KORG PA4X 76 User Manual

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Pa4X | User Manual

Important safety instructions

▪ Read these instructions.

▪ Keep these instructions.

▪ Heed all warnings.

▪ Do not use this apparatus near water.

▪ Clean only with dry cloth.

▪ Do not block any ventilation openings. Install

in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

▪ Do not install near any heat sources such as

radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including ampliﬁers) that produce heat.

▪ Do not defeat the safety purpose of the po-

larized or grounding-type plug. A polarized plug has two blades with one wider than the other. A grounding type plug has two blades and a third grounding prong. The wide blade or the third prong are provided for your safety. If the provided plug does not ﬁt into your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.

▪ Protect the power cord from being walked on

or pinched particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the apparatus.

▪ Only use attachments/accessories speciﬁed

by the manufacturer.

▪ Use only with the cart, stand, tripod, bracket,

or table speciﬁed by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus. When a cart is used, use caution when moving the cart/apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over.

▪ Unplug this apparatus during lightning

storms or when unused for long periods of time.

▪ Refer all servicing to qualiﬁed service per-

sonnel. Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way, such as power-supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the apparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped.

▪ WARNING – This apparatus shall be connect-

ed to a mains socket outlet with a protective earthing connection.

▪ Turning off the standby switch does not com-

pletely isolate this product from the power line, so remove the plug from the socket if not using it for extended periods of time, or before cleaning. Please ensure that the mains plug or appliance couple remains readily accessible.

▪ Mains powered apparatus shall not be ex-

posed to dripping or splashing and that no objects ﬁlled with liquids, such as vases, shall be placed on the apparatus.

▪ Install this product near the wall socket and

keep the power plug easily accessible.

▪ Do not install this equipment on the far po-

sition from wall outlet and/or convenience receptacle.

WARNING – Do not ingest battery, chemical burn hazard. This product contains a coin/button cell batter y.

If the coin/button cell battery is swallowed it can cause severe internal burns in just 2 hours and can lead to death.

Keep new and used batteries away from children. If the battery compartment does not close securely, stop using the product and keep it away from children.

If you think the battery may have been swallowed or placed inside any part of the body seek immediate medical attention.

▪ WARNING – Date/time Lithium button cell

battery inside. Danger of explosion if the battery is incorrectly replaced. Replace only with the same or equivalent type. The internal date/time Lithium button cell battery is user replaceable.

▪ Do not expose batteries to excessive heat,

such as direct sunshine, ﬁre or the like.

▪ Dispose of used batteries according to the

battery manufacturer’s instructions.

▪ Do not install this equipment in a conﬁned

space such as a box for the conveyance or similar unit.

The lightning ﬂash with arrowhead symb ol within an equilate ral triangle, is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated “da ngerous vo ltage” wi thin the pro duct’s e nclosure that may be of sufﬁcient magnitude to constitute a risk of e lectric shock to persons.

The excla mation point within an equilate ral triang le is intended to aler t the user to th e presen ce of impor tant operating an d maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the product.

CAUTION – Pa4X is for use only with KORG STSV1 BK stand. Use with other stands is capable of resulting in instability causing possible injury.

ATTENTION – Le Pa4X est conçu pour être utilisé avec le support KORG ST-SV1 BK. L’utilisation avec d’autres supports peut causer une déstabilisation du Pa4X et provoquer des blessures.

Other notices

Automatic power-off

To avoid wasting power, Pa4X will by default automatically enter standby mode after two hours of non-active use (playing, pressing buttons or using the touch-screen). Please save your data (Keyboard Sets, Styles, Songs, and so on) before taking a prolonged pause.

Data handling

Data in memory may sometimes be lost due to incorrect user action. Be sure to save important data to the internal memory or to an external USB device. KORG will not be responsible for damages caused by data loss.

Display handling

Be very careful not to force the display when tilting it. Fully lower the display before carrying the instrument. Also, be very careful not to apply too much pressure on the display while carrying the instrument, or it might break.

Cleaning

If the exterior becomes dirty, wipe it with a clean, dry cloth. Do not use liquid cleaners such as benzene or thinner, or cleaning compounds or ﬂammable polishes.

Use a soft cotton cloth to clean the display. Some materials, such as paper towels, could cause scratches and damage it. Computer wipes are also suggested, provided they are speciﬁcally designed for LCD screens.

Do not spray any liquid on the LCD screen directly. Always apply the solution to your cloth ﬁrst, then clean the screen.

Example screens

Some pages of the manuals show snapshots of the screen along with an explanation of functions and operations. All sound, style, song or parameter names, as well as shown values, are merely examples and may not always match the actual display you are working on.

Trademarks

Acrobat and PDF are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Mac and iOS are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.

trademark of Google Inc.

MS-DOS and Windows are

Android is a

registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. TC-Helicon is a registered trademark of TCHelicon Vocal Technologies Ltd. MaxxAudio, MaxxEQ, MaxxBass, MaxxTreble, MaxxStereo, MaxxVolume are trademarks of Waves Audio Ltd. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

Open source notice

Disclaimer

The information contained in this manual have been carefully revised and checked through. Due to our constant efforts to improve our products, the speciﬁcations might differ to those in the manual. KORG is not responsible for any differences found between the speciﬁcations and the contents of the instruction manual – all speciﬁcations being subject to change without prior notice.

Liability

KORG products are manufactured under strict speciﬁcations and voltages required by each country. These products are warranted by the KORG distributor only in each country. Any KORG product not sold with a warranty card or carrying a serial number disqualiﬁes the product sold from the manufacturer’s/distributor’s warranty and liability. This requirement is for your own protection and safety.

Service and user’s assistance

For service, please contact your nearest Authorized KORG Service Center. For more information on KORG products, and to ﬁnd software and accessories for your keyboard, please contact your local Authorized KORG distributor. For up-to-date information, please point your web browser to our web site.

Keep your keyboard up-to-date

Your instrument can be constantly updated as new versions of the operating system are released by KORG. You can download the operating system from our web site. Please, read the instructions supplied with the operating system.

Contents

Part I 9 Let’s start!

11 Introduction

11 Welcome to Pa4X!

15 Before starting to play…

17 Overview of the instrument

24 Setting up the pedals and audio connections

24 Connecting the pedals

25 Connecting the EC5 multiswitch

25 Connecting the headphones

25 Connecting the audio outputs

26 Powering up

26 Turning the instrument on

27 Calibrating the touch screen

28 Adjust the display brightness

28 Tilting the display

29 Listening to the Demo Songs

30 Interface basics

30 The main page

31 The user interface in detail

39 Navigating through the pages

42 Selecting the musical resources

Part II 43 Playing and singing

45 Playing the Sounds

45 Choosing your preferred Sound set

46 Choosing the Sound sets

52 Playing and controlling the Sounds

54 Tempo and Metronome

54 Tempo

56 Metronome

58 Playing the Styles

58 Choosing the Styles

63 Playing a manual accompaniment (Bass & Lower Backing)

64 Playing the automatic accompaniment

70 Adjusting the accompaniment volume

71 Playing the Pads

71 Choosing the Pad sets

72 Playing the Pads

73 Playing the Songs

73 Choosing the Songs

78 Playing a Song

80 Mixing two Songs

82 Playing along with the Song

83 Adjusting the volume levels

84 Playing all the Songs in a folder

86 Playing a Jukebox list

89 Lyrics, chords, markers and score

89 Choosing one of the Players

90 Reading the lyrics and chords contained in a Song

92 Reading the lyrics and chords loaded as a text ﬁle

94 Reading the lyrics and chords loaded as a CDG ﬁle

95 Moving through a Song with the markers

98 Reading the music score

102 Searching for ﬁles and other items

102 Using the Search function

Part III 107 SongBook

109 Using the SongBook

109 Choosing the SongBook Entries

118 Using the Set Lists

122 Editing the SongBook

122 Creating and editing the SongBook Entries

131 Creating and editing the Set Lists

135 Using the SongBook with a personal computer

Part IV 137 Customizing and editing the Sound sets

139 Customizing the Sound sets

139 Playing different Sounds with the left and right hand

143 Playing two or three Sounds at the same time

144 Choosing different Sounds

146 Mixing the Keyboard Sounds

149 Transposing the Upper Sounds to a different octave

150 Using the Ensemble to add harmony

153 Advanced editing of the Sound sets

153 The editing procedure

156 Mixing the Sounds

158 Adding effects

169 Equalizing the Sounds

172 Octave transpose and ﬁne tuning

173 Programming the sound routing and polyphony

176 Quick editing of Drum Kits

179 Quick editing of Sounds

181 Programming the key and velocity range

183 Editing the Digital Drawbars

187 Writing the Sound sets

187 Writing the Keyboard Sets to the library

189 Writing Keyboard Sets into a Style

191 Writing Keyboard Sets into a SongBook Entr y

194 Writing Style Settings, Song Settings and MIDI Song Sounds

Part V 195 Customizing, recording and editing the Styles and Pads

197 Customizing the Styles

197 Setting the Chord Recognition

201 Setting how velocity controls the accompaniment

202 Setting the memory mode

203 Mixing the grouped Accompaniment Sounds

206 Editing the Style Settings

206 Mixing the individual Accompaniment Sounds

209 Changing the Sounds of the accompaniment parts

212 Setting the Style controls

215 Choosing and mixing the Pads

218 Writing the Style Settings

219 The Chord Sequencer

219 Recording Chord Sequences

220 Playing back Chord Sequences

221 Managing the Chord Sequences

224 Recording the Styles and Pads

224 How are Styles and Pads made?

230 Programming the Style Settings, then recording the musical sequences

231 Accessing the Style/Pad Record mode

233 Setting the recording parameters

238 Assigning Sounds to the Style Element and Pads

241 Choosing the original key/chord and the note transposition table

244 Recording a Style or Pad in Realtime Record

247 Recording a Style or Pad in Step Record

252 Recording a Guitar track

262 Editing the Styles and Pads

262 Editing the track parameters

267 Editing the Chord Table

268 Editing the track type, trigger, tension

270 Editing the Style/Pad sequences

282 Editing the MIDI events

286 Copying the Style track settings

287 Importing and exporting the Styles and Pads

287 Impor ting a Standard MIDI File to a Chord Variation

290 Importing a Standard MIDI File to a Style

293 Expor ting a Chord Variation

295 Converting a MIDI Song to a Style

295 The MIDI Song to Style Conver ter

297 Writing the new/edited Style or Pad

297 Writing the Styles

299 Writing the Pads

300 Managing the Styles and Pads

300 Managing the Favorite Style banks

302 Copying, renaming and deleting the Styles and Pads

Part VI 305 Customizing, recording and editing the Songs

307 Customizing the Songs

307 How to play a Song – Song Play vs. Sequencer mode

308 Special tracks and fast play

310 Mixing the Song Sounds

314 Changing the Sounds of the MIDI Song tracks

315 Writing the Song Play Settings

315 Writing the default Players’ settings

316 Listening the MIDI Songs in Sequencer mode

316 Loading and listening a MIDI Song

319 Recording MIDI Songs

319 Multitrack Recording a Song

326 Step Recording a Song

331 Quick Recording a Backing Sequence Song

337 Step Recording a Backing Sequence Song

342 Editing the MIDI Songs

342 Editing the Song tracks

352 Editing the MIDI events

356 Saving MIDI Songs

356 Saving the MIDI Song

358 Recording MP3 Songs

358 Recording and saving an MP3 Song

361 Creating text ﬁles (lyrics)

361 Creating text ﬁles on a personal computer

Part VII 367 Customizing and editing the Sounds

369 Listening and customizing the Sounds

369 Accessing the Sound mode

370 Listening to individual Sounds

371 Customizing the Sound

374 Editing the Sounds

376 Setting the Sound’s basic parameters

382 Setting the oscillator’s basic parameters

389 Programming the Damper pedal

393 Equalizing the Sound

394 Setting the Drum Kit’s basic parameters

398 Equalizing the Drum Kit

400 Mixing the Drum Kit layers

401 Mixing and retriggering the drum samples

403 Modulating pitch

408 Programming the pitch envelope (Pitch EG)

412 Programming the ﬁlters

415 Modulating the ﬁlters

420 Programming the ﬁlter envelope (Filter EG)

424 Programming amplitude and pan

426 Modulating amplitude

429 Programming the amplitude envelope (Amp EG)

433 Programming the LFO

438 Adding effects to the Sound

441 Sound Edit utilities

443 AMS (Alternate Modulation Sources)

446 Writing the Sounds

446 Writing the edited Sound

448 Making new sounds with Sampling

450 Loading samples and multisamples

454 Recording samples or audio grooves

456 Editing the samples

460 Editing the loop

463 Writing, exporting or deleting the samples

466 Creating multisamples

470 Writing, exporting or deleting the multisamples

473 Creating new Sounds from multisamples

474 Creating new Drum Kits from percussive samples

475 Assigning the new Sound or Drum Kit to a part/track

476 Creating Audio Groove Slices with Time Slicing

482 Writing the Audio Groove Slices

483 Using the Audio Groove Slices in a Style or Pad

485 Using the Audio Groove Slices in other Sounds

Part VIII 487 Effects for the Sounds

489 The effects

489 Editing the effects

493 Adapting reverb to the room size

494 Effects list

496 Effect parameters

496 REV (Reverbs)

507 DEL (Delay)

542 MOD (Modulation)

589 DYN (Dynamics)

601 AMP (Ampliﬁer)

640 FILT (EQ and Filters)

669 FREQ (Frequency)

682 MISC (Miscellaneous)

727 DMS (Dynamic Modulation Sources)

Part IX 729 Controllers

731 Hand controllers

731 Programming the joystick

733 Programming the keyboard’s velocity and aftertouch

735 Programming the ribbon controller

737 Programming the assignable sliders

739 Programming the assignable switches

742 Foot controllers

742 Programming the damper pedal

743 Programming the assignable pedal/footswitch

750 Calibrating the pedal and setting its polarity

752 Programming the EC5 multiswitch

Part X 757 Global settings and preferences

759 Customizing the user interface

759 Display and control panel preferences

761 Program Change and activity indicators

763 Automatic selection and locking

763 Automatically choosing Styles and Keyboard Sets

765 Locking parameters to prevent changes

769 System preferences

769 Setting the date and time for ﬁle saving

770 Automatic power off

771 Master Transpose and Tuning

771 Master Tuning

772 Master Transpose

777 Scale

777 Main Scale

779 Sub-Scale

783 Quarter Tone Sub-Scale (SC Presets)

788 Retuning the Style while playing

Part XI 791 MIDI

793 Connecting MIDI devices

793 Introduction to MIDI

798 Connecting via the MIDI interface

799 Connecting via the USB DEVICE port

801 Quick settings using MIDI Presets

806 Synchronizing Tempo with other instruments

808 MIDI data routing, processing and transposing

813 Programming the MIDI channels

817 Connecting Pa4X to a personal computer or tablet

818 Control Change messages

821 Controlling the Arranger and Players via MIDI

Part XII 823 Audio In/Out and the Voice Processor

825 Setting the audio outputs and the ﬁnal effects

825 Connecting the audio outputs

826 Choosing the audio outputs for the microphone and line audio inputs

827 Sending Sounds and Drum Kits to the audio outputs

829 Choosing the audio outputs for the metronome click

830 Programming the MAXX mastering effects

836 Connecting audio devices to the audio inputs

836 Connecting an external audio device to the line inputs

838 Connecting a microphone

842 Shaping the sound of the lead voice

851 Using the voice effects and harmonization

851 Choosing a Voice Preset

855 Harmonizing your voice

857 Doubling your voice

858 Using the effects

859 Talking with your audience

861 Editing the Voice effects

861 Choosing, enabling and balancing the effects

862 Mixing the lead voice and the effects

863 Editing the harmony voices

870 Editing the Double voice

872 Editing the Filter effect

874 Editing the Hard Tune effect

875 Editing the μMod effect

877 Editing the Delay effect

879 Editing the Reverb effect

881 Writing a Voice Preset

Part XIII 883 File management

885 Managing ﬁles

885 Overview on ﬁle management

890 Loading musical resources and settings

896 Saving musical resources and settings

900 Copying ﬁles and folders

903 Deleting ﬁles and folders

904 Selecting more items at once

906 Exporting playlists

909 Managing media

909 Formatting storage devices

911 Backing up and restoring musical resources

915 Connecting one of the internal drives to a personal computer

917 Storage device organization

920 Changing the media display preferences

921 Protecting storage devices and ﬁles

923 The Direct Styles and Keyboard Sets

925 Care of storage devices

Part XIV 927 Appendix

929 Musical Resources

930 Styles

936 Keyboard Set Library

940 Sounds

968 DNC Sounds and controls

973 Drum Kits

975 Multisamples

990 Drum Samples

1023 Pads

1028 Recognized chords

1030 Connecting an external display

1032 Installing the options

1032 Assembling the ampliﬁcation system (PaAS)

1038 Assembling the music stand

1040 Assembling the stand (ST-SV1 BK)

1046 Replacing the clock backup battery

1049 Installing a microSD card

1053 Installing an additional internal drive

1057 Shortcuts

1060 Troubleshooting

1062 Specs

PART I: LET’S

START!

10| Let’s start!

Introduction |11

01 Introduction

Welcome to Pa4X!

Many thanks, and congratulation on purchasing the KORG Pa4X Professional Arranger! We’re sure it’ll give you countless hours of great tones that will feel as good as they sound.

Slim, powerful and easy to use

With the elegant aluminum cabinet, Pa4X provides a professional and stylish look, that will be much appreciated on stage or at home. The main panel’s logical layout ensures easy access to sliders, buttons, knobs and all controls.

Using your Pa4X is easy, thanks to the touch screen and the clean, clearly laid-out, modern user interface, based on icons reproducing real objects in the real world. The tilting display will make access easy under any circumstances.

The real solo and band experience

Pa4X has been designed to assist you equally well during live performance and songwriting. The detailed natural sounds and ﬁnely crafted styles have been created by some of the ﬁnest musicians in the music industry. You will feel you are playing in a real band – no matter what your musical tastes are.

The naturally responsive 76- and 61-note semi-weighted keyboards are designed for musicians of all levels, from beginners to demanding keyboard players, and gives you a completely authentic feel and full control of expression.

More than just recorded sounds

The huge, realistic collection of classic and contemporary keyboard, band and orchestral sounds, includes a new multi-layer stereo grand piano (with damper and body resonance) and new electric pianos; new wind instruments, basses and stunning acoustic and electric guitars; plus new digital drawbars with leakage and key on/off noises.

12| Let’s start!

Sounds have been recorded with the most up-to-date technologies, and KORG’s own proprietary EDS-X (Enhanced Deﬁnition Synthesis-eXpanded) sound engine allows for ﬁne detail to be accurately reproduced. The integrated sampler and sound editor allows to ﬁll the vast user memory with newly created or imported sounds.

All these authentic sounds become alive with KORG’s DNC (Deﬁned Nuance Control) system, allowing the performer to accurately and expressively introduce the most subtle nuances and sound articulation. For example, the joystick, ribbon controller and assignable switches can introduce the growl of a saxophone, breath elements found in trumpet, clarinet and harmonica, and add authenticity to the pizzicato and bowed sounds of a string section. You will even hear keys opening when saxophone notes are going up, and closing when going down!

Listen the natural way

Each Pa4X sound go through separate EQs and studio-quality effect processors, that further reﬁne your sound before coming through high-quality stereo audio outputs. Effects run from the standard reverbs and delays through to the more unusual effects (like a Vocoder), realistic amp simulators and carefully recreated vintage effects.

The ﬁnal effects are the result of KORG’s long term cooperation with Waves Audio®, the world reference in studio mastering effects. The included Waves MAXX AUDIO suite of effects delivers sound that is louder, clearer, fuller, and more polished.

For super high-ﬁdelity, you can add the optional PaAS Ampliﬁcation System, that has been speciﬁcally designed to connect directly to the keyboard. Useful for both home use and on-stage monitoring, the PaAS requires no additional support, no cables, no power supply to deliver crisp, clean full range sound. The sound is clear and detailed even at the lowest volume level, for the pleasure of the late-night rehearsing musician.

As good in tour or at home

Pa4X is a compact, lightweight arranger workstation that you can comfortably take with you on stage. But add the optional modern, stylish dedicated stand, and you will be able to have it anywhere in your home – a stylish piece of modern furniture.

The built in programmable metronome can be used as a guide while practicing at home. But send the click through the separate outputs to the stage monitors or an headphone ampliﬁer, and it will be used as a guidance by the other band’s members.

Introduction |13

A band always ready to play with you

Ultra-realistic sounds in the Pa4X are always ready to play along with you, in the music style best ﬁtting your music. The high number of included Styles will satisfy any music genre, but can also be expanded by adding new Styles. You may also create your Styles, customize the existing ones, or easily convert MIDI Songs to Styles.

There are eight accompaniment parts which will follow your chords. The Auto Fill function will automatically choose a Fill for you. You can play in the simplest way or with the rich harmonization of a competent jazz player. We have programmed them to sound natural, and give you the feeling of a real band, ready to play with you at any time.

The convenient Chord Sequencer function records your chord progressions on-the-ﬂy allowing the users to immediately play along with their own chord sequence, which is useful not only for practice, but for freeing up a hand while performing live. Chord Sequences can also be saved in Styles and SongBook Entries for easy recall.

Play and write songs

Play Songs in MID and MP3 formats with KORG’s patented XDS Crossfade Dual Sequencer/Player. With both Songs and Styles, you can show lyrics for your singer and chords for your fellow guitarist. Any MIDI Song track can be converted into a readable score. Markers allow for jumping back to a passage you wish to repeat, for example in a piece you are studying or rehearsing.

Use the video output to display lyrics or score on an external monitor, making it perfect for karaoke or band leading.

You can record a MIDI Song using a full-featured Sequencer, or by using the Styles to record your live performance. Even easier, just record what you sing and play (including MP3 Songs) as an MP3 ﬁle, and listen to it anywhere you like – even while driving to a party with friends!

Your music book

What is a huge collection of Styles and Songs, without an effective form of organization? Pa4X has the one most known to musicians: the SongBook, a music database allowing for fast song retrieving based on name, artist, genre or tempo. Styles and Songs are easily recalled by the SongBook.

Particularly useful for live use, the SongBook can assign songs from any custom Set List to dedicated buttons on the control panel. Your entire show will be under your ﬁngers, with immediate access to any Style, Song and Sounds needed for your performance.

14| Let’s start!

The SongBook can even be edited from a personal computer through our free editor. It can also be synchronized with most modern tablets to become your handy external digital music sheet reader (third-party software needed).

Sing naturally

Connect a condenser or dynamic microphone, and let the Adaptive Mic Setting automatically adjust parameters such as the Adaptive Gate, EQ, Compression and the De-Esser to make the vocals sound smooth and studioproduced.

For years, KORG has teamed with TC•Helicon®, the world leaders in vocal harmonies, to create and constantly improve the included Voice Processor. TC•Helicon’s Voice Processor ensures that your vocals have the highest possible sound quality, and adds up to four realistic voices to your voice.

To ensure professional vocal performance, 3 knobs and 3 buttons controlling the most important vocal functions have been added to the top panel within easy reach.

Open to the world, ready to the future

The use of standard ﬁle formats, like MID or MP3 for songs, or WAV and AIFF for samples, opens a world of possibilities when exchanging ﬁles. The USB ports allow for connecting Pa4X to any external storage device or personal computer, smartphone or tablet without the need for a dedicated MIDI interface. However, you can connect Pa4X to any existing MIDI musical instrument, thanks to its complete set of programmable MIDI ports.

Introduction |15

Before starting to play…

What’s in the box

After you get your Pa4X, please check that all the following items are included in the package. If any of the following items is missing, please contact your KORG dealer immediately.

▪ Pa4X

▪ Music stand

▪ AC power cable

▪ Quick Guide

▪ Accessory Disc, containing the Video Manuals, additional manuals and soft-

ware utilities

What you can add

After having purchased Pa4X, you might want to add these other ﬁne options:

▪ The elegant KORG ST-SV1 BK keyboard stand, recommended for safety and

comfort, perfectly matching your arranger design.

▪ The PaAS Ampliﬁcation System, adding a three-way ampliﬁcation system, a

pair of integrated speakers and a bass-reﬂex box.

▪ One of the sturdy pedals and footswitches from the KORG catalogue.

▪ For Pa4X-61: The HDIK-3 kit, to install an (optional) hard disk drive.

Contacts

Your KORG dealers not only deliver this instrument, but also carry hardware and software accessories, as well as useful information on how to use these products. Ask them for any help you should eventually need.

Our international web site is www.korg.com. A list of all KORG Distributors can be found in our dedicated web page (www.korg.com/us/corporate/dis-

tributors/).

16| Let’s start!

Making a safety copy of your data

In case you like to customize your musical resources, we suggest you use the

Media > Utility > Full Resources Backup command to make frequent backup

copies into compact and easy-to-store archives.

Also, you can use the Media > Save All command to save individual ﬁles that you can separately reload one by one.

Restoring a safety copy

To restore a backup, use the Media > Utility > Resources Restore command.

If you saved your data with the Media > Save All command, use the Media >

Load operations to reload them.

Restoring the original factory data

In case you want to restore the original factory data, use the Media > Utility

> Factory Restore command.

Warning: This operation will overwrite all the Factory, Local, Favorite and User data!

Loading the Operating System

Your Pa4X can be constantly updated as new versions of the operating system are released by KORG. You can download the most up-to-date operating system from our web site. Please, read the instructions supplied with the operating system on the site.

You can see which version of the operating systems is installed in your Pa4X by going to the Media > Utility page.

Warning: Do not install an OS other than the ofﬁcial OS supplied by KORG for the

Pa4X. Trying to install an OS created for different models or downloaded from unofﬁcial web sites may cause data loss and permanent damage to the instrument. KORG is not responsible for any damage caused by improper installation of the OS.

Introduction |17

Overview of the instrument

The following pages show the functional areas of the front and real panels.

Front panel

The front panel is where you can ﬁnd the instrument’s controls, the (optional) loudspeakers and the music stand.

Guide for the music stand and

PaAS ampliﬁcation system

KeyboardHeadphones

PaAS ampliﬁcation system

You can install the (optional) PaAS ampliﬁcation system (see page 1032 for assembly instructions). When installed, control the output volume of the speakers via the MASTER VOLUME knob.

The speakers are automatically deactivated when connecting the headphones. You can also manually deactivate them by deselecting the Speakers checkbox in the Global > Audio & Video > MP3/Speakers page.

18| Let’s start!

Music stand

A music stand comes standard with your Pa4X (see page 1038 for assembly instructions).

Headphones connector

Connect a pair of headphones to this output. You can use headphones with an impedance of 16-200 Ohms (50 Ohms suggested).

Keyboard

Use the keyboard to play notes and chords. Depending on the SPLIT indicator, the keyboard may be joint or split between different sounds.

Introduction |19

Control panel

The control panel is the part of the front panel where you can ﬁnd the instrument’s controls.

Metronome and

Tempo area

DisplaySliders area

Styles area Players area Sounds/Set List area

Navigation area

Display

Use this touchscreen display to interact with the instrument. The display can be tilted for optimal visualization (see page 28).

Microphone

area

Styles (and Pads) area

Styles supply the automatic accompaniment with a virtual band (see page

58).

20| Let’s start!

Players area

Songs can be played back by the two onboard Players (see page 73).

Sounds (and Set Lists) area

Sounds are what you can play on the keyboard (see page 45). Here you can choose Sound sets saved as Keyboard Sets in a dedicated library. Or you can choose Set Lists from the SongBook, that are collections of Sound sets with an associated Style or Song(s).

Navigation area

Use these controls to go through the menus, pages and parameters, and search for the various musical resources (see page 30).

Introduction |21

Metronome and Tempo area

Use these controls to practice with the metronome and control the Tempo of the metronome, the Styles and the Songs (see page 54).

Microphone controls

Here you will control the microphone input and the voice effects and harmonization (see page 836).

USB connector

Use this connector to connect an USB memory device, like an USB pendrive (HOST-F). You can also use it to attach a small USB lamp and illuminate the control panel or the music stand.

22| Let’s start!

Rear panel

The rear panel is where you can ﬁnd the various connections (see page

24).

Guide for the music stand and

PaAS ampliﬁcation system

Connectors Power connector

Audio inputs

Audio

outputs

EC5 multiswitch

connector

Pedals USB

MIDI ports

ports

Video

out

Battery and microSD slot

Audio inputs

Use these connectors to connect a microphone or another musical instrument. The convenient STEREO minijack can be used to directly connect the audio output of a media player, a smartphone or a tablet.

Audio outputs

Use these connectors to send the audio signal (sound) to a mixer, a PA system, a set of powered monitors, or your hi-ﬁ system.

EC5 connector

You can connect an (optional) Korg EC5 multiswitch pedalboard, to control many functions in realtime.

MIDI ports

Use these ports to connect Pa4X to external controllers (master keyboard, MIDI guitar, wind controller, MIDI accordion…), to a series of expanders, or to a computer with a MIDI interface.

Introduction |23

Pedal connectors

Use the DAMPER connector to connect a damper pedal, and the ASSIGNABLE connector to connect either a continuous pedal or footswitch.

USB ports

Use these connectors to connect your Pa4X to a personal computer (DEVICE) or to connect an USB memory device, like an USB pendrive (HOST- R).

Video out

Connect Pa4X to a TV or video monitor, to read lyrics and chords on a bigger display.

Battery and microSD slot

This opening contains the clock battery and the microSD card slot.

Power connector

Use this socket to plug in the supplied IEC power cable.

24| Let’s start!

02 Setting up the pedals

and audio connections

Connecting the pedals

Connecting the damper pedal

Use the PEDAL > DAMPER connector to connect a damper pedal, like the (optional) KORG PS1, PS3 or DS1H. The DS1H pedal supports all the nuances of half-pedaling on some acoustic piano sounds. You can experiment how it works by gradually pressing it down, and gradually releasing it, while playing the Concert Grand Sound.

If you need to change the pedal’s polarity and calibrate it, go to the Global >

Controllers > Foot page.

Connecting a pedal or footswitch

Use the PEDAL > ASSIGNABLE connector to connect a footswitch pedal like the (optional) KORG PS1, PS3 or DS1H, or a continuous pedal like the (optional) KORG XVP-10 Volume pedal or EXP-2 Expression pedal.

By default, this connector will work as an Expression pedal. If you want to change the assigned function, or you need to change the pedal’s polarity and calibrate it, go to the Global > Controllers > Foot page.

What if the pedals do not behave correctly?

From time to time, you might want to recalibrate the pedals. Or you might need to reverse the pedal’s polarity. See how to do in Calibrating the pedal

and setting its polarity on page 750.

Setting up the pedals and audio connections |25

Connecting the EC5 multiswitch

Use the EC5 connector to connect the (optional) KORG EC5 multiswitch. With this programmable controller you can control various functions.

By default, the ﬁrst switch acts as an automatic accompaniment’s Start/Stop command, while each of the remaining four switches select one of the four Style Variations. If you want to change the assigned functions, go to the

Global > Controllers > EC5 page.

Connecting the headphones

Connect a pair of headphones to the PHONES connector. You can use headphones with an impedance of 16-200 Ohms (50 Ohms suggested). When connecting the headphones, the PaAS speakers are automatically deactivated.

Adjust the output level with the MASTER VOLUME knob.

Connecting the audio outputs

Use the AUDIO OUTPUT connectors to send the audio output to a mixer, a set of powered monitors, or an audio ampliﬁcation system. These are balanced/unbalanced (TRS) 6.35 mm, or 1/4”, jack connectors.

When using a home audio ampliﬁer, connect the other end of the cable to the CD, LINE IN or TAPE/AUX input of your audio system. Don’t use the PHONO inputs of your audio system!

▪ Use the LEFT and RIGHT connectors as the main stereo outputs. Connect

either of them to output a mono signal. Adjust the output level with the

MASTER VOLUME knob.

▪ Use the 1 and 2 connectors as the separate sub-outputs. These can be used

for a stereo sub-mix, or to output just a single Sound to be mixed alone, or to be processed or ampliﬁed externally. The Sounds are sent to these outputs with no effects. Adjust their volume with the mixer’s or external speaker’s level controls.

If installed, the (optional) PaAS ampliﬁcation system will work in parallel with the main audio outputs.

26| Let’s start!

03 Powering up

Turning the instrument on

Connecting the power adapter

Plug the supplied power cable into the POWER socket on the back of the instrument, and the cable plug into a wall power socket.

When the cable is connected, the instrument is in standby.

Warning: When the instrument is in standby, it is still connected to the power line.

Accessing the inside of the instrument can be dangerous. To completely disconnect the instrument from the power, unplug the power plug from the power socket on the wall.

Turning the power on or off

Turn the instrument on

▪ Press the POWER (

standby’). After you turn the instrument on, wait for the welcome screen to disappear, then the main page of the Style Play mode will be shown in the display.

Turn the instrument off (standby)

▪ Keep the POWER (

it when the screen appears dimmed. The shutdown procedure will begin and last for a few seconds. Please do not disconnect the power cable during this procedure.

) button to turn the instrument on (that is, ‘exit from

) button pressed for about one second, then release

Powering up |27

Calibrating the touch screen

Calibrating the screen

From time to time (for example, after loading a new operating system), calibrating your Color TouchView™ display may be necessary to make pointing more precise.

Warning: Do not use sharp objects, or you will damage your screen!

1 Keep the GLOBAL button pressed, until the Touch Panel Calibration page

appears.

2 First touch exactly inside the set of arrows in the upper left corner of the

display.

3 The arrows will subsequently move to the other corners of the display. Touch

exactly inside them.

4 Finally, touch Save to conﬁrm the new calibration.

▪ In case you want to exit and cancel the calibration, press the EXIT button

before completing the procedure.

28| Let’s start!

Adjust the display brightness

Brightness can be adjusted to match the ambient’s light.

▪ Keep the MENU button pressed, and use the VALUE controls to adjust the

display brightness.

Tilting the display

For optimal visibility under any seating position, the display’s tilt angle can be adjusted.

Lifting the display

1 Press the UNLOCK button to unlatch the display.

2 Keep the UNLOCK button pressed, and adjust the tilt angle.

3 Release the UNLOCK button to ﬁx the display to the current position.

Closing the display

1 Keep the UNLOCK button pressed, and accompany the display down.

2 Release the UNLOCK button, and gently press the center of the top border

of the display to lock it in the initial position.

Listening to the Demo Songs

Playing the Demo Songs

Access the Demo mode

▪ Press the DEMO buttons together.

Listen to all the Demo Songs

Powering up |29

▪ After accessing the Demo mode, do not press any button. All the Demo

Songs will be played back.

Choose a single Demo Song

▪ Touch one of the options on the display (Full Songs, Solo Instruments,

Styles), then choose one of the Demo Songs.

Exit from the Demo mode

▪ Press any of the MODE buttons.

30| Let’s start!

Upper Sounds

04 Interface basics

The main page

The Main page of the Style Play mode appears when turning the instrument on. You can return to this page by pressing the EXIT button while in Style Play mode, or the S T YLE PL AY button when in a different mode.

Title bar Page menu

Selected Style

Right-hand/

Selected

Songs

Selected

Keyboard Set

Left-hand/ Lower Sound

Tabs recalling

other panes

Keyboard Set pane

Interface basics |31

The user interface in detail

Display and user interface elements

Color TouchView graphical user interface

Pa4X features our exclusive easy-to-use TouchView™ graphic interface, based on a touch panel LCD screen. By touching items on the LCD screen, you can select pages, tabs, and parameters, and set parameter values via on‐screen menus and buttons.

Operative modes

The pages of Pa4X are grouped in various operating modes. Each mode is accessed by pressing the corresponding button in the MODE section on the control panel.

Each operating mode is marked with a different color code, that helps you understand where you are at ﬁrst sight.

Two special modes (Global and Media) overlap the current operating mode, that remains active in the background.

The Record mode can be accessed from the Style Play, Sequencer and Sound modes, and allows for creating new Styles, Pads, Songs or Samples.

Edit menus and sections

Pages are grouped in sections, to be selected by touching the corresponding buttons in the edit menu that opens up when you press the MENU button.

32| Let’s start!

Pages and tabs

Parameters are grouped into separate pages, to be selected by touching the corresponding tabs on the lower area of the display.

Overlapping windows

Several windows, like the Style Select or Sound Select, the Global, the Media, or the Lyrics, overlap the current window. After you select an item in the window, or press the EXIT button, the window closes, and the underlying page is shown again. (The following example is the Keyboard Set Select window).

Dialogs

Similar to selecting windows, dialogs overlap the underlaying page. Touch one of the button on the display to give Pa4X an answer, and the dialog will close.

Page menus

Touch the down-pointing arrow icon in the upper right corner of each page, and a menu with suitable commands for the current page will appear.

Interface basics |33

Touch one of the available commands to select it. (Or, touch anywhere else on the screen to make it disappear, with no command selected).

Pop-up menus

When a down-pointing arrow appears next to a parameter name, either touch the arrow to open the pop-up menu and choose an option from there, or use the VALUE controls to scroll the list of options.

If you want to make the menu disappear without selecting anything, touch anywhere else on the display.

Lists and scrollbars

Files on storage media, as well as other kinds of data, are shown as lists. Use the scrollbar to scroll the list content. Also, you can use the VALUE controls to scroll.

34| Let’s start!

Scrollbar

When the Name label is selected on top of a list, keep the SHIFT button pressed while touching one of the arrows on the scrollbar, to jump to the next or previous alphabetic section.

Selected

label

Selected

item

List

Interface basics |35

Parameters

Checkboxes

This kind of parameters are on/off switches. Touch them to change their status.

Editable names

When the Text Edit (

Tex t Edi t window and edit the name.

The virtual keyboard works exactly as a personal computer’s keyboard. Some of the symbols are context-sensitive, and only appear when they can actually be used.

Numeric ﬁelds

When a numeric value can be edited, touch it a second time to open the

Numeric Keypad.

) button appears next to a name, touch it to open the

The virtual numeric keypad works exactly as the numeric keypad of a per- sonal computer.

36| Let’s start!

As an alternative, touch a numeric ﬁeld and keep it held. Then move your ﬁngers up (or right) to increase the value, or move it down (or left) to decrease it.

This also includes the Tempo numeric ﬁeld in various pages.

Icons

Various icons help identifying the type of a ﬁle, a folder, a Song. For example:

Icon Meaning

Folder

File of Style bank

MID ﬁle

Selected, highlighted items

Any operation on parameters, data or list entries, is executed on highlighted items. First touch the parameter or item to select it, then execute the operation. Most parameters can be edited with the VALUE controls.

Non-available, dimmed parameters

When a parameter or command is not currently available, it is shown dimmed on the display. This means it cannot be selected, but may become available when a different option is selected, or you switch to a different page.

Interface basics |37

Virtual controllers

Virtual sliders

To change a virtual slider’s position, touch it and keep it held, then slide up or down to change its position. As an alternative, touch it, then use the VALU E controls to change its position.

Depending on the status of the SLIDER MODE indicator, the position of the virtual sliders might match that of the SLIDERS.

Virtual knobs

To change a virtual knob’s position, touch it and keep it held, then slide your ﬁnger up (or right) to rotate it clockwise, or slide it down (or left) to rotate the knob counter-clockwise. As an alternative, touch it, then use the VALUE controls to change its position.

Virtual drawbars

To change a virtual drawbar’s position, touch it and keep it held, then slide it up or down to change its position. As an alternative, touch it, then use the

VALUE controls to change its position.

38| Let’s start!

Shortcuts

Some commands or pages can be recalled by keeping the SHIFT button pressed, and pressing other buttons or elements in the display. See

Shortcuts on page 1057 for a list of the available shortcuts.

Interface basics |39

Navigating through the pages

Going to a page

Through this manual, page addresses are shown as in the following example:

Style Play > Mixer/Tuning > EQ Gain

Mode Edit section Page

Here is how the above works:

1 Press the ST Y L E PLAY button to go to the Style Play mode. When the in-

strument turns on, it is already in this mode (this the Main page of the Style Play mode).

2 Press the MENU button on the control panel to see the edit menu of the

Style Play mode.

40| Let’s start!

3 Touch the Mixer/Tuning button in the edit menu to choose the Mixer/Tuning

section.

The selected edit section is always shown in the title bar:

Mode Edit section

4 If the page is not yet shown in the display, touch the EQ Gain tab to choose

the EQ Gain page.

5 Edit the parameters.

Interface basics |41

6 Try a different page in the same edit section. Touch the Volume/Pan tab to

go to the Volume/Pan page, and edit the parameters.

7 Press the EXIT button to return to the main page of the Style Play mode.

If you were in Song Play mode, pressing EXIT would have returned to the

main page of the Song Play mode.

42| Let’s start!

Groups

Selecting the musical resources

Opening a Select window

When you press one of the STYLE, SOUND SELECT, or one of the KEYBOARD

SET LIBRARY buttons, the corresponding Select window appears. For ex-

ample, this is the Sound Select window:

Type

Groups

Sounds

Pages Previous/Next

Pages

You can always exit from this window by pressing the EXIT button.

In Pa4X, Select windows stay always open until you press the EXIT button. If you prefer they automatically close after a few seconds, or after you select something, turn the Display Hold parameter off (see Display Hold on page

51).

PART II:

PLAYING AND SINGING

|43

44| Playing and singing

Playing the Sounds |45

05 Playing the Sounds

Sounds and Keyboard Sets

Sounds are the basic element of what you hear from your instrument. Pa4X contains Sounds from any instrumental family (pianos, strings, synthesizers…). A set of Sounds playing together on the keyboard can be memorized as a Keyboard Set.

To automatically recall Sounds and settings, you usually select a Keyboard Set. A Keyboard Set is a single memory location that can remember the Keyboard Sounds and all their transposition, effects, etc…

Keyboard Sets are individually contained in the Keyboard Set Library (KEYBOARD SET LIBRARY buttons). They are also associated to a Style or SongBook Entry; a group of four Keyboard Sets is recalled each time you select a Style or SongBook Entry (KEYBOARD SET buttons under the display).

Choosing your preferred Sound set

Choosing the ‘My Setting’ Keyboard Set

▪ Press the MY SETTING button to choose your preferred Sounds and set-

tings.

This is a special Keyboard Set, that is automatically selected when the instrument is turned on.

46| Playing and singing

Choosing the Sound sets

Choosing a Keyboard Set from the library

Keyboard Sets are contained in a dedicated library, that you can access from the control panel or from the display.

Open the Keyboard Set Select window from the control panel

1 Be sure the SET LIST indicator is turned off.

2 Press one of the buttons of the KEYBOARD SET LIBRARY section. You will

notice that each of them has an instrument family name printed over it.

Open the Keyboard Set Select window from the display

▪ While in the Main page, touch the name of the selected Keyboard Set.

Playing the Sounds |47

As soon as you press the button or touch the display, the Keyboard Set

Select window appears.

Select a Keyboard Set

1 To choose one of the available types of Keyboard Sets, touch the buttons

at the top of the window.

Type of Styles Meaning

Fact ory Standard Keyboard Sets, that cannot be modiﬁed.

User Locations where you can load new Keyboard Sets from an external de-

Direct User Keyboard Sets accessed directly from a storage device, without

vice, or save new or edited Keyboard Sets.

ﬁrst having to load them.

2 In case you want to choose a different group of Keyboard Sets, either press

a different button in the KEYBOARD SET LIBRARY section, or touch one of the tabs on the sides of the Keyboard Set Library Select window.

48| Playing and singing

3 To choose one of the available pages in the selected Keyboard Set group, ei-

ther touch one of the P1…P6 tabs at the bottom of the window, or repeatedly press the button of the selected group of Keyboard Sets in the KEYBOARD

SET LIBRARY section of the control panel.

4 Touch the name of the Keyboard Set you want to choose.

5 If you want to close the Keyboard Set Library Select window (and it does

not close by itself), press the EXIT button.

Playing the Sounds |49

In the end, you will see the name of the selected Keyboard Set in the dedicated area of the Main page. The Sounds assigned to the keyboard (shown in the right half of the display) will change. The Voice Preset might also change.

50| Playing and singing

Choosing a Keyboard Set from a Style or a SongBook Entry

There are four matched Keyboard Sets in each Style or SongBook Entry, ﬁne-tuned for the containing Style or SongBook Entry. You can choose them from the control panel or from the display.

Choose a Keyboard Set from the control panel

▪ Press one of the buttons in the KEYBOARD SET section under the display.

Select a Keyboard Set from the display

1 While in the Main page, be sure the Kbd Set pane is selected. If it isn’t, touch

the Kbd Set tab to select it.

2 Touch one of the Keyboard Set names in the display to select it.

You will see the name of the selected Keyboard Set highlighted in the dedicated area of the Main page. The Sounds assigned to the keyboard (shown in the right half of the display) will change.

Digital Drawbars

You will notice that some Keyboard Sets in the Organ group of the library contain the ‘DWB’ abbreviation in their name. These Keyboard Sets contain Digital Drawbars Sounds, that are simulations of electro-mechanical organs of the past.

When you choose one of them, the SLIDER MODE indicator goes to

DRAWBARS. Use the sliders to control the drawbars and the correspond-

ing footage of the organ sound.

Playing the Sounds |51

Display Hold

You may prefer to leave a Select window open after you have chosen a Sound, Keyboard Set or Style, to continue trying other elements in that window. Or, you may prefer it automatically closes after you have completed your choice. This is determined by the Display Hold parameter.

Turn the Display Hold parameter on or off

1 Go to the Global > General Controls > Interface page.

2 Turn the Display Hold parameter on of off:

▪ Select the Display Hold On checkbox to turn it on. Sound, Keyboard

Set, Style, Pad or Voice Preset Select windows will remain open on the display, until you press the EXIT button.

▪ Deselect the Display Hold On checkbox to turn it off. Sound, Keyboard

Set, Style, Pad or Voice Preset Select windows will automatically close after you choose an element.

3 Press the EXIT button to return to the previous page.

Factory, User, Favorite, Direct

Across the pages, you will ﬁnd words like Factory, User, Favorite, Direct. These terms refer to the type of protection from writing, or how much you can customize them.

▪ Fa ctory (Keyboard Sets, Sounds, Styles, Pads) are elements that you

cannot normally overwrite or modify. They are meant to warrant that musical resources (like SongBook Entries) will always ﬁnd linked musical resources (like Styles).

▪ User (Keyboard Sets, Sounds, Styles, Pads, Voice Presets) are ele-

ments that you can overwrite or modify.

▪ Favor i te (Styles) are User elements, whose banks (the side tabs) you

can freely rename to create your own categories.

▪ Direct (Keyboard Sets, Styles) are User elements that you can directly

access from a storage device.

52| Playing and singing

Playing and controlling the Sounds

Playing the keyboard

The instrument’s keyboard is like a piano keyboard. Just play it!

With some Sounds, you can press the keys while they are down, and the sound might vary (for example, you might hear more vibrato).

Using the pedals

Pedals do different things depending on how they are programmed. The Damper pedal is just that – a damper pedal, sustaining notes until you release the pedal. The other pedal may change depending on the selected Sound set.

Using the assignable sliders

Depending on the chosen Keyboard Set, the sliders can control different things, like volume levels of the different Sounds, the organ drawbars or some assignable functions. How they work is shown by the SLIDER MODE button’s indicator.

Using the assignable switches

Depending on the chosen Sounds and the assigned DNC functions, these controllers can do different things. The switches can either ‘book’ a function, that will be triggered while playing, or enable (or disable) it by pressing the button to ‘toggle’ it.

Indicator status Meaning

Off No DNC function assigned.

Red steady Booking DNC function available.

Red blinking Booking DNC function waiting to be executed. Then, it will return

Green steady Toggle DNC function available.

Green blinking Toggle activated. Press it again to disable it.

steady.

Playing the Sounds |53

Using the joystick

Moving the joystick left of right usually changes the Sound’s pitch. Moving it forward usually trigger modulation, but this depends on the selected Sounds. With the electro-mechanical organs, pushing the joystick forward changes the rotary speaker’s speed. What it does when pulled back depends on the selected Sounds. Just experiment!

Using the ribbon controller

Sweeping left of right on the ribbon controller usually changes the brilliance of the Sounds and/or the pitch, but how it works depends on the selected Sounds.

54| Playing and singing

06 Tempo and Metronome

Tempo

Setting the Tempo value

While an optimal Tempo value is saved with each Style or Song, you can freely adjust it at your will. This will also set the Tempo for the Metronome.

Adjust the Tempo value from the control panel

▪ Use the TEMPO controls to adjust the Tempo value (or the speed of the MP3

Song).

As an alternative, keep the SHIFT button pressed and use the VALU E controls.

Adjust the Tempo value from the display

1 If it is not highlighted, touch the Te mpo value in the display.

2 Use the VALUE controls to adjust the Tempo value.

As an alternative, touch the Tempo ﬁeld again to open the numeric keypad, and enter the Tempo value as a number.

Reset the Tempo value

▪ Press both TEMPO buttons at the same time.

The Tempo value memorized in the Style or the MIDI Song will be recalled. With MP3 Songs, the original speed of the Song will be restored.

Tempo and Metronome |55

Visual Tempo count while the Style is not playing

While the accompaniment is not playing, the current Tempo is still beaten by the indicator of the START/STOP button.

Beating (‘tapping’) the Tempo value

In Style Play mode, you can beat the Tempo value.

▪ While the accompaniment is not playing, beat the Tempo on the TAP TEMPO

button. Beat as many times as indicated by the Meter numerator (for example, three times in 3/4).

At the end, the accompaniment will start playing with the ‘tapped’ Tempo.

Locking the Tempo value

You can prevent the Tempo value from automatically changing when choosing a different Style or MIDI Song. MP3 Songs are not affected by this ‘lock’, and will always play at the recorded Tempo.

You are free to continue setting the Tempo manually, including beating the Style’s Tempo with the Tap Tempo function. Please note that there is a separate Tempo for the Style Play and Song Play modes.

Prevent the Tempo value from changing

▪ Press the TEMPO > LOCK (

value will not change when choosing a different Style or Song. You can still manually change the Tempo value (as seen above).

Let the Style or Song change the Tempo value

▪ Press the TEMPO > LOCK (

choosing a different Style or Song, the memorized Tempo value will be recalled.

Tempo Change events found in the Style pattern or the MIDI Song may still change the Tempo.

) button to light up its indicator. The Tempo

) button again to turn its indicator off. When

56| Playing and singing

Metronome

Turning the metronome on and off

Turn the metronome on

▪ Press the METRO (

dow will open, and the metronome will start playing, beating the current Temp o.

Turn the metronome off

▪ Press the METRO (

stop.

) button to turn its indicator on. The Metronome win-

) button to turn its indicator off. The metronome will

Setting the meter, accent and volume

You can mark the beginning of the measure, by setting the meter and accent.

Open the Metronome window

▪ Press the METRO (

Set the meter (time signature)

) button.

▪ Choose the meter (time signature) by using the Meter parameter.

Tempo and Metronome |57

Turn the accent on or off

▪ Choose the accent by using the Accent parameter.

Accent Meaning

Off No accent.

On The ﬁrst beat of each measure is accented.

Bell A bell sound is heard at the ﬁrst beat of each measure.

Adjust the metronome volume

▪ Adjust the metronome volume by using the Volume parameter.

Exit the Metronome window

▪ Press the METRO button to exit the window and stop the metronome.

▪ Press the EXIT button to exit the window without stopping the metronome.

Then, press the METRO button to stop the metronome.

58| Playing and singing

07 Playing the Styles

Choosing the Styles

Choosing a Style

You can choose a Style from the control panel or from the display.

Go to the Style Play mode

▪ When turning the instrument on, you are already in Style Play mode. If you

are not, press the STYLE P L AY button in the control panel.

▪ If you are not in the Main page of the Style Play mode, press the EXIT button

to return there.

Open the Style Select window from the control panel

▪ Press one of the buttons in the STYLE section.

Playing the Styles |59

Open the Style Select window from the display

▪ Touch the name of the Style in the display.

Choose a Style

1 Browse through the Styles in the Style Select window.

▪ To choose one of the available types of Styles, touch the buttons at the top

of the window.

Type of Styles Meaning

Fact ory Standard Styles, that cannot be modiﬁed.

User Locations where you can load new Styles from an external device, or

Direct Styles accessed directly from a storage device, without ﬁrst having to

save new or edited Styles. Among the User Styles you will ﬁnd the Favorite Styles, that are loca-

tions where you can load new Styles from an external device, or save new or edited Styles. The name of these banks can be edited in order to create custom banks.

load them.

60| Playing and singing

▪ To choose a different group of Styles, touch one of the tabs on the sides of

the window.

▪ To choose one of the available pages in the selected Style group, touch one

of the P1…P6 tabs at the bottom of the window.

As an alternative, press again the same STYLE button.

2 Touch the name of the Style you want to choose.

3 If you want to close the Style Select window (and it does not close by itself),

press the EXIT button. (When a window does not close by itself, it means the

Display Hold is turned on. See Display Hold on page 51).

In the end, you will see the name of the selected Style in the dedicated area of the main screen.

Playing the Styles |61

Intro

Ending 3

What is a Style?

Styles are collections of musical patterns in a particular music genre – or ‘musical style’ – offering an eight-parts automatic accompaniment, similar to an eight-member band playing with you. Chords you play on the keyboard will be recognized and will adapt the patterns to suit the music. Different sections can be selected to let you create a complete song in realtime.

Accompaniment parts

Accompaniment parts are like the members of a band. With Pa4X you get ﬁve pitched instrument players (for example: guitar, piano, strings, synthesizers), a bass player, a percussion player, and a drum player.

Chords and patterns

Accompaniment patterns are repeating musical sequences (like a bass groove, a guitar riff or a piano chord progression) that are dynamically adapted to match the recognized chords. They may vary depending on the type of chord (like C Maj, C min, or 7th).

Sections

Songs are made of different sections (Intro, Verse 1, Bridge, Chorus 1 and so on). There are different patterns for each song section, and they are collected under the Style Element buttons (INTRO, VARIATION, FILL, BREAK, ENDING). While the name of the Intro, Fill, Break and Ending are the same as the name of the corresponding song section, Variations can be used either for Verse, Bridge, Chorus or Special sections. The arrangement becomes denser the higher the element numbers go.

Verse Fill Chorus Break / Verse Fill Chorus Ending

Intro 1 Fill 1 Fill 2

Variation 1 Variation 2 Variation 3 Variation 4

Auto Fill

Pa4X can automatically match each Variation with a Fill. When the AUTO

FILL indicator is on, when going from a Variation to a different one a Fill

is automatically selected, without having to press one of the FILL buttons.

Break

62| Playing and singing

Making the accompaniment sparser

You can easily turn off any of the accompaniment groups by using the Play/Mute buttons in the Main > Volume pane. For example, you may want to mute the ACCOMP (Accompaniment) group to play with the backing of the drums and bass alone.

Let Styles choose the Keyboard Sounds

Choosing a Style might automatically choose Keyboard Sounds. This depends on the STYLE TO KBD SET indicator (KBD SET = Keyboard Set).

STYLE TO KBD SET indicator

Off Styles do not select a Keyboard Set.

On When choosing a Style, Keyboard Set 1 is automatically selected.

Blinking Choosing a Variation automatically recalls the corresponding

Meaning

Keyboard Set (1 – 4) inside the Style. For example, choose Variation 2, and Keyboard Set 2 will be automatically recalled; choose Variation 3, and Keyboard Set 3 will be automatically recalled.

Playing the Styles |63

Playing a manual accompaniment (Bass & Lower Backing)

You can play a simple manual accompaniment, where the chord you play with your left hand is split between the Bass (chord root) and Lower (the remaining notes) Sounds.

Playing the manual accompaniment

1 Be sure the Bass & Lower Backing function is active. When it is, the Backing

icon appears in the Lower Sound’s area.

If the icon does not appear, see below how to activate it.

2 Be sure the SPLIT indicator is turned on, and the automatic accompaniment

is not running.

3 Play a chord sequence with your left hand.

Notice how the chord root is played by the Bass Sound, while the remaining chord notes are played by the Lower Sound (even if it is muted).

Turning the Bass & Lower Backing function on or off

1 Go to the Global > Mode Preferences > Style page.

As an alternative, keep the SHIFT button pressed and press the S TY LE PL AY button to open the Style page.

2 Select or deselect the Bass & Lower Backing checkbox to activate or deac-

tivate the function.

64| Playing and singing

Recognized chord

Beat indicator

Playing the automatic accompaniment

Starting and stopping the accompaniment

You can manually start and stop the accompaniment.

Start the accompaniment

1 Press the START/STOP button.

2 Play some chords with your left hand, while playing a melody with your right

hand.

On the START/STOP button, a red indicator will mark the ﬁrst beat, while a green indicator will mark the other beats of the measure.

While the accompaniment is playing, please note the various indicators in the display.

1 Press the SYNCHRO > START button to light up its indicator.

2 Play a chord, and see how the accompaniment will start automatically.

3 Stop the accompaniment by pressing the START/STOP button.

Pattern length in measures (‘L’)

or remaining measures (‘M’)

Tempo value

Stop the accompaniment

▪ Press again the START/STOP button.

Automatic start and stop

You can let the accompaniment automatically start or stop by just playing on the keyboard, without having to press the START/STOP button. This leaves your hands free for playing.

Make the accompaniment start automatically (Synchro Start)

Playing the Styles |65

Make the accompaniment start and stop automatically (Synchro Start and Stop)

1 Be sure the SYNCHRO > START indicator is turned on.

2 Press the SYNCHRO > STOP button, to light up both the START and STOP

indicators.

3 Play a chord to start the accompaniment, and keep the keys pressed.

4 Lift your hands from the keyboard, and see how the accompaniment will

automatically stop.

Make the accompaniment stop automatically (Synchro Stop)

1 Press the SYNCHRO > START button again to turn it off, and leave only the

SYNCHRO > STOP indicator lightened.

2 Press the START/STOP button to start the accompaniment, then play a

chord and keep the keys pressed.

3 Lift your hands from the keyboard, and see how the accompaniment will

automatically stop.

Deactivate the Synchro Start/Stop functions

▪ Press the SYNCHRO > START and/or SYNCHRO > STOP buttons to turn both

indicators off.

Choosing an Intro

An Intro is the introduction of the song. To choose the right Intro for your song, please note that Intro 1 plays a short sequence with a prerecorded chord sequence and melody, while Intro 2 plays on the chord recognized on the keyboard. Intro 3 is usually a one-bar Count In.

Style Element Suggested use

Intro 1 Intro with prerecorded chord sequence and melody.

Intro 2 Intro with chord recognized on the keyboard.

Intro 3/Count In One-measure Count In.

1 Press one of the VARI ATION buttons on the control panel to choose the

Variation you want to use for the ﬁrst verse. The button’s indicator will be on, meaning the Variation is waiting to start.

2 Press one of the INTRO buttons on the control panel to ‘book’ one of the

Intro sections. The button’s indicator will be on, meaning the Intro is waiting

66| Playing and singing

to start. The button’s indicator on the selected VARIATI O N button will be ﬂashing, meaning it is booked after the Intro.

3 Start the accompaniment.

Choosing a Variation to play a Verse or Chorus

Variations can be used for verses, choruses, bridges or specials. To choose the right Variation for your verse, please note that Variations are of growing ‘density’ and ‘loudness’. This means that Variation 1 will be the ‘sparsest’ and the ‘quietest’ of the arrangements, while Variation 4 will be the ‘dens- est’ and ‘loudest’ of them. Usually, you will use Variation 1 for the ﬁrst verse, Variation 4 for the last chorus.

Style Element Suggested use

Variatio n 1 Verse, Bridge, Chorus or Special (lowest density)

Variatio n 2 Verse, Bridge, Chorus or Special (medium-low density)

Variatio n 3 Verse, Bridge, Chorus or Special (medium-high density)

Variatio n 4 Verse, Bridge, Chorus or Special (highest density)

▪ Wait for the Intro to end playing, and then the selected Variation will start

playing. The selected VARIATION indicator will stay lit.

▪ As an alternative, you can start the Variation before the end of the Intro.

While the Intro is playing, press one of the VARI ATION buttons. The Variation will start at the next measure.

Choosing a Fill

Fills are phrases that can be used for smoothly bridging between different sections of a song.

Style Element Suggested use

Fill 1 Fill (lowest density)

Fill 2 Fill (medium-low density)

Fill 3 Fill (medium-high density)

Fill 4 Fill (highest density)

▪ When the musical situation requires a change, press one of the FILL buttons

to choose the Fill you want to play. The button’s indicator will be on while the Fill is playing.

▪ If you want, choose a different Variation before the end of the Fill.

Playing the Styles |67

Choosing a Break

A break introduces a short pause in your song, creating a suspension and a sense of surprise.

Style Element Suggested use

Break One-measure break

▪ When the Variation is nearing its end, press the BREAK button to play a

short musical break.

Choosing an Ending

To choose the right Ending for your song, please note that Ending 1 plays a sequence with a prerecorded chord sequence and melody, while Ending

2 plays on the chord recognized on the keyboard. Contrary to the others

(starting at the next measure), Ending 3 starts immediately, without waiting for the current measure to ﬁnish, and is just two measures long.

Style Element Suggested use

Ending 1 Ending with prerecorded chord sequence and melody. Starts at the end of

Ending 2 Ending with the chord recognized on the keyboard. Starts at the end of

Ending 3 Two-measure Ending, starting immediately, without waiting for the mea-

the current measure.

sure to end.

▪ When it is time to end the song, press one of the ENDING buttons on the

control panel to ‘book’ one of the Ending sections.

After the Ending, the Style will automatically stop.

Automatically choosing a Fill

If you like, you can let Pa4X automatically choose a Fill when you choose a Variation.

Turn the Auto Fill function on

▪ Press the AUTO FILL button to light up its indicator.

Automatically play a Fill, then a Variation

▪ Press one of the VAR IATIO N buttons. A Fill will be automatically selected.

68| Playing and singing

Turn the Auto Fill function off

▪ When you no longer need this function, press the AUTO FILL button again

to turn the indicator off.

Programming the Auto Fill

You can program how the Auto Fill works.

1 Go to the Global > Mode Preferences > Style page.

As an alternative, keep the SHIFT button pressed and press the S TY LE PL AY button to open the Style page.

2 Use the Auto Fill menu to choose the Auto Fill mode.

Auto Fill Mode Meaning

Current Variation The Fill with the same number of the previous Variation will be auto-

Target Variation The Fill with the same number of the target Variation will be auto-

Smart Auto Fill tries to make the transition smoother. For example, if you

matically selected. For example, if you are going from Variation 2 to Variation 3, Fill 2 will be automatically selected.

matically selected. For example, if you are going from Variation 2 to Variation 3, Fill 3 will be automatically selected.

are going from Variation 1 to Variation 4, Fill 3 will be automatically selected.

3 Press the EXIT button to return to the previous page.

Looping sections

If you feel that a Fill or a Break should last longer than the recorded pattern, you can put it in a cycling loop.

Playing the Styles |69

Set a Style Element to loop

▪ Press twice the button of the Fill or Break to put in loop.

The indicator on the button will start ﬂashing, and the pattern will start repeating.

Exit from the loop

Do one of the following:

▪ Press the same Style Element button again, or

▪ Select a different Style Element.

Keep a Style Element looping while its button is pressed

▪ Keep an Intro, Fill, Break or Ending button pressed to loop it. Release it when

you want the Style Element to exit from the loop.

▪ If the Auto Fill function is turned on, keep a Variation button pressed to loop

the corresponding Fill. Release it when you want the Fill to exit from the loop, and the Variation to start playing.

Fade In/Out

You can start and/or stop your playing with a smooth fade-in or fade-out.

Fade i n

▪ While the accompaniment is not playing, press the FADE IN/OUT button to

light up its indicator and start the accompaniment with a smooth fade-in.

The accompaniment will start. When the maximum volume is reached, the indicator will turn off.

Fade o u t

▪ When the song is approaching its end, press the FADE IN/OUT button to stop

the accompaniment with a smooth fade-out.

Setting the Fade time

▪ Go to Global > General Controls > Basic to set the Fade In and Fade Out time.

70| Playing and singing

Adjusting the accompaniment volume

Balancing the accompaniment against the keyboard

While playing, you may want to balance the Keyboard Sounds against the Accompaniment Sounds, to make the soloist stand out of the background or go back in the mix.

Balance the Accompaniment against the Keyboard Sounds

▪ While the accompaniment is playing, use the BALANCE knob to balance be-

tween the Accompaniment (Style) and the Keyboard (Keyboard Set) Sounds.

Adjusting the volume level of the Accompaniment Sounds only

If you wish, you can change how the BALANCE knob works, and transform it into a volume control for the Accompaniment Sounds only.

Program the BALANCE knob

1 Go to the Global > Controllers > Hand page.

2 In the Balance Control section, touch the Accompaniment/Song Volume

option to choose it. Now, the BALANCE knob will work as the Style (and Song) volume only.

To go back to the default way of working, choose the Accompaniment/Song

– Keyboard Balance option.

3 Press the EXIT button to close the Global page and return to the main screen.

Adjust the volume level of the Accompaniment Sounds

▪ While the accompaniment is playing, use the BALANCE knob to adjust the

level of the Accompaniment Sounds.

The volume of the Keyboard Sounds will not change.

Playing the Pads |71

08 Playing the Pads

Choosing the Pad sets

Choose the Pads by selecting a Style

▪ Choose a Style. The four Pads it contains will be selected.

Choose the Pads by selecting a SongBook Entry

▪ Choose a SongBook Entry. The four Pads it contains will be selected.

What is a Pad?

Pads are single-track, single-Style Element Styles, that you can instantly play with the dedicated PADS buttons. They can either play single sounds or short, cycling sequences that play in time with the Style or the MIDI Song, and are transposed according to the recognized chords.

72| Playing and singing

Playing the Pads

Starting and stopping the Pads

You can play up to four Pads at the same time, by using the dedicated PADS buttons on the control panel.

Play the Pads

▪ Press one or more PADS buttons to trigger the Pads.

▪ Play some chords, and transpose any Pad of the Sequence type.

Stop a single Pad

▪ Press a PADS button to stop the corresponding Pad.

Stop all Pads at the same time

▪ Press the PADS > STOP button to stop all the Pads.

Pads of the One Shot type automatically stop at the end of the sequence. Pads of the Loop type continue cycling until you don’t press the PADS >

STOP button.

Stop all the Pads and the Style at the same time

▪ Press the START/STOP button, or one of the ENDING buttons.

Stop all the Pads and start a Song

▪ Press the P L AY/STO P button to start a Song. All the Pads will stop playing.

Changing Tempo

In Style Play mode, Pads are synchronized to the Style’s Tempo. Change the

Style’s Tempo, and the Pads’ Tempo will change accordingly.

In Song Play mode, Pads are synchronized to the latest MIDI Song’s Tempo. Since Pads cannot be synchronized with MP3 Songs, the Tempo of the latest MIDI Song will be considered when playing MP3 Songs.

Playing the Songs |73

09 Playing the Songs

Choosing the Songs

Choosing a Song

Switch to the Song Play mode

Press the SONG PLAY button.

Title bar Page menu

Selected Song

(Player 1)

Selected Song

(Player 2)

Selected Style

Selected

Keyboard Set

Right-hand/ Upper Sounds

Left-hand/ Lower Sound

Tabs recalling

other panes

Keyboard Set

pane

Open the Song Select window from the control panel

▪ Press the SELECT button in the PL AY E R 1 or PLAYE R 2 section.

74 | Playing and singing

Open the Song Select window from the display

▪ Touch the name of the Song on the display. You can choose either Player 1

(PLY1) or Player 2 (PLY2) to play the Song.

Browse through the Songs

While in the Song Select window, browse through the ﬁles to ﬁnd the Song you are looking for.

Current path

Device

▪ Choose a storage device by using the Device menu.

If the Song is contained in an external USB device, connect the device to one of the USB HOST port.

Device Typ e

DISK Internal memory

HD Internal HD (optional in Pa4X-61)

SD Optional internal microSD

USB-F Optional device connected to the front (F) USB HOST port

USB-R Optional device connected to the rear (R) USB HOST port

The actual name (label) of the device will appear between square brackets.

▪ Scroll the ﬁle list by using the scrollbar. As an alternative, use the VA LUE

controls (if the focus is on the Device selector, touch any item in the list before using the dial).

▪ Open the selected folder/directory by touching the Open button.

▪ Go to the upper folder/directory by touching the Close button.

Playing the Songs |75

Current measure

Tempo variation

▪ Jump to the folder/directory, containing the Song currently assigned to the

Player, by touching the Locate button.

Jump to a different alphabetical section

1 If it is not selected, touch the Name label on top of the list.

2 Keep the SHIFT button pressed and touch one of the arrows of the scrollbar

to jump to the previous or next alphabetical section.

Change the list sorting

▪ Reorder the items according to a different criterion (Type, Name, Size, Date)

by touching the corresponding label on top of the list.

▪ By touching the label again, the order of the ﬁles will switch between as-

cending and descending.

Select the Song

1 Touch the name of the Song you want to choose to highlight it.

2 Touch the Select button. If a Song is already playing, it will stop, and the new

Song will be ready to play. You will return to the Main page of the Song Play mode.

When a Song has been selected, it will appear in the Song area.

▪ MIDI Song selected:

(Time Signature)

Meter

Tempo

▪ MP3 Song selected:

Total time

Elapsed time

76| Playing and singing

KAR ﬁle

MP3 ﬁle

on disk

Song

What is a MIDI Song

MIDI Songs’ jargon name is Standard MIDI File, often abbreviated as SMF. The ﬁlename extension is .mid. The Standard MIDI File is the industry standard format for songs, and is used by Pa4X as the native ﬁle format when playing or recording MIDI Songs.

The MIDI Karaoke File (.kar) is an extension of the SMF format, and is also supported. It always contains lyrics.

MIDI

Song

MID ﬁle

on disk

What is an MP3 Song

MP3 Songs’ real name is even funnier: MPEG Layer-3, usually abbreviated as MP3. The ﬁlename extension is .mp3. This is a compressed audio ﬁle, used to store recorded songs in the smallest amount of space, without losing too much audio quality. At the highest quality, MP3 ﬁles are usually impossible to distinguish from non-compressed audio ﬁles. Pa4X can play and record MP3 ﬁles.

MP3

Choosing a Song by ID number

Each Song in a folder on a device has a progressive ID number assigned (up to 9,999). When the ID numbers are shown in the Song Select window, you can enter this number to select the corresponding Song.

To help you ﬁnd a Song by ID number, you can export a song list using the

Export Song List command in the Song Select window, and print it.

Playing the Songs |77

Showing the ID number

1 Open the Song Select window.

2 Touch the page menu icon to open the menu, then touch the Show Song

Number item to show (or hide) the ID numbers.

The Song’s ID number will appear before each Song’s name in the Song

Select window.

Choosing a Song by number

1 Open the numeric keypad.

▪ While in the Song Select window, press the SELECT button.

▪ While in any page of the Song Play (or Style Play) mode, press the SELECT

button twice.

2 Enter the ID number (included in the 0001~9999 range) corresponding to

the Song to be selected, then touch the OK button to conﬁrm. The Song will be selected.

If no Song corresponds to the number entered, a message will warn that the Song is not available.

Viewing the Song’s ﬁlename extension

While you can recognize the type of ﬁles from the self-explanatory icons next to their names, you may prefer to also see the ﬁlename extension.

Make the ﬁlename extension appear

1 Open the Song Select window.

2 Touch the page menu icon, then touch the Show Song Extension menu item

to make the checkmark appear next to it.

The ﬁlename extension will appear at the end of each ﬁle.

Make the ﬁlename extension disappear

▪ Deselect the Show Song Extension menu item.

78| Playing and singing

Playing a Song

Starting, stopping and controlling the Player

Pa4X features two sets of Player controls, one for PLAYER 1 and the other for PLAYE R 2. Use the one or the other depending on the Player the Song is assigned to.

Set the right mix

▪ Move the X- FA DER fully toward the Player you want to listen to.

Move it fully to the left for Player 1, to the right for Player 2.

Start the Player

▪ Press the PLAY/STOP (

While the Song is playing, the indicators in the display will show the current position.

Fast Forward the Song

▪ Press the FAST FORWARD (

(MIDI Song) or to the next second (MP3 Song).

▪ Keep the FAST FORWARD (

ously. Release it when you have reached the desired location.

Rewind the Song

▪ Press the REWIND (

Song) or to the previous second (MP3 Song).

▪ Keep the REWIND (

Release it when you have reached the desired location.

Pause and resume playback

▪ Press the PLAY/STOP (

The button’s indicator will turn off.

▪ Press the PLAY/STOP (

tor will turn on again.

) button.

) button once to jump to the next measure

) button pressed to scroll the Song continu-

) button once to jump to the previous measure (MIDI

) button pressed to scroll the Song continuously.

) button to stop the Song at the current position.

) button again to resume playback. The indica-

Playing the Songs |79

Stop the Player and return to the beginning of the Song

▪ Press the HOME (

the Song. The button’s indicator will turn off.

) button to stop the Player and move to the beginning of

Fade In/Out

For greater effect, you can start and/or stop a Song with a smooth fade-in or fade-out.

Fade i n

▪ While the Song is not playing, press the FADE IN/OUT button to light up its

indicator and start with a smooth fade-in.

The Song will start. When the maximum volume is reached, the indicator will turn off.

Fade o u t

▪ When the Song is approaching its end, press the FADE IN/OUT button to end

it with a smooth fade-out.

Setting the Fade time

▪ Go to Global > General Controls > Basic to set the Fade In and Fade Out time.

80| Playing and singing

Mixing two Songs

Assign a Song to each of the Players

▪ Either use the SELECT buttons in the PLAYE R 1 or PLAYER 2 sections, or

touch the name of the Song in the display.

The full procedure is described above.

Start both Players at the same time

▪ Keep the SHIFT button pressed, and press any of the two PLAY/STOP (

buttons to start both Players at the same time.

Mix the two Players

▪ During playback, move the X- FADER slider to mix the two Songs.

▪ Move the X- FA DER slider fully to the left to only listen to Player 1, fully to

the right to only listen to Player 2. Move it to the center to balance the two Players.

Separately control each Player

▪ During playback, control each Player by using the dedicated PLAYE R con-

trols on the control panel.

Stop the Players

▪ Press the relevant PLAY/STOP (

Player.

Fade between songs

Instead of starting both Songs together, you can start them one after the other, and fade between them.

1 Assign a ﬁrst Song to Player 1, a second Song to Player 2.

) button to stop the corresponding

)

2 Move the X- FADER slider fully to the left, to only listen to Player 1.

3 Start Player 1.

4 When the Song is nearing the end, start Player 2.

5 Gently move the X-FAD ER slider toward the right, to fade out the ﬁrst Song

and fade in the second Song.

Playing the Songs |81

6 While Player 2 is playing, assign a third Song to Player 1, and repeat the

above procedure (by reversing the X- FA DER direction) to fade out Player 2 and fade in Player 1.

82| Playing and singing

Playing along with the Song

Playing the keyboard

Play along with the Song

▪ While the Song is playing, play on the keyboard.

Choose different Sounds

▪ Choose a different Keyboard Set from the KEYBOARD SET LIBRARY sec-

tion of the control panel, or by touching the KBD area in the Main page.

▪ If you prefer to select a Keyboard Set coming from the most recently se-

lected Style or SongBook Entry, choose a different Keyboard Set from the

KEYBOARD SET section under the display, or from the Kbd Set pane of the Main page.

Transpose the Songs to play in an easier key

You may want to play on the keyboard in an easier key, and transpose a Song in the same key, without transposing the keyboard.

Activate transposition on the Players only

1 Go to the Global > Tuning > Transpose Control page.

2 Activate Transpose on the Player, and deactivate it on the Style and Keyboard

tracks.

Transpose the Songs

▪ Use the TRANSPOSE buttons on the control panel.

Playing the Songs |83

Adjusting the volume levels

Balancing the Songs against the keyboard

While playing, you may want to balance the Keyboard Sounds against the Songs, to make the soloist stand out of the background or go back in the mix.

Balance the Songs against the keyboard

▪ While the Songs are playing, use the BALANCE knob to balance between the

Songs and the Keyboard (Keyboard Set) Sounds.

Controlling the volume of the MP3 Songs

You can adjust the volume of the MP3 Songs during playback.

1 Be sure the selected SLIDER MODE is VOLUME.

2 Use the ﬁrst slider to adjust the volume of the MP3 Song.

Setting the general volume of the MP3 Songs

You can balance the volume of MP3 Songs against that of MIDI Songs and Styles.

1 Go to the Global > Audio & Video > MP3/Speakers page.

2 Use the MP3 Player > Volume parameter to set the maximum volume of the

MP3 Player.

MP3 Volume Meaning

0 … 100 Max volume in percentage

Choosing the audio outputs for the MP3 Songs

You can send the MP3 Songs to a separate audio output (or output pair), for separate mixing.

1 Go to the Global > MP3/Speakers page.

2 Use the MP3 Player > Audio Out pop-up menu to choose an audio output (or

output pair) for the MP3 Songs.

84| Playing and singing

Playing all the Songs in a folder

When playing all the Songs in a folder, use the PL AY ER 1 controls.

Open the Song Select window from the control panel

▪ Press the SELECT button.

Open the Song Select window from the display

▪ Touch the name of the Song in the display.

Select the folder containing the Songs to play

1 Browse through the ﬁles, until you ﬁnd the folder containing the Songs to

play, and open it.

2 Touch the Play All button to pre-select all the Songs in the folder.

A Jukebox ﬁle will be automatically generated and assigned to Player 1. The order in which the Songs will be played back will depend on how they appear in the Song Select window.

Play the list of Songs

3 Start and stop the Songs by pressing the PLAY/STOP (

4 Use the standard PL AY E R 1 controls to play, pause, stop, fast forward and

rewind the Songs.

Move through the Songs

▪ Jump to the next Song in the list by keeping the SHIFT button pressed and

pressing the FAST FORWARD (

▪ Jump to the previous Song by keeping the SHIFT button pressed and press-

ing the REWIND (

) button.

Playing the Songs |85

▪ Press the HOME ( ) button to go back to the beginning of the current Song.

Save the list as a Jukebox ﬁle

▪ If you want to save the list, go to the Song Play > Jukebox Editor edit page

and save it as a JBX ﬁle. (See below for more information).

86| Playing and singing

Playing a Jukebox list

Creating and editing a Jukebox list

Create a Jukebox list

1 Go to the Song Play > Jukebox Editor page.

2 If a list of Songs already exists (because you selected an existing Jukebox

ﬁle, or used the Song Select > Play All function), touch the Del All button to delete all from the list.

3 Touch the Add or Insert button to open the Song Select window.

▪ Add will append a Song at the end of the list.

▪ Insert will insert a Song between the selected item and the previous one.

4 While in the Song Select window, browse the MID, KAR and MP3 ﬁles in the

folder, and select the Songs to be added.

If you like, you can choose another Jukebox (JBX) ﬁle, and add all its Songs to the Jukebox list you are editing.

5 Conﬁrm by touching the OK button.

6 Continue adding Songs to the list.

Please note that you can only add Songs from the same folder, and that a Jukebox list can only include up to 127 Songs.

Edit the Jukebox list

▪ Use the Move > Down (

move the selected Song to a different position in the list.

▪ Touch the Delete button to delete the selected Song from the list.

) and Move > Up ( ) buttons on the display to

Playing the Songs |87

▪ Touch the Del All button to delete all Songs from the list.

Save the Jukebox list

1 Touch the Save button to open the Save Jukebox File dialog.

Please note that you can only save the JBX ﬁle in the same folder containing the Song ﬁles included in the list. The Jukebox ﬁle and Songs will have to be in the same folder.

2 While in the Save Jukebox File dialog, touch the Text Edit (

you want to assign the Jukebox ﬁle a new name.

If you are saving a new list, the NEWNAME.JBX name is automatically assigned, and you can edit it.

Otherwise, the existing name is proposed. If the existing name is not edited, the old Jukebox ﬁle will be overwritten.

3 When done, touch the OK button to conﬁrm.

) button if

Playing a Jukebox list

Instead of single Songs, you can assign a Jukebox ﬁle to Player 1.

Open the Song Select window from the control panel

▪ Press the SELECT button in the PL AY E R 1 section.

Open the Song Select window from the display

▪ Touch the name of the Song in the display.

Select the Jukebox ﬁle

▪ Browse through the ﬁles, until you ﬁnd the Jukebox (.jbx) ﬁle, and open it.

You can quickly locate Jukebox ﬁles by their icon (

88| Playing and singing

The selected Jukebox list contains pointers to Songs residing in the same folder as the Jukebox ﬁle. Please do not move nor delete the Songs, nor disconnect any connected USB storage device containing the Songs.

Play the Jukebox list

4 While in the Main page of the Song Play mode, touch the Jukebox tab to

show the Jukebox pane and see the list of Songs contained inside the selected Jukebox list.

5 Touch the name of the Song you want to start from, then touch the Select

button to assign it to the Player.

6 Start and stop the Songs by pressing the PLAY/STOP (

) button.

All the Songs in the list will continue playing one after the other, until you don’t stop them.

7 Use the standard PL AY E R 1 controls to play, pause, stop, fast forward and

rewind the Songs.

Move through the Songs

▪ Touch a different Song in the list, then touch the Select button to jump to

that Song.

▪ Jump to the next Song in the list by keeping the SHIFT button pressed and

pressing the FAST FORWARD (

) button.

▪ Jump to the previous Song by keeping the SHIFT button pressed and press-

ing the REWIND (

▪ Press the HOME (

) button.

) button to go back to the beginning of the current Song.

What if a Song in the list if missing?

If a Song in the list is missing, the Player will stop and a warning message will appear in the display. Go to the Song Play > Jukebox pane, and select a different Song.

Lyrics, chords, markers and score |89

10 Lyrics, chords, markers

and score

Choosing one of the Players

▪ While in the Lyrics, Score or Markers page, you can touch either the Player 1

or Player 2 button in the title bar to select the corresponding Player.

▪ As an alternative, move the X-FAD ER slider fully to the left to only listen to

and see the lyrics, chords, score or markers of Player 1. Move it fully to the right to only listen to and see the lyrics, chords, score or markers of Player 2.

Where are lyrics and chords contained?

▪ Inside the MIDI Songs. Lyrics and chords may be contained inside MIDI

Songs as MIDI events.

▪ Inside the MP3 Songs. Lyrics may be contained into MP3 Songs as

ID3/Lyrics3 and ID3/Frames tags.

▪ In TXT ﬁles associated to MIDI or MP3 Songs. Lyrics and chords may

be contained in a TXT ﬁle having the same name of a MIDI Song or an MP3 Song, and residing in the same folder. You can even load a text ﬁle while playing a Song or a Style.

▪ In CDG ﬁles associated to MP3 Songs. Lyrics and chords may be con-

tained in a CDG ﬁle having the same name of an MP3 Song, and residing in the same folder.

▪ In TXT ﬁles linked to a SongBook Entry. A TXT ﬁle can be linked to a

SongBook Entry.

90| Playing and singing

Reading the lyrics and chords contained in a Song

Reading lyrics and chords

Open the Lyrics page

▪ Press the LY R I C S button on the control panel. The Lyrics page will appear,

and you will see the lyrics assigned to the selected Player.

Read the lyrics

▪ While the Song is playing, lyrics contained in a MIDI or MP3 Song will auto-

matically scroll in the display, in time with the music. Lyrics at the current position will be highlighted.

Exit from the Lyrics page

▪ When done with the lyrics, press either the LYRICS or the EXIT button.

Changing the text size

You can choose between two text sizes.

▪ Use the

aA button in the Lyrics page to change the font size.

Showing chords

You can show or hide the chord abbreviations that might be included as Lyrics events in the MIDI Songs.

Lyrics, chords, markers and score |91

▪ Be sure the Chord button appears pressed in the Lyrics page to see the

chord abbreviations. Chord abbreviations (if any) will appear above the lyrics, in time with the music.

▪ Be sure the Chord button doesn’t appear pressed in the Lyrics page to hide

the chord abbreviations.

Chord transposition

When transposing the Song, chord abbreviations will usually be automatically transposed. However, be sure Transpose is activated on the Player.

Activate chord transposition on the Player

1 Go to the Global > Tuning > Transpose Control page.

2 Activate Transpose on the Player.

You might want to transpose the chords data in a MIDI Song, by using the

Transpose edit function in Sequencer mode.

92| Playing and singing

Reading the lyrics and chords loaded as a text ﬁle

If the text has been linked or loaded as a text (TXT) ﬁle, it will not scroll automatically while the Song is playing back. You can manually scroll it in one of the following ways.

Scroll the text on the display

▪ Scroll the text by using the VALU E controls or the vertical scrollbar.

Scroll the text with a footswitch or EC5 switch

1 Go to the Global > Controllers > Foot page, or the Global > Controllers > EC5

page, and assign the Text Page Down commands to the footswitch or EC5

switch.

2 Return to the Lyrics page, and scroll the text by using the programmed foot-

switch or EC5 switch.

Scroll the text with a switch

1 Go to the Style Play or Song Play > Pads/Switches > Switch page, and assign

the Text Page Down commands to one of the assignable switches.

2 Write the changes to the a Keyboard Set.

3 Return to the Lyrics page, and scroll the text by using the programmed as-

signable switch.

Please note that programming an assignable switch will tie the page scroll command to a particular Keyboard Set or SongBook Entry, dedicated to a particular Song based on an external text ﬁle. On the contrary, programming the footswitch or EC5 switch will offer a global option, that will not change when choosing a different Keyboard Set or SongBook Entry.

Loading a text ﬁle with the same name of the Song

Lyrics and chords may be contained in a TXT ﬁle having the same name of a MIDI Song or an MP3 Song. For example, if a ‘MySong.txt’ ﬁle exists in the same folder as the ‘MySong.mid’ ﬁle or ‘MySong.mp3’ ﬁle, loading this latter will load the TXT Lyrics ﬁle as well.

See Creating text ﬁles (lyrics) on page 361 for more information on how to create correctly formatted text ﬁles.

Lyrics, chords, markers and score |93

Linking text ﬁles to SongBook Entries

Lyrics and chords may be contained in a TXT ﬁle linked to a SongBook Entry. The same formatting rules described above apply. See Linking text ﬁles to

SongBook Entries on page 93 for more information.

On-the-ﬂy loading of Lyrics and chords from an external text ﬁle

When no lyrics or chords are contained or associated to the Style or Song, you can load a text (TXT) ﬁle after having chosen a Style or Song.

Load a TXT ﬁle on-the-ﬂy

An empty Lyrics page with a message will appear when you press the LY R I C S button in one of the following cases:

▪ You are in Style Play mode.

▪ The Song does not contain lyrics and chords.

▪ No external ﬁle is associated to the Style or the Song.

In this case, do the following:

▪ Keep the SHIFT button pressed and touch the center of the display. The ﬁle

selector will appear, and will let you choose a TXT ﬁle to be loaded.

94| Playing and singing

Reading the lyrics and chords loaded as a CDG ﬁle

CDGs are graphic ﬁles that change in time with the associated MP3 Song.

Read the lyrics and chords in the CDG ﬁle

▪ Be sure the CDG button appears pressed in the Lyrics page.

Loading a CDG ﬁle with the same name of the Song

Lyrics and chords may be contained into MP3 Songs as a CDG graphic ﬁle with the same name of an MP3 Song (MP3+G Song format). For example, if a “MySong.cdg” ﬁle exists in the same folder as the “MySong.mp3” ﬁle, loading this latter will load the CDG Lyrics ﬁle as well.

Lyrics, chords, markers and score |95

Moving through a Song with the markers

Using the markers

Song Marker events that might be contained in a MID ﬁle (that is, a MIDI Song) can be read by Pa4X. They are immediately shown in the Markers page.

Open the Markers page

▪ While in Song Play mode, press the MARKER button.

Jump to a marker

1 If you like, start the Player by pressing the PLAY/STOP (

You can jump to a marker even if the Player is not running.

2 When you want to jump to a marker, touch it in the markers list. At the begin-

ning of the next measure, the Song will jump to the saved position.

Make the markers list scroll automatically

Select the Auto Scroll parameter, to let the markers list scroll automatically, and always let the current marker be shown in the display.

Loop the current section

You can use the markers to repeat a passage you need practicing.

1 Start the Player.

2 When you reach the beginning of the point you need practicing, touch the

Add button to create a ﬁrst marker.

) button.

96| Playing and singing

Usually, you will create the marker one or two measures before the actual starting point.

3 When you reach the end of the point you need practicing, touch the Add but-

ton to create a second marker.

4 Select the ﬁrst marker, then select the Loop checkbox to repeat (loop) be-

tween the ﬁrst and second marker.

5 If you no longer need them, delete the markers. In any case, they will be

automatically removed when choosing a different Song or turning off the instrument.

Creating and editing markers

You can add your own marker points to a MIDI Song, then save them into the MID ﬁle.

Open the Markers page

▪ While in Song Play mode, press the MARKER buttons.

Add markers

1 Start the Player by pressing the PLAY/STOP (

Markers can be added even while the Player is not running, but adding them while the Song is running is easier.

2 When you reach the position you want to save as a marker, touch the Add

button.

▪ If you touch Add within the early beats of the measure, the beginning of the

current measure is saved as a marker.

▪ If you touch Add within the last beat of the measure, the beginning of the

following measure is saved as a marker.

) button.

KORG PA4X 76 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

01 Introduction

Welcome to Pa4X!

Before starting to play…

Overview of the instrument

Connecting the pedals

Connecting the EC5 multiswitch

Connecting the headphones

Connecting the audio outputs

03 Powering up

Turning the instrument on

Calibrating the touch screen

Adjust the display brightness

Tilting the display

Listening to the Demo Songs

04 Interface basics

The main page

The user interface in detail

Navigating through the pages

Selecting the musical resources

PLAYING AND SINGING

05 Playing the Sounds

Choosing your preferred Sound set

Choosing the Sound sets

Playing and controlling the Sounds

06 Tempo and Metronome

Tempo

Metronome

07 Playing the Styles

Choosing the Styles

Playing a manual accompaniment (Bass & Lower Backing)

Playing the automatic accompaniment

Adjusting the accompaniment volume

08 Playing the Pads

Choosing the Pad sets

Playing the Pads

09 Playing the Songs

Choosing the Songs

Playing a Song

Mixing two Songs

Playing along with the Song

Adjusting the volume levels

Playing all the Songs in a folder

Playing a Jukebox list

Choosing one of the Players

Reading the lyrics and chords contained in a Song

Moving through a Song with the markers