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(More customer reviews)Ok, so this thing is kind of a toy, but my oh my, what a toy it is. I'm absolutely in love with. I'm kind of an acoustic musician. I play acoustic guitar (don't even own an electric) and upright bass, and any other box of sound I can get my hands on. Most synths and whatnot never seemed worth my money. I saw this little guy when I went searching for something I could use with special-needs students. I wanted something you could produce sound on without needing to know anything about playing an instrument. The price was right, so I got it, and the kids have loved it. I first thought it was a nice toy for the classroom, but then I started practicing on it myself, and I just couldn't believe how involved you can get with it. Once you unlock the little loop extender (from 8 beats to 16- you can find the trick on Korg's website) you can really get inventive. Anyway, for those thinking about it, whether or not you're experienced in music, it's a whole lot of fun and it can be very expressive. I'm feeling like I'm getting solid enough at it that I'm going to hook it up to a PA and play with a jam band. I'm even trying to scrap some cash together to get the KORG KAOSS Pad Dynamic Effects Processor so I can really get lost. You can hook the yellow guy into the red guy and get a whole new level of groove. Here are my pros and cons that might help you decide if it's for you...
PROS)
1)With the arpeggiator and the 16 beat code, mixed with sound effect parameters, you can find nearly endless amounts of new rythms to work with. If you feel like you hit the end of what you can do on it, you are just on a temporary plateau; more will come.
2) With some fancy rechargable batteries, this thing seems to just go on and on. It's so portable, I have it on me nearly at all times. I look like a geek with my studio headphones on tripping out on a campus bench all by myself, but I'm already married with a kid, so I'm more interested in my groove then looking cool.
3) With a little work, it's practically the easiest drum machine out there. You have some limits on actual drum sounds, but it is just so easy to set a groove, put it down, and pick up another instrument to play along with.
4)It's very versatile and intuitive to use. My students, who are fairly low functioning, have a great time playing along, and even my two year old likes tapping on the trackpad to a beat. It's fun for most folks.
5) The versatility of the programmed scales, ranging from arabic and mixolodeian to ragas and dorian, seem to express any, and I mean any emotion you want it to emit. With some practice, you can seemingly get any hard-to-express scence. It's like painting pastoral scences across the cultures of the world with your index finger. It's like Bob Ross' and Rick Steves' impossible love child singing you to sleep every night. (please, somebody get that joke).
Ok, now the CONS
1) The 100 loops and sounds programmed on here are mostly aggresive dance kind of sounds. I'm a ambient kind of guy, and like I said before, I like my acoustic sounds. They're are hardly any great acoustic sounds on here, and if I could reprogram it a little, I'd put on some Mellotron sounds, like flute and strings, and other more organic stuff. The strings and whatnot on here are pretty cheesy. The piano ain't bad, though, and that gets points.
2) You CANNOT program anything onto it. You got your 100 sounds and that's it. It gives the K it's own signature sound, which is fine because it's cheap and kind of a toy. If I could have uploaded new sounds or samples, I would have peed my pants with excitement. Unfortunately, I sit here continent and limited.
3) This last one is my biggest complaint, and it would have been great if Korg had thought this out. It's a small thing, too Maybe they'll read this, see my genius, and send me a corrected version of their device.
This "small thing" it lacks is the only thing that makes this device a toy for me. Otherwise I would have considered it the neatest gizmo ever. You CANNOT adjust the volume of individual sounds in your loop. Say you lay a fat drum beat and a chunky bass line. You go over to the sound effect pad to add a little hiss or sizzle, or over to the chunky lead synth pads to add a hint of a melody in the background. Often times, there is no putting it in the background. You're stuck with the volume that goes in. The Korg folks boast that you can just keep adding stuff, but I've found after 4 or 5 elements, you get really noisy loops really fast. I would have liked another button that would have let you adjust the master volume of any sound you were adding. The way around this is to use a multitrack recorder and set your loops up into that, but now your portability is gone, not to mention that instantneous groove element. Even if your multitrack is a small one, now you're running wires instead of just your headphones.
Otherwise, I think of this yellow box like the Game Boy invented for music geeks like me. It's really nice, and in the two months I've had it, it's been a nice retreat from my daily grind.
Hope this helps!
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Korg Kaossilator Dynamic Phrase SynthesizerMeet your new musical addiction: the KAOSSILATOR from Korg. Play it alone or add it to your rig for over-the-top, music-making mayhem. The KAOSSILATOR's user-friendly touch-pad lets you create musical and rhythmic phrases using any of its 100 synth programs, such as leads, basses, realistic instrument sounds, playable drums and drum patterns. Each time you add a phrase, KAOSSILATOR stacks it on top of the previous phrases you created. The results are as simple--or complex--as you desire. Choose from the 31 available scales, and play in any key. Lay down your groove with any 50 gate-arpeggiator patterns for even more KAOSS! The portable, travel-friendly KAOSSILATOR runs on batteries or a 4.5v adapter. Use the it as a multi-instrumental musical instrument, sample source, live rig addition, or just a fun way to get your groove on!
100 Playable Synth ProgramsThe KAOSSILATOR offers 100 unique patches for you to play, from nautral instruments to synth basses and leads, including ten drum patterns and 31 musical patterns. Sounds include:
Preset drum/bass grooves with flexible effects
Fat synth lead sounds
Acoustic instruments like trumpet, digeridoo, sitar, and more
Tap-able drum voices
Extra thick and juicy basses
Complete chords with filters and other effects
Space-age sound effects to send your loop beyond the cosmos
Innovative Touch-Pad ControlThis is what defines Korg's entire KAOSS PAD/KAOSSILATOR series, and what made 'em such a hit. You play the KAOSSILATOR by moving your finger around on (or tapping on) the touchpad, thereby controlling the sound. The parameters controlled by the X axis and Y axis depend on the preset (for example, a bass synth might feature pitch along the X axis and filter resonance along the Y axis).
Scale/Key ControlsIt may not have keys, but the Kaossilator can still play a hook. It lets you control a full two octaves of notes just by touching the pad. To make sure you're playing in the same mode as everyone else, you can choose what kind of scale to use, from 31 different options. You can also set the root note, including flats and sharps, so you're always in tune no matter how wacked out you get on the effects.
Adjustable BPM and Gated ArpeggiatorTo get the beat to your desired BPM, you can select a normal MIDI tempo or enter a tap tempo with your finger. The built-in Gate Arpeggiator repeatedly triggers sounds in sync with the tempo. The slider controls either the gate time or gate speed. 50 different gated arpeggiator types are included.
Loop (Phrase) RecordingThe KAOSSILATOR can record and playback phrases and patterns that you play on the touch pad--loop style. During playback, you can play along. You can even add another layer to the loop recording. This process can be repeated, adding several new layers. Recorded phrases can be up to 8 beats (2 bars of 4/4) in length.
Portable KAOSSCreate some chaos anywhere you go. The KAOSSILATOR is eminently portable, weighing in at 5.43 oz without batteries, and with dimensions of 4.17 x 5.08 x 1.14 inches. It's powered with four AA batteries, for up to about five hours of operation. You can also snag an optional AC adapter for plugging it in.
RCA/Headphone OutputsThe KAOSSILATOR features a dual RCA stereo line out, for quick connection to mixers or interfaces, and a mini headphone out, for using on the go.
What's in the BoxOwner's Manual, parameter sheet, four AA "test" batteries
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