Korg MICRO - Manual

1 Introduction 3. 128 built-in programs The microKORG contains 128 built-in programs. When shipped, the TRANCE–S.E./HIT banks contain 112 synth programs, and the VOCODER bank contains16 vocoder programs. 4. Process the waveform of an external input source The waveform of an external audio source can...

2 Front and rear panel ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Front panel VOLUME knob Adjusts the volume of the output from the OUTPUT jacks (L/MONO, R ) and headphone jack. BANK SELECT dial Selects the program bank. BANK SIDE key Switches between the two sides o...

4 Front and rear panel OUTPUT L/MONO , R jacks Connect these to your powered monitors, stereo amp, mixer, or multi-track recorder.If you want to use the microKORG in monaural, connect the L/MONO jack. HEADPHONES jacks Connect a pair of headphones to this jack (1/4" stereo). MIDI THRU connector R...

5 Preparations want to use an external sequencer, rhythm machine, or audio source as the carrierof the vocoder, connect that device to AUDIO IN 2 ( ➝ p.34). If you want to process the waveform of a synthesizer or sampler, connect a mic orthe output jack of your external device to the AUDIO IN 1 and ...

6 Turning the power on ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 2. Turning the power on Before you turn on the microKORG’s power, you should lower the level of yourmonitor system or other connected output device. 1 Turn the microKORG's VOLUME knob all the way towar...

7 Quick Start Demo songs ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Listening to the demo songs The microKORG contains several demo songs.Here's how to listen to the demo songs and hear the sounds of the microKORG. 1 Hold down the SHIFT key and press the ARPEGGIATOR ...

8 Synth programs ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 2. Modifying the sound On the microKORG, you can modify the sound to add expression to your perfor-mance by turning the edit control knobs 1 –5 , by moving the PITCH or MODwheels, or by the way that you play...

9 Knob 2 : RESONANCE Adjusts the resonance of thefilter. This adds a distinctivecharacter to the sound. Knob 3: EG ATTACK(FILTER EG + AMP EG ATTACK) Adjusts the attack time of the filter EG and amp EG. This will affect the amount oftime from note-on (when you press a key) until the attack level is r...

10 Vocoder programs ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 1. Playing a vocoder program Here's how to connect the included mic and play a vocoder program. A vocoder applies the spectral character of an externally-input voice (the "modula-tor") to an oscil...

11 Arpeggiator ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Using the arpeggiator The arpeggiator is a function that automatically arpeggiates the notes of a chordyou play; i.e., sounds the notes one after the other. The microKORG's arpeggiatorprovides six types of arp...

12 Editing ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Basic editing procedure All of the editable parameters are organized into "sections". Each section containsup to five parameters, which are controlled using the edit control knobs 1 – 5. Thetwo knobs label...

14 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Editing each timbre Synth programs can have up to two timbres.A timbre consists of the parameters of EDIT SELECT 1 VOICE (except for"SYNTH/VOCODER" and "SINGLE/LAYER") through LFO2 sections, and theparamet...

15 The structure of a synth program As shown in figure 0-1, a synth program consists of timbres 1/2, effects, and thearpeggiator. TIMBRE 1/2 Each timbre consists of OSC, FILTER, AMP, EG, LFO, and Virtual Patch blocks. Youcan create more complex programs by using two timbres together in one programus...

16 SYNTH/VOCODER [Synthesizer, Vocoder] Switches the currently selected pro-gram between a Synthesizer pro-gram and a Vocoder program. Synthesizer ( ): The program will be a synth pro-gram. You can use two oscillatorsto create the sound. Vocoder ( ): The program will be a vocoder pro-gram. You can u...

17 2. PITCH — S Y N T H / V O C O D E R TRANSPOSE [-24...24] Adjusts the pitch of the oscillator insemitone (100 cent) steps.The range is two octaves upward ordownward. C h a n g e s m a d e b y t h e f r o n tpanel OCTAVE SHIFT buttonsactually shift the pitches as-signed to the keyboard (or keys)in...

19 WAVE CONTROL 1 [0...127]: You can modify the waveform byadjusting this value.A setting of 0 will produce a trianglewave, and a setting of 127 will pro-duce a waveform with a pitch thatis one octave and a fifth higher.( ➝ Figure 3-3) CONTROL 2 [0...127]: LFO1 is used to apply wave formmodulation t...

23 OSC 1 LEVEL [0...127] Sets the output level of oscillator 1. OSC 2 LEVEL [0...127] Sets the output level of oscillator 2. NOISE LEVEL [0...127] Sets the output level of the noisegenerator.T h i s n o i s e g e n e r a t o r g e n e r a t e swhite noise. This is independent ofthe white noise that ...

25 TYPE -12dB BPF ( ): -12dB/oct BPF (Band Pass Filter)allows a frequency band in the re-gion of the cutoff frequency to pass,and cuts the remaining frequencies.It is used when you wish to empha-size only a specific portion of thefrequency range.( ➝ Figure 6-2) Use this when you want to empha-size j...

26 7. FILTER EG — S Y N T H DECAY [0...127] Specifies the time from when the at-tack level is reached until the sus-tain level (SUSTAIN) is reached. SUSTAIN [0...127] Specifies the cutoff frequency thatwill be maintained after the decaytime has elapsed, until you releasethe key. RELEASE [0...127] Sp...

27 8. AMP (Amplifier) — S Y N T H LEVEL [0...127] Adjusts the volume of the timbre. If the "SINGLE/LAYER" is Layer,this setting will adjust the volumebalance between timbre 1 and tim-bre 2. PANPOT [L63...Center...R63] Adjusts the location of the sound inthe stereo field. L63( ) is far left, ...

28 9. AMP EG — S Y N T H / V O C O D E R ATTACK [0...127] Specifies the time from note-on(when the key is pressed) until theattack level (maximum value of theenvelope) is reached. DECAY [0...127] Specifies the time from when the at-tack level is reached until the sus-tain level (SUSTAIN) is reached....

29 10. LFO 1, 11. LFO 2 — S Y N T H / V O C O D E R WAVE (LFO1) [Saw, Square1, Triangle, Sample&Hold] WAVE (LFO2) [Saw, Square2, Sine, Sample&Hold] Selects the LFO waveform. Figure 10-1 Saw ( ): Square1 ( ): Square2 ( ): Triangle ( ): Sine ( ): Sample&Hold ( ): KEY SYNC [OFF, Timbre, Voi...

30 12. PATCH 1, 13. PATCH 2, 14. PATCH 3, 15. PATCH 4 — S Y N T H The microKORG provides four Virtual Patch routes that let you create more sophisticated sounds. Each patch lets you select a modulation"SOURCE" (knob 1) and modulation destination "DEST" (knob 2), and specify the inten...

31 Editing a vocoder program The structure of a vocoder program bandpass filters (ANALYSIS FILTER), and the ENVELOPE FOLLOWER detects thevolume envelope (time-variant change) of each frequency band.Then, the signal from the internal tone generator or the AUDIO IN 2 jack (carrier) isinput to the othe...

33 GATE SENSE [0...127] Specifies the speed of the gate thatw i l l o p e r a t e a c c o r d i n g t o t h e"THRESHOLD" setting.Lower values for this setting willmake the gate operate more quickly,causing the vocoder sound to decaymore quickly.Higher values for this setting willmake the gat...

36 INTENSITY [-63...63] Specifies the depth of the modula-tion that is applied to the carrierband-pass filter "CUTOFF." 7. FC MOD — V O C O D E R SOURCE [AMP EG, LFO 1, LFO 2, Velocity, KBD Track, Pitch Bend, MOD.Wheel] Selects the modulation source thatwill be applied to the carrier band-pa...

37 8. AMP — V O C O D E R LEVEL [0...127] Specifies the volume level of the in-t e r n a l t o n e g e n e r a t o r ( O S C 1 ,NOISE) for the carrier. DIRECT LEVEL [0...127] Specifies the volume level of the au-dio that is output directly fromAUDIO IN 1. DISTORTION [OFF, ON] Specifies whether disto...

38 CH 1 LEVEL [0...127] CH 2 LEVEL [0...127] CH 3 LEVEL [0...127] 12. CH LEVEL A, 13. CH LEVEL B — V O C O D E R These parameters set the level for each of the eight band-pass filter channels (SYNTHESIS FILTER) of the carrier ( ➝ p.35). This lets you adjust the output level of the internal carrier s...

39 Editing the effects and EQ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Overview The output from the amp section of a synth program or vocoder program is sent tothe modulation effect (MOD FX) ➝ delay effect (DELAY FX) ➝ equalizer (EQ). ( ➝ p.15 Figure 0-1, ›p.31 Fig...

40 TYPE [Flanger/Chorus, Ensemble, Phaser] Selects the effect type. Flanger/Chorus ( ): This effect modulates the delay timeof the input signal to add depth andwarmth to the sound. Increasing the"EFFECT DEPTH" value will pro-duce a flanger effect. Ensemble ( ): This effect uses multiple chor...

41 17. DELAY — S Y N T H / V O C O D E R TYPE [Stereo Delay, Cross Delay, L/R Delay] Selects the delay type. Stereo Delay ( ): This is a stereo delay.( ➝ Figure 17-1) Cross Delay ( ): This is a stereo delay where the leftand right channels of feedback areinterchanged. In a Layer program,it is effect...

42 18. EQ — S Y N T H / V O C O D E R This is a two-band equalizer. Use EQ FREQ (knobs 1 and 3 to specify the frequency that you want to adjust, and use knobs 2 and 4 to adjustthe gain of each frequency band. Excessively raising the equalizer gain parameters may cause the output to be distorted. LOW...

43 Editing the arpeggiator ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Overview The microKORG's arpeggiator provides six arpeggio types. You can adjust theduration (gate time) and spacing of the notes played by the arpeggiator. Thearpeggiator settings are adjusted by ...

44 19. ARPEG. A — S Y N T H / V O C O D E R TEMPO [20...300] Specifies the tempo of the arpeggio.Increasing this value will speed upthe arpeggio tempo. If MIDI "CLOCK" is set to Exter-nal, or if it is set to Auto whenthere is an external input, thissetting will be ignored and thearpeggiator ...

45 Figure 20-1 20. ARPEG. B — S Y N T H / V O C O D E R LATCH [OFF, ON] Specifies how the arpeggiator willoperate when you take your handoff of the keyboard. OFF ( ): The arpeggiator will stop playingwhen you take your hand off of thekeyboard. ON ( ): The arpeggiator will continue play-ing even if y...

46 Overall settings (GLOBAL) ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Overview The GLOBAL section lets you can make overall settings for the microKORG. For example, although it is possible to individually adjust the pitch of each synth orvocoder program, you can us...

48 Using the microKORG withother MIDI devices (MIDI) ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Overview Here you can make MIDI-related settings for the microKORG. MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, and is a world-wide standardfor exchanging variou...

49 Connecting an external MIDI sequencer or computer etc. You can play the microKORG's keyboard and record your performance on anexternal MIDI sequencer/computer (connected via a MIDI interface), and then playback the recorded performance to sound the microKORG's tone generator (i.e.,using the micro...

50 a second time. To prevent each note from being sounded twice, once directly fromthe keyboard and once from the echoed-back note, you must turn the microKORG'sLocal Control setting off. Recording the MIDI output from the microKORG's arpeggiatoronto an external MIDI sequencer or computer Connect th...

52 Messages transmitted and received by the microKORG ❏ Pitch bend Pitch bend change [En, bb, mm] (n: channel, bb: lower digits of value, mm: upper digits of value) When pitch bend change messages are received, a pitch bend will occur according tothe PITCH "BEND RANGE" value. Pitch bend can ...

53 • Modulation depth (CC#01) [Bn, 01, vv] When a modulation depth message is received, the LFO2 vibrato depth will changeaccording to the value specified for PITCH "VIBRATO INT." If the value of thereceived message is the maximum value (127), vibrato will be applied over the fullpitch range...

54 MSB (Hex) LSB (Hex) Value (transmitted) Value (received) ON/OFF 00(00) 02(02) 0: OFF, 127: ON 0...63: OFF, 64...127: ON RANGE 00(00) 03(03) 0: 1 Octave, 1: 2 Octave, 2: 3 Octave, 3: 4 Octave 0: 1 Octave, 1: 2 Octave, 2: 3 Octave, 3...127: 4 Octave LATCH 00(00) 04(04) 0: OFF, 127: ON 0...63: OFF, ...

55 If you are transmitting these parameters between two microKORG units, set bothunits to the same program settings. ❏ System exclusive messages microKORG format F0: exclusive status42: Korg ID3n: [n=0—F] MIDI channel58: microKORG model ID (same as MS2000/MS2000R)ff: function ID (type of message)— F...

57 Control 2 values when OSC 1 Wave = DWGS When the synth parameter OSC 1 "WAVE" is set to DWGS, the "CONTROL 2" (knob 3 )will select the DWGS waveform. The value of the control change transmitted/receivedby operating the "CONTROL 2" (knob 3 ) corresponds to the parameter val...

58 Saving Data ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Saving a program ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Saving GLOBAL, MIDI, and SHIFT function settings Saving your edited settings Settings that will be saved • All param...

59 SHIFT functions 1-1. COPY TIMBRE ( ) Copying a timbre You can access this function only if asynth program is selected.Timbre settings from another programwill be copied to the timbre of thecurrently selected program. In the case ofa Layer program, the settings of thecurrently-edited timbre will b...

60 1-2. INIT LEVEL ( ) Initializing CH LEVEL A/B You can access this function if a vocoderprogram is selected.This will simultaneously initialize theoutput levels of the eight band-pass filterchannels for the carrier (SYNTHESISFILTER). When you initialize the levels,all output levels will be set to ...

61 5-1. CONTROL CHANGE ( ) Assigning control changes You can assign control change numbers tothe principal parameters accessed by theEDIT SELECT 1 and 2 knobs and knobs1 –5. When you operate a knob that corre-sponds to one of the parameters shownbelow, the assigned control change will betransmitted....

63 7-1. PRELOAD ( ) Restoring the factory settings This operation restores the microKORG'sprograms and global data settings to thefactory-set condition. The factory-setsettings are referred to as the "preloaddata." When you restore the Preload settings,the data within the microKORG will bere...

64 Other SHIFT key functions TIMBRE SOLO Timbre solo function • Hold down the SHIFT key and pressthe TIMBRE SELECT key.If a Layer synth program is selected,only one timbre will sound. ( ➝ p.14) SWITCH EDIT SELECT Switch between EDIT SELECT 1/2 • Hold down the SHIFT key and pressthe BANK SIDE key.The...

65 Appendix LFO 1/2 and delay time synchronization How "SYNC NOTE" and "RESOLUTION" settings correspond to note values The following table shows how LFO or DELAY "SYNC NOTE" settings and ARPEG.A"RESOLUTION" settings correspond to note values.The parameters will functi...

66 Troubleshooting Before you suspect a malfunction, please check the following points. Power does not turn on ❏ Is the AC adaptor connected to an AC outlet? ➝ p.6 ❏ Is the POWER switch turned on (pressed inward)? ➝ p.6 ❏ If you are using batteries, are batteries installed? Have the batteries run do...

67 Specifications and options Tone generator system: Analog modeling synthesis system • Synth programs: Number of timbres: maximum 2 (when using Layer) Maximum polyphony: 4 voicesStructure: 2 oscillators + noise generator: sawtooth wave, square wave,triangle wave, sine wave, Vox wave, DWGS x 64, Noi...

68 Index Symbols -12dB BPF 25-12dB HPF 25-12dB LPF 24-24dB LPF 24 A AC adaptor 6ADSR 26, 28Amp 15, 27AMP EG 28Analog modeling system 1ANALYSIS FILTER 31Arpeggiator 11, 43, 50, 53Arpeggio type 44Assigning control changes 61Attack time 9Audio in 21 B Band-pass filter 31, 35bAt 6Battery 6 C Carrier 31C...

 2002 KORG INC. Printed in China KORG INC. 15-12, Shimotakaido 1-chome, Suginami-ku, Tokyo, Japan IMPORTANT NOTICE TO CONSUMERS This product has been manufactured according to strict specifications and voltage requirements that areapplicable in the country in which it is intended that this product ...

BANK No. (MIDI) Name Categor y Single/Layer Tempo Arpeggio TRANCE A.11 (0) Trancey Arpeg. Arpeggio Layer 138 On A.12 (1) Acid Saw Bass Bass Single 138 On A.13 (2) Unison Saw Lead Synth Lead Single 138 Off A.14 (3) Unison HPF+LPF Synth Lead Layer 138 On A.15 (4) Weepy Lead Synth Lead Single 138 Off A...

Parameter List EDIT SELECT 1/2 Type 1 2 3 4 5 VOICE SYNTH/VOCODER SYNTH/VOCODER SINGLE/LAYER VOICE ASSIGN TRIGGER MODE UNISON DETUNE ( ➝ p.16) Synthesizer, Vocoder Single, Layer Mono, Poly, Unison Single, Multi 0...99 PITCH SYNTH/VOCODER TRANSPOSE TUNE PORTAMENTO BEND RANGE VIBRATO INT ( ➝ p.17) -24...

COPY TIMBRE (CP.t) SYNTH [SHIFT]+[1]key [1] knob A.11 ... b.88 [1] key — — INIT LEVEL (in.L) VOCODER [SHIFT]+[1]key [1] key — — — — SWAP TIMBRE (Sw.t) SYNTH [SHIFT]+[2]key [2] key — — — — INIT PAN (in.P) VOCODER [SHIFT]+[2]key [2] key — — — — INIT PROGRAM (ini) SYNTH/VOCODER [SHIFT]+[3]key [3] key —...