With exclusive Korg features at an entry level price!
The interactive KORG Pa500 arranger keyboard is a perfect musical partner for musicians, composers, performers and entertainers. Like its big brothers— the Pa800 and the Pa2XPro—, the Pa500 usesKorg's RX (Real eXperience) technology to deliver unprecedented arranger keyboard sound. With exclusive Korg features such as the XDS Dual Sequencer, intuitive TouchView interface, quarter-tone on-the-fly and a 4-way joystick for realistic articulation, the only thing really missing is a big price tag.
Stunning Sound
Based on the EDS (Extended Definition Synthesis) engine found in the Korg M3, Pa800 and Pa2XPro, the Pa500 arranger provides 80 voices of polyphony and breathtaking sound quality. Over 880 fully editable sounds are preloaded (including a full GM soundset and 56 drumkits), representing a full range of musical instruments from almost every genre - each exploding with depth, nuance, subtlety, accuracy and richness. The User area has space for up to 128 user sounds and 64 drum kits.
Effects Everywhere
For many years, Korg workstations, synthesizers and digital recording studios have included outstanding studio quality effects that are simply breathtaking. In that same tradition, the Pa500 keyboard offers 4 stereo processors plus a final semi-parametric three band EQ containing a treasure trove of effects, from rich reverbs and dazzling delays to guitar-type modeling effects from Korg's renowned REMS series — 124 different effects in all. And you'll appreciate the separate 3-band EQ on each track so you can shape the tone for that perfect sound.
Done with Style
No doubt: Korg's Style programming is world class. The Pa500 keyboard arranger delivers a deluxe set of styles, programmed by some of the leading arrangers in the world; each of whom worked according to their musical strengths. The result is over 320 preloaded styles that provide unparalleled realism and detail, adding anything from tasteful guitar picking, a tight bass and drum groove, a powerhouse R & B rhythm section all the way up to a full orchestra! Styles follow your timing, voice leading and chord changes to create an amazingly defined musical performance in real-time. With up to 8 parts, 4 variations, 3 intros/count-in, 3 fills/break and 3 endings, each style is a complete musical environment. Additional parts or "riffs" can be sequenced and triggered in real time using the Assignable Pads. Advanced features such as Syncro Start/Stop, Fade In/Out, Assignable Pads, Tap Tempo and Manual Bass allow you to spontaneously add complex and professional touches to your performances.
Guitar mode
Creating convincing guitar parts from a keyboard has never been easy—until now! When creating a guitar part for your style, you can chose a chord, capo position, and literally transform the keyboard into the fretted strings of the chord to allow realistic picking patterns, strums, chokes, slides, hammer-ons and other "guitar-specific" artifacts. The result is stunning. Best of all, the Pa500 arranger keyboard can automatically enhance the guitar tracks of existing standard MIDI files.
All together now
Need to switch sounds fast? Four STS (Single Touch Settings) buttons allow you to have up to 4 sounds split and layered across the keyboard and switch them all instantly with a single button press. The STS assignments can be saved independently for each style. Each of the 256 Performance settings can instantly recall the style, sounds, effects, tempo, key and scale used to perform a particular song.
Creative sequencing scenarios
In addition to traditional "track at a time" workstation sequencing, the Backing Sequencer allows you to create songs quickly and easily by capturing multiple Style driven parts at once. You don't need to be a master programmer even beginners can write their own song in minutes. In fact, you don't even need to play at all! Using the Step Edit/Entry feature, you can simply type in the chord changes, fills and style changes in step-time a big boost for arrangers and non-keyboardists. This quick approach to programming is also useful in the studio for creating professional, great-sounding backing music for commercial, film, video, multimedia or internet applications. The sequencer provides massive editing power you can even edit the tone parameters of each track.
Non-stop entertainment
With Korg's XDS Dual Sequencer, one can load as the other plays, and a DJ-style cross fader can blend between them, providing a seamless, continuous musical performance. The Pa500 can playback SMF (Standard Midi File), Karaoke files, and GM (General MIDI) files - and is able to display lyrics in most popular karaoke formats. There is also a practical Marker function to allow you to jump directly to a given position in the song: you can fix the markers using the internal sequencer (or using a computer based one - the marker format is standard) and then remix your favorite songs during a live performance for added spontaneity.
Expanding SongBook
The exciting SongBook feature was developed to make your life easier while playing live. The SongBook is a Musical Database, completely user programmable, containing all the settings needed to play a particular song. You have only to search for the song you would like to play by Song Title, Genre, Artist, Tempo, etc. and press "play". Each SongBook entry will instantly recall every setting you've saved in order to play that song perfectly Sounds, Style, Performance, Volumes, Muted Tracks, FX settings, Easy Edit, STS settings, Master Transpose and more. This indispensable musical feature is unique to Korg.
Less is more
With all the technological power packed inside, it was vital that we also made the Pa500 easy to understand and easy to use. But we went even further, creating an instrument that provides an intuitive, musical, fast, foolproof experience. With our amazing TouchView display you can simply think, see and touch the panel for easy and intuitive control. So that musicians of all levels can make great music quickly, there are two interface modes: Easy and Expert. The Easy mode shows only the essential elements with bright, bold icons - useful for beginners or playing live while Expert mode provides full editing control. And when you need more information, check out the on-board contextual Help System in any of seven languages! In addition to 61-velocity sensing keys, the Pa500 provides a four-way joystick, assignable switch, assignable slider, assignable pedal jack and four pads provide the tools to spice up your performance by changing effect settings, adding or muting parts, slowing the tempo, or even adding "mini-sequenced" solo, arpeggio, or backing riffs. Nothing stands between you and your professional performance.
Save it for later
In addition to providing a USB/MIDI computer connection for moving and saving data, the Pa500 can also save and read data from SD / MMC memory cards for instant access to your custom data, MIDI files and songs. The back panel also features MIDI (In, Out), Audio Ins (1, 2) and Outs (L, R), headphone jack, plus a damper pedal and an assignable pedal connection.
All-in-one
Hiding inside is a full stereo sound system with two double cone speakers in a bass reflex enclosure for the best sound in a small box. The Pa500 is completely self-contained and easily transportable whether rushing to perform live in front of any size audience, jamming with friends, or teaching a new tune to the other players. We couldn't fit any more fun in here if we tried.
Keep your Pa500 feeling new with operating system updates. These updates are available as free downloads from www.korgpa.com and will ensure your investment is protected.
Korg Pa500 61 Key Professional Arranger Keyboard Features:
Keyboard: 61 keys with Velocity
System: OPOS (Objective Portable Operating System) and RX (Real eXperience) Technology Multitasking, Load while play feature Upgradable Operative System - SSD Solid State Disk
Tone Generator: EDS (Extended Definition Synthesis) 80 Voices, 80 Oscillators Filters with Resonance - Three band EQ for each track
Effects: 4 Stereo Digital Multi-Effect systems 124 Effects types Final semi-parametric three band EQ
Sounds-Drum Kits: 880 Sounds, including a Stereo Piano and GM Level 2 compatible Sounds, 56 Drum Kits - User area: 128 Sounds, 64 Drum Kits - Realtime control: Assignable Slider, Switch - Full editing of Sounds and Drum Kits
Styles: More than 320 preloaded Styles, SSD-resident, freely reconfigurable - Up to 448 available Style locations- 64 User Styles - Eight Style tracks, 4 Single Touch Settings and one Style Performance per Style - Guitar Track, Parallel and Fixed NTT - Compatible with old "i-Series" and Pa series Style format - Style Record with Step Record, Track and Event Edit functions - Style controls: 4 Variations, 3 Fills, 3 Intros, 3 Endings, Synchro Start/Stop, Tap Tempo/Reset, Fade In/Out, Bass Inversion, Manual Bass, Tempo Lock, Memory, Accompaniment/Real Time Track Balance Volume, Accompaniment Mute, Drum Mapping, Snare & Kick Designation, Single Touch
Performance/STS: 256 Realtime Performance locations - STS: Memorize Realtime tracks settings, up to 4 x 512 Styles, up to 4 x SongBook entries All programmable
Realtime Tracks: Four Keyboard tracks (Upper 1, 2, 3, Lower) - 4 Pad tracks
Song Play: Patented XDS Crossfade Dual Sequencer player - 2 Sequencers with separate Select, Start/Stop, Home, Rewind and Fast Forward controls - Balance control - Lyrics data can be displayed on-screen - Markers - Jukebox function - Compatible with SMF (formats 0 and 1)
Sequencer: Quick Record (Backing Sequence), Multitrack and Step Record functions - Full-featured sequencer - 16 tracks - Up to 200,000 events - SMF native format
SongBook: Fully programmable music database, based on Styles, SMF, Karaoke, with automatic selection of Style Play and Song Play modes - User-definable custom lists - Filtering options
Compatibility: "i-Series" models: Styles - Pa series: Style, Performance, Program/Sound, Song, SongBook, Pad
Multi Pad: 4 Assignable Pads + Stop Button. Pad Record function
Help System: Hypertextual, Contextual, Multilingual
Posted by sunshine musicman from miami FL on Jun 15, 2009
Experience w/product: I own it
Reviewer's Background: Active musician
Reviewer's Play Style: gospel, alternative, montuno
Amazing features for the price, possibility to layer 4 voices simultaneously, styles are far better than competitors, however they are pretty limited in quantity, styles quality are superb, output levels are a big drawback in this particular model pa-500, they usually have -18db unbalanced outputs comparing to regular korg keyboard. I tried everything from direct boxes passive and active including expensive preamps, still getting a noticeable hiss when I amplify the signal to normal levels. This is for home and really small venues, not even for a church.
Overall
Quality
Features
Value
'style variations' & sound quality
Posted by JFM from Upstate New York on Aug 22, 2008
Experience w/product: I own it
Reviewer's Background: semi-pro player and composer
Reviewer's Play Style: all styles except hip hop and rap
This is a very nice keyboard, having some really great 'easy-to-access' styles and sounds. It does fall somewhat short [could be because of being a lower priced model] in the 'style variation' area, where the 'pre-set variations' are somewhat 'weak' and sound quite alike from one to the other in many instances. Also, the 'sound ouput' through the built-in speakers is good but could be improved.
The rhythm 'styles' themselves are very, very nicely done, and there certainly are many of them to select from, of every music style imaginable, and quite easy to access.
I cannot get my computer music software to work with the keyboard MIDI output, even though I read all the instuctions and loaded it three times, but I have no problems with my other keyboards in doing so. Maybe it's still me but I gave up with the direct MIDI/computer input and use the SD CARD to store songs and then download the songs to my notation software without any problem, which accomplishes the same thing anyway.
Overall, with the exceptions noted, this is a very nice keyboard and is worth the cost, regardless.
The 'demos' you hear are 'sequenced' songs [nicely done] but are not the 'true' played basic 'styles' of the keyboard that you would normally play without 'sequencing', such as in live performances.
I would like to know, from anyone that might know, if the more costly models of this keyboard overcome the two problems mentioned, and if they do, I would certainly invest in it! JFM
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