Korg The iS40 User Manual

The iS40 Guide

Korg iS40 Guide

Table of Contents

Product Overview 3
Features and Benefits 4

Arrangements and Styles 7

The Backing Sequencer 8
Programs and Effects 8
Song Play / Edit modes 8
Disk/Global mode 9
The Display 9

Tutorial:

Listening to the Demo Songs 9
About the Accessory Disk 10
The JukeBox Function 10
Loading the Factory Data 10

Working with Arrangements 11

The SYNCHRO button 12
The FADE IN/OUT button 12
Working with the Tempo 12
The TEMPO LOCK button 12
The SINGLE TOUCH button 13
The VOLUME section 14
Muting the tracks 14
The ACC1-3 MUTE button 14
Getting the original arrangement back 15
Changing the Keyboard tracks in an arrangement 15
Changing Backing tracks in an arrangement 15
More on the Keyboard tracks - splits, layers, etc. 16
The KEYBOARD MODE section 18
Transposing in Arrangement mode 18
Chord Scanning and Recognition 19
Warp-speed tour of Arrangements 21

Keyboard Sets 22
Working with the Backing Sequencer 24
Working with Standard MIDI files 26
Working with the JukeBox function 27
Editing Standard MIDI files - Song Edit mode 27
Program mode, Performance Editing, Program editing 28
Additional Features 29

Arrangement, Program listings 39

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Korg iS40 Guide

Product Overview

The iS40 is a complete music production system for today’s musician. In the home
studio, on a “gig”, for commercial and demo productions, from beginner to professional,
the iS40 interactive music workstation gets the job done - easily!

It’s a Korg Synthesizer

With 14 Mbyte of PCM memory and 384 sounds onboard, as well as 2 independent
effect processors with 47 selectable effects available, the iS40 stands on its own as a
very sophisticated programmable synthesizer and performance keyboard.

It’s an Accompaniment Keyboard

With 144 Styles and 192 Arrangements, the iS40 has the largest library of the best
interactive Styles and Arrangements in an i-series instrument to date! The expanded
RAM area allows for loading of many new Styles and Arrangements, with the built-in
DOS-compatible disk drive!

• Read Standard MIDI files direct from disk, a new JukeBox play function, and editing of
Standard MIDI files means more song features than ever before!

• Individual Accompaniment volume slider lets you create a better balance between
Style and real time parts!

• Large, easy to read display!

• Brand new, Real-World Styles that work superbly with any kind of music, plus the
ability to load new styles and arrangements!

• More Chord recognition options and Ensemble types!

Put these features together with the incredibly easy-to-use Backing Sequencer and
you’ve got a great performance-based accompaniment instrument!

It’s a Songwriting Tool for All Musicians

The iS40 has a complete 40,000 note, 16-track sequencer with real and step-entry
recording and plenty of editing tools. But it really becomes fast and musical when you
use the Backing Sequencer. This is a quick songwriting tool that uses the auto­accompaniment features to put a song together, complete with drums, percussion,
bass, piano, etc., FAST! Insert/delete drum fills, change the chord from a Cm to a G7 and
the bass and harmony parts instantly change to reflect your choice, and more! There’s
no easier way to get started writing music without “programming” parts!

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Korg iS40 Guide

iS40 Features and Benefits

Feature Benefit

61-key keyboard

with velocity sensitivity and aftertouch
sensitivity

384 onboard sounds

320 ROM Programs {including full GM
soundset}

64 RAM Programs
16 drumkits

Simple sound editing

14 MB of PCM ROM

includes new 2MB piano.

The addition of aftertouch makes the iS40
more expressive and professional allowing
you to control a sound’s vibrato or other
effects directly from the keyboard. Aftertouch
is also important for computer users who
will be using the iS40 as their main input
keyboard.

This selection of sounds goes way beyond
just a GM “engine”, and includes plenty of
locations for your own sound creations.

The iS40 allows the you to easily tweak and
even create new sounds from scratch.

This wide range of samples covers way
more than the full GM soundset, and also
includes an expressive stereo panned
piano. Many of these samples are {the
same as} used in professional Korg
keyboards like the Trinity, M1, O1/W, N­Series and SGproX.

2 independent stereo digital
multi effects processors with
dynamic control

144 Styles

{128 ROM/16 RAM}

Each Style includes 4 Variations, 2 Fills, 2
Intros, and 2 Endings

Each processor offers 47 different effects
types with real-time modulation control.

The iS40 offers up to 4 effects at the same
time with a number of routing configurations,
perfect for mixing the group of instruments
used within each Arrangement or sequence.

Styles are the musical basis for auto­accompaniment - they contain the recorded
performances for each part.

This is the largest number of Styles ever
offered in a Korg i-Series instrument, and all
are newly-created by experts in the field.
They are amazingly musical and never
sound “canned” or mechanical!

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Korg iS40 Guide

Feature Benefit

192 Arrangements

{128 ROM/64 RAM}

Backing Sequencer

10 Backing Sequences
40,000 events
1 Keyboard Track
1 Chord Track
1 Control Track
8 Real-time Tracks
Full editing
SMF export

Full 16-track Sequencer

10 Sequences
40,000 events
Full editing
SMF import/export

Arrangements assign specific sounds
and effects to each part in a Style.

Again, this is the largest number ever
offered in a Korg i-Series instrument, and
all are newly-created by professional
musicians.

The Backing Sequence mode is a
powerful tool for quickly realizing your
musical ideas.

By recording a Backing Sequence you
can get an idea down quickly without
having to build drum, bass and chordal
parts from scratch. And then changing a
chord, or adding/deleting a drum fill is as
easy as changing a single event, with all
the parts immediately changing to reflect
your new idea!

If you prefer traditional sequencing the
iS40 has all the features you need.

You can also load in Standard MIDI Files
and use the sequencer to make edits to
the tracks and then re-save the file,
customizing it to suit your needs.

Plays SMF’s directly from disk

During live performance this is a must­have feature - never have to wait between
songs again!

JukeBox play from disk Allows you to select the order that SMF’s

will play from disk for custom setlists.

Built-in PC Interface

2 Audio Inputs

Powerful 4-speaker system with
bass reflex box

This allows you to connect the iS40 up
directly to your Mac or PC without the
need for a MIDI interface.

This allows you to plug a microphone or
CD player through the iS40’s excellent
speaker system for ease-of-use on gigs.

This speaker system gives the iS40 high­quality sound reproduction with amazing
low-end response!

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Korg iS40 Guide

• A redesigned front panel, where countless design hours spent have resulted in a
logic and “friendliness” that were sure you'll appreciate!

• A powerful new 4-way speaker system with incredible low-end!

• The most natural-sounding and totally musical accompaniment patterns ever, thanks
to Korg’s world-wide network of Style and Arrangement developers!

Once you’ve worked with the iS40, and experienced these new improvements, you’ll see
and appreciate the fact that this product is truly different and innovative!

Arrangements and Styles

This is the main operative mode in the i-series. As soon as you power-up the iS40, it is
in Arrangement mode. There are 192 arrangements available, and you’ll find them
organized into 3 banks of 64 arrangements each. Banks A and B are preset
arrangements, and the arrangements in the USER bank are freely modifiable. The
USER bank can be used to load new data from disk. As well, A, B and USER
Arrangements can be edited and stored in the USER bank.

Each arrangement combines up to 2 programs (sounds) on the keyboard with a Style. A

Style is the musical sequence data ( drum/percussion/bass/ multiple chording and
background patterns) that provides a particular genre of music, e.g. rock, pop, ethnic,

etc. Each style contains 4 variations, 2 intros, 2 endings and 2 fill-ins. These styles can
detect which chord is being played on the keyboard, and then trigger patterns that adapt
to that particular chord.

A Style “lives” in an Arrangement, which when selected, provides “orchestration” for
six tracks: drums, percussion, bass and accompaniment tracks 1-3. These are
referred to as the Backing Tracks. In addition, there are {Upper} Upper 1, Upper 2 and
Lower assignments for live keyboard playing on top of the Backing Tracks. All of the

tracks in an arrangement can be edited for sound selection, volume, panning, muting,
etc., and then stored in the USER bank, and on disk as custom arrangements. New
styles and arrangements can also be loaded from disk. A Style can even be changed
inside an Arrangement , e.g. the “Polka band plays Motown!”

* Note that Arrangement banks A and B are grouped by musical style, as referenced
(screened) on the upper - left of the front panel.

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Korg iS40 uide

The Backing Sequencer

When you select Backing Sequence mode, you can record or play back a song created
from Arrangements, and even add 8 extra tracks! The main tracks of a backing sequence
are: the Keyboard track, Control track, and Chord track. The Keyboard track records
whatever is played freely on the keyboard, or can be left empty for live playing. The
Control track records your button selections on the front panel (e.g. Fill 1, Bass Inversion,
etc.), and the Chord track records the sequence of chords you play. All of this data can be
freely edited. The 8 extra tracks allow you to record additional parts to the Backing
Sequence.

Programs and Effects

There are 384 Programs in the iS40’s internal memory, organized into six banks of 64
programs each (A,B,C,D,E,F-USER), plus a DRUM bank which contains 16 drum
programs. Any of the programs or drum kits can be edited and stored in the available
USER banks.

The iS40 contains two independent effect processors, with 47 different types of effects
selectable for each. These effects can be used in Program, Arrangement, Backing
Sequence, and Song Play / Edit modes. The effects themselves use dynamic
modulation, so that you can control their intensity in real-time and via foot switch and
pedal. This is great for changing Rotary Speaker speed with pedals, After Touch, etc.
Each of the backing tracks and programs, as well as the drum sounds have individual
Pan and Send levels to the effect groups, and various effect routing setups are available
to process the signal flow of the sounds into the effects.

Song Play Mode

This mode allows for playback of Standard MIDI Files (SMF) direct from disk! In addition,
you can change programs, volume, pan, effects and effect send levels, and tempo and
transpose settings.

Song Edit Mode

In Song Edit mode, you can load a Standard MIDI file, then edit and re-save it as a
Standard MIDI file. Both formats 1(16 separate tracks) and 0 (1 multi-channel track) are
supported, and the iS40 converts format 1 files to format 0, which is accessed faster in
Song Play mode. Song Edit mode also gives you 16 tracks to record a new song, with all

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Korg iS40 Guide

the functions you would expect to find in a sophisticated sequencer! You can then save
your sequences in Standard MIDI file format.

Disk/Global Mode

In Disk mode, you can save and load data via the internal DOS-compatible drive. When
you press the DISK/GLOBAL button, the display will indicate the pages within this mode,
and you can press the PAGE+/- buttons to move through the pages. The Global pages
access tuning, MIDI and HOST port parameters, pedal and external controller (EC5)
settings, Lower Memory, Velocity curves, as well as Chord Recognition, Auto Scan,
Scales, and MIDI dump procedures. Joystick settings for pitch control of Upper1 and 2
sounds, WRITE GLOBAL, and Calibration procedures are also part of the Global mode
pages.

Display Pages

Each of the parameters and functions of the various modes are grouped into pages and
sub-pages in the display. The current page number is always in the right-hand side of
the display. Use the PAGE+/- buttons to scroll through pages, and the CURSOR <> and
ENTER/YES buttons to go to any associated sub pages.

Pro-User Tip:

You can direct-select specific pages by holding down a MODE button, followed by
pressing one of the Arrangement or Program number buttons. For instance, pressing
the ARRANGEMENT button, then pressing ARRANGEMENT NUMBER button 8 will take
you to page 8 of Arrangement Play mode. Pressing PROGRAM NUMBER 1 will take you
to page 9 of Arrangement Play mode. You can also re-configure these direct access
pages so that the same type of page is accessed from the same button. (see manual
page 19)

Listening to the Demo Songs

There are 16 ROM demos in the iS40. Here’s how to access them:

1. Press the ARR.PLAY and B.SEQ (DEMO) buttons together. The “Demo” page will

appear in the display.

To listen to all the demo songs:

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Korg iS40 Guide

1. Press START/STOP. The demos will playback one after the other.

2. Press START/STOP to stop the demos.

To listen to a single demo song:

1. Select the desired demo song by pressing the ARRANGEMENT NUMBER or
PROGRAM NUMBER buttons.

2. Press START/STOP to stop the demo song.

3. Press EXIT/NO or one of the MODE buttons to exit from Demo mode. (see manual
page 20 for a listing of the individual demo songs)

About the Accessory Disk

The disk that comes with the iS40 contains all of the Factory preset data, as well as
additional files, including demonstration Backing Sequence and Standard MIDI file data.

iS40’s ability to play songs direct from disk, as well as playing the Backing Sequence
demo. Make sure to backup a copy of the Accessory Disk to a computer, and/or make a
disk copy of the Factory data for backup. (See manual page 21 for information on
how to load / play demo data from the Accessory Disk)

About the JukeBox function:

The JukeBox function allows you to create a list of songs to be played back with just one
command. Various songs on disk can be accessed for playback in any order you wish.
(more on this later in the tutorial)

Loading the Factory Data

1. Power-OFF, then Power-ON the iS40.

2. Press the DISK/GLOBAL button. “LOAD” will be flashing in the display.

3. Press the ENTER/YES button. “ALL” will be flashing in the display.

4. Press the ENTER/YES button again. “ALL” will again appear and flash in the
display.

5. Press the ENTER/YES button again. “FACTORY” will flash in the display.

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Korg iS40 Guide

6. Press the ENTER/YES button again to load all the Factory data from disk. When all
data has been loaded, the display will prompt “Completed”. Press any other MODE
button to exit from DISK/GLOBAL mode.

Working With Arrangements

1. Press ARR.PLAY to enter Arrangement Play mode. The LED will light.

2. Press ARRANGEMENT BANK [A], then press ARRANGEMENT NUMBER [2] twice to
select Arrangement A22 Windy Beat.

Notice the front panel LED indicators for a moment. VARIATION 1 LED is flashing,
and INTRO 1 LED is lit.

3. Press the SYNCHRO START button - it will flash.

4. Play a chord in the lower range of the keyboard.
INTRO 1 will now play. When it has played through its pattern, it will automatically

go to VARIATION 1, as originally programmed for this arrangement.

5. Play a melody in the right hand as VARIATION 1 plays, to follow the original chord
you played in the lower range of the keyboard.

6. As the arrangement plays, press VARIATION 2.

7. Press FILL 1, then press VARIATION 3. Now you’re getting it!

8. Press FILL 2, then press VARIATION 4.

9. Finally, press INTRO/ENDING 1. Don’t play the keyboard at this time.
INTRO/ENDING 1 has been pre-programmed with melody and chords - to end the
song for you. Note that if you had pressed INTRO/ENDING 2, the ending would have
been more “open” to your melody and chord input, allowing you to be in more
control of how the song ended. This holds true as well, for INTRO 2.

10. Press START/STOP again, and the last Variation you accessed will begin to play,
then press INTRO/ENDING 2 to hear the difference in endings.

ProUser Tip

INTRO/ENDINGS can also be used as Fill-ins, if you press an INTRO/ENDING button,
and then press a Variation or Fill button before the ending actually occurs.

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