDIs)"? Sorry, but I need step-by-step instructions for this at this point. ie - Do I start withe "media" button on the Korg or what?

2. Then exactly how do I copy the MIDI files over to the newly created folder on the Korg Drive? (Again, please "dumb it down" to step-by-step for me.)

3. Finally - How do I put the files into the Korg Songbook and make them searchable? Is there a streamlined way to do it, or will I have to enter a lot of data manually?

Once again, I apologize for my ignorance. While I know my way around Windows computers pretty well, I don't yet "speak Korg" fluently.

Thanks again for generously sharing these files. I've listened to a number of them on my PC and look forward to using them on the Korg.

Bert

Bert - I have a Pa3x not the Pa1000 but I think the procedure will be almost the same.
I'm doing this from memory as my 3x is packed away and I'm concentrating these days on my Yamaha P121.
This is what I remember:
In Media mode choose the top right drop-down memu button, Create Folder etc.
Insert USB with the midis, media button, check what drive you are in (botton-left menu), you should have a choice of USB or the Korgs Drive. Use the Copy Tab to copy the midis (you should be able to highlight them all using touch and shift) to copy them to the Korg drive folder you have created.
You might have to read up about Songbook entry but I think once hitting the songbook button the menu system is pretty self explanatory.
The advantage of using Songbook is that you can have Single Touch Settings automatically setup for each song including selected instruments, transpose, volume adjustments etc.
Tip: Edit the Songbook entry with Artist Name (say your initials) then you can filter the Songbook by Artist and only have your personal entries showing. Beyound this I suggest you ask further questions on the Korg forum where most of the experts hang out.
Enjoy your Pa1000 and dont forget to try the free Yamaha piano you can download into it.

Already downloaded and installed the free Yamaha piano - That went smoothly, Thanks.

Thanks also for getting back to me so soon wrt the MIDI files. I'll try following your updated instructions later tonight.

JP - I followed your instructions and all went well.

Nice job on those MIDI Files! Do all MIDI files contain the actual score by track, like yours do? If so, I'll look for other downloadable MIDI files for songs I like. That's really a nice feature.

Now I just need to incorporate your files into my "Songbook".

Thanks again!

All midis will diplay scores on the Pa1000 but not too many contain lyrics.
One site that has the option to search for files with lyrics is http://www.vanbasco.com/midisearch.html
The Korg can also play .kar files.

All MIDI files contains each note pitch, loudness, and timing… but if I play a piece of music without metronome and record it to MIDI, the MIDI recorder will consider a tempo (let’s say 120) which doesn’t match my play. The MIDI file won’t be practical to render a score. (A note which should appear on a middle of the bar has been played while the recorder is at 2/3 of the bar because I am « too slow »)

Many MIDI files are however practical to render a score (each first note of a bar are put in the MIDI file as a first note of the bar, the MIDI tempo match exactly the interpretation)

One tricky thing can be enharmonies… do you mean lab or sol# ? MIDI files doesn’t store the information.

I get from GiantMIDI-Piano, 7000+ MIDI files produced by machine learning from actual interpretations, I don’t think they will be adequate for producing scores. (The interpretation don’t follow necessarily a metronome).

Hey JP, I have yet another question (Sorry....): As I said previously, I successfully created a "My MIDIs" folder on the Korg Drive and copied your MIDI files to it. They work great, but I'm concerned that I may have lost or overwritten some original files in the process because now I have ONLY the My MIDI folder (with your files in it) and NOTHING ELSE on my Korg Drive.

I have a poor memory, so can't recall whether the PA1000 came with a bunch of default MIDI files or not. Would you know whether it did? Because, if so, I appear to have lost them.

If that's the case, would you know how I can get them back? If that's not the case and no MIDI files came with the keyboard, then this is a moot question.

(The manual is a bit murky on this. The specs don't mention MIDI's coming with the keyboard, but the "Playing a Song" section shows screenshots with songs that I don't have.)

I hope my question and explanation of what I did makes sense.

Thanks again.

It would not have come with any midis - only Styles and Songbook entries that use the Styles plus instrument choice settings. You have not lost anything!

Thanks again, JP. That's a relief!