Korg X5 FAQ and Sequencing Tips

Questions and Answers

In this section I try to give some answers to the most common questions about the Korg X5 and compatible synthesizers, and most importantly, I'll do my best trying to use a language that is understandable to everyone, not only Nobel prize winners (although I myself will become a Physicist one day...)

How to play back these X5-songs from Korgy Park?

1. Settings

Reset your synth:

Multi mode page 23 or turn power off and on, or send Reset a All Controllers message

Turn off all filters:

Global mode page 2D/2E, PRG:ENA, EX:ENA etc.

Turn off Program Protect (only needed if the song comes with a sound bank):

Global mode page 03A

Switch to Multi mode:

Press "Multi" on your Korg...

2. Sounds

If there is a System Exclusive (*.syx) file with the song, then send it to your Korg with a sysex-librarian. It is in raw binary format, not X-Edit's or any other utility's custom format, and can include programs and/or multi mode settings, sometimes even global mode settings. Most sequencers can handle SysEx files. If the song uses preset sounds, then make sure you have the (right) presets loaded on your synth.

3. Playing the song

Play the midi-file with a sequencer or with a midi-file player (Media Player on Windows, MIDIPlay on the Amiga etc.). That's it really, just enjoy the music if you can! :) Please note that some songs (Savannah, Cee-HC) don't like it if you press any buttons on your Korg while playing so it's better to let the song play through and just listen..

Are different Korg models compatible?

Korg X5D is the keyboard version of the X5DR. Both are 100% compatible with the X5, which is the keyboard version of the 05R/W. The D-models have more polyphony (64 notes instead of 32) and more PCM-samples in ROM (8 megabytes instead of 6). Other than that they are identical with the X5 and the 05R/W.

This means that everything made for the X5 and 05R/W (sounds, software and songs) should work with the D-models. But alas, the reverse is not true because of the extra sounds in the X5D(R). That's why you can't listen to the songs marked as type "X5D" with an X5, unless you remap the sounds. To help you do that I have the preset bank of the X5D available here. Not all of those programs use the extra samples of the X5D, so with some luck you can listen to those X5D-songs quite easily!

Proud owner of a brand new N-series synth? Then you should know that it is soundwise perfectly compatible with the X5D(R). Don't forget to check out the Unofficial N-Series Homepage...Lucky bastard :)

Note: the only incompatibility between the 05R/W and the X5-series is that the 05R/W does not recognise the second part of the multi mode data dump of the X5-series, which contains track settings. The first part, effect settings, works fine though.

Is there an official Korg site?

A very good question! I don't know whether it's official or not but check out KORGnet Online. It's under construction, or actually In costruzione, because currently (31 December) it only works in Italian! On that page there is a link to Sito ufficiale della Korg USA, but it is Forbidden for me to access it! Let's hope those pages start working next year...

Product Support is available at product_support@korgusa.com.

Converting 01W and X3 sounds to X5-format

It is possible to convert sounds from other Korg synths to X5-format. One utility converts from 01W to X3, and another from X3 (PCG) to X5. That's about all you need, apart from a PC to run those programs on. Those utilities are found here:

X3to01W.exe converts from 01W to X3 and vice versa.
pcg5RW.exe converts from X3 to X5.

Note that those programs don't seem to run on Win95.

Installing the Korg driver for Windows 95

This information was supplied to me by Joost Nieuwenhuijse, thanks Joost!

Installing the Korg PC/IF-driver for Windows 95. Note: this is the Windows 3.x-driver version 1.1, but some people say it works for them in Win95. There seems to be no Win95-driver anywhere! Boo, Korg :(

-Go to Control Panel

-Add new hardware

-Next

-No, Next

-Sound,Video and game controllers; Next

-Have disk...

and insert the disk with the driver.

Eric Hey claims that the old driver does work fine with Win95, see Korg X5 Specifications and FAQ by Chad Gould for details!

How to load the X5 sounds into my X5D(R) (Preset-B)?

The Korg X5D(R) has all new sounds in its Bank A compared to the X5, but it has the original X5 soundbank in its ROM too. You can load it in Global mode, page 05A where it says

05A PRESET DATA
LOAD Pre-A OK?

Change "Pre-A" to "Pre-B" (Factory Preset B), select "Ok?", press Yes and confirm that you are sure. This procedure loads the original 100 programs and combinations from the X5 and 05R/W into Bank A. In addition it resets Multi mode and loads in some settings for Global mode. You can find the details in you manual, but the most important ones are Global page 02D/02E, PRG:NUM and EX:DIS. Those settings are fine for playing General MIDI songs, but for X5-songs like mine they won't work! To enable using Bank A you must use PRG:ENA and for receiving System Exclusive messages you need EX:ENA (see How to play back X5 songs)

If you want back your X5D(R) sounds, just load Preset A. Please note that loading erases all data that you had in your synth, so save all important data beforehand!

Sequencing tips

1. Selecting sound banks in Multi mode
2. Saving Multi mode settings
3. Making realtime parameter edits
4. Selecting combinations in Multi mode
5. Making jungle beats a la Savannah
6. Changing modes via MIDI

Having problems getting the most out of your X5? Then this section might be of use to you. There are some basic sequencing tips for beginners but also a guide to making realtime parameter edits for the more advanced reader.

1. Selecting sound banks in Multi mode with MIDI

It is easy to select GM-sounds with Program Change messages, but selecting sounds from Bank A is a little more complicated than that, because in addition to changing the sound you'll also need to change the bank.

Korg X5/X5D manual, second page of Appendix (p.164): When you use an external MIDI sequencer, first send a Bank Select Message, then send the Program Change. Easy, not? :)

"What the heck is a Bank Select Message?!", I hear you ask. Well, for some esoteric reasons it consists of two Controllers: Controllers 0 and 32 which you set to their right values depending on which bank you want, Bank A, GM Bank or GM Drum Bank. Right values? Well look at the table on the before mentioned page... Ok, I'll tell you the most important one: for Bank A set both controllers to zero, after that send the Program Change.

Note that you really have to send the program change after the bank change, otherwise nothing will happen!

Some sequencers use bank numbers instead of controller changes - in that case just find the right values from that infamous table. For Bank-A for example you should use a bank number between 7169 and 7424. Don't ask me why but that's the way it is. Maybe there's some hidden wisdom in it :) I don't know if this method actually works. If someone does, please let me know! Anyway you need to send a program change right after changing the bank.

Brian Kavtaradze told me this: "In Cakewalk I number my A Bank 0, and to select the GM sounds I give that bank number 7168 (or higher). Funny that this is the opposite of what you sugested? I understand that controller 0 selects the A bank, but how the number 7168 selects the other bank I can't understand, I just know it works."

2. Saving Multi mode settings

When you have done some composing with your sequencer, it's quite useful to be able to save the sounds you have used in Multi mode. That is in fact quite easy provided you have a way to save System Exclusive messages with your computer.

Go to Global mode, page 04A, DATA DUMP. Select MULTI, set your computer to record SysEx, and press OK?. Then save the resulting SysEx-data on disk. Next time you start composing, just send your data back to Korg. Don't forget to set Global/02/EX:ENA before it.

With a sequencer you do this by first making sure that you have enabled saving SysEx messages (they are sometimes filtered out for convenience when they are not needed). Then select a sequencer track where you want to save the Multi mode data. Go to Global page 04A, select "Multi". Press record on the sequencer, and then "OK?" on the Korg. Stop recording. Now you have a SysEx data packet in your song, containing all the Multi mode settings. When the song plays, the settings are sent automatically. Note that it's not recommended to have any notes played simultaneously with the SysEx data, or otherwise the data dump might not work or it could slow down playing the song because it takes a little time to send the data.

Also note that on the 05R/W only the effect settings are saved, not the rest of the Multi mode setup. That means that if you wish to make a 05R/W-compatible song with, say an X5, you can't use a multidump to set track settings. Instead you just have to write bank and program changes to each and every track.

3. Making realtime parameter edits

All parameters can't be easily edited with controllers. For example if you want to change the length of the reverb in the middle of the song you need to study your manual quite deeply. Or you can do it the easy way, like I did in "Savannah" (Phaser parameters) and "Cee-HC" (Distortion Resonance). This method is based on the fact that the X5 sends out everything you do, every key press and move of the Value-slider, so you can record all your edits to your sequencer!

Thus you select an empty sequencer track and set it to record controller and SysEx data. First you need to have a Mode Change message because otherwise your synth won't know what mode you are in. So switch your X5 to any other mode besides Multi. Hit record, and switch back to Multi mode. Then, while the song is playing, go to the page in multi mode that you want to edit. Select the right parameter and edit it how you wish. Then stop recording. Now when you play back the song your synth automagically edits the parameter exactly like you did! If your timing wasn't quite right you can of course edit the track.

Note that while playing back you shouldn't press any buttons on the synth or you might mess up those real time edits. If you do press a wrong button you'll have to start playing from the first Mode Change again.

4. Selecting combination sounds in Multi mode

The answer to the problem of "Why can't my sequencer select combination sounds in multi mode?" is as follows:

Combination sounds are, as the name suggests, made of several programs that (usually) play on top of each other. For one note of a combi sound you might have as many as eight programs playing at once. In Multi mode, one program takes one channel (track), thus a combination can take eight tracks. This is quite bad, but you can work with a combination sound, mainly because in the last pages of multi mode there is a "Copy combination to tracks 1-8/9-16"-feature, which allows you to easily copy the programs that a combi needs into multi mode tracks.

Unfortunately, the sequencer has no way of knowing what programs a particular combination uses. You can of course find that out yourself, and select the right program with a prog/bank change for each channel, but then again you'd also have to copy volumes, pan pots, effect sends, and most importantly, set all the combination tracks to the same midi channel (the last sub-page of every track page). That would be too much at least for me!

That's why I tell you to use SysExes. First copy the desired combination to Multi mode, then just dump the Multi mode settings to the first bar of a track, (see Saving Multi mode settings) and put the necessary program changes for other than that combination sound after the SysEx-dump. That way you'll get the combi you want, and can use programs as usual.

Selecting Combis for Multi mode is truly a pain in the ass, I admit, and there is no easy way of doing it that I know of. Besides they seldom sound as good in Multi mode because of the different effects, and that's why I almost never use them at all.

5. Making jungle beats a la Savannah

Some people have wondered how I managed to make those jungle beats for my song "Savannah". No big secrets there, I just got a few jungle beats from Future Music Magazine as a MIDI-file. It was made for a drum machine, so I had to start programming my own sounds for it. A very low bass drum was easy to do, the snares (5 different!) I got by tuning them very high up. Then some snappy hi-hats and cymbals on top of it, plus a very low tom to boost the bass drum in selected places.

Then I tried to play the midi-file with my sounds. It didn't sound that good, but after a little more sound programming I got it working very nicely. I just had to do some volume edits for the beat, then I added lots of Phaser Effect to it and started making wild cut/paste edits. I reversed beats, copied snares to other snares and bass drums, mixed different beats together etc. It's all very easy and extremely fun if you have something to start from.

If you want you can steal my beats from Savannah, just edit them so that they're not exactly the same... The JungleKit is also free for you to use, athough it doesn't have that many new sounds, just the ones I use in the song.

Here are the original jungle beats from Future Music Magazine that I used for Savannah.

Wondering how I got those Phaser edits? See Making real time edits.

6. Changing modes via MIDI

Sometimes you need to change operating modes with a MIDI command. This is very easily done with SysEx. The method is exactly the same as in Making real time edits. Press record on the sequencer, then switch your Korg to the desired mode by pressing a button on its front panel. Stop recording and admire the SysEx-message that you have produced...

Korgy Park - under constant Konstrukzion.
This page is brought to you by Janne Simonen.
E-mail:  jsimonen@cc.joensuu.fi