Desperately seeking a solution

[mc303]

Hello everyone,
Back in the 90's I had the original Korg i3, a beast of an instrument and weighed a ton lol, the beauty of the i3 was I could load up midi files and edit/change the instrument (voice) key, individual volumes etc, of a certain instrument part that wasn't sounding so good.

It's been a long time since had a keyboard so I decided to buy the Roland BK3 because of all the new features which didn't exist in the old days, alas no midi editing only muting

I am now looking for a keyboard/arranger (built in speakers) that could do the same type of internal editing within a budget of around £500 -£600, (I don't mind if it is pre-owned)
Any advice is truly appreciated.
Thank you

N.B I am also just finding out about midi to style, maybe this could be a solution where after the conversion the voice could be changed to suit the song?

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

MIDI to Style is easy(ish) on a Korg Pa, the problem is getting one for your budget as new they are c£900.

The process is to have the MIDI file on a USB memory stick and load it into the Pa using the specific MIDI > Style bot. As the specific instrument files on each track are unlikely to match in every case what is inbuilt within the Pa then editing is required to achieve a great sound.

Once edited and saved to a User Bank location it is there whenever you choose to use it.

Of the MIDI files that I have imported as per above most have sounded pretty good but there are exceptions and there are some than fail to load and you will get an on screen error message.

OR

Korg Kross 2 new is in budget but would require powered monitors which you could buy for about £75-150 for a pair of PreSonus Eris.

The K2 does import MIDI files but I did not try that myself on my K2 as the Pa was so much easier.

OR

Korg i3, a newish model with MIDI playback and Style play mode has been around for a couple of years now. Rimmers have a deal on @ present, keyboard, stand, bench and headphones £429. You will need to check on its features as I am not knowledgable on this item.

Manuals are readily available to download and video tutorials are on the Korg Youtube channel.

There are other makes available that can probably do the same or similar but it is just I have owned a Pa and a K2

 

[mc303]

@Biggles thank you for the reply, I did have a brief encounter with the PA600 but I cant recall if the midi editing was available are you referring to the PA700 for the midi to style?
I just tried a technique where I downloaded a karaoke mp4, separated the audio from the video, loaded into Cubase and used the pitch control to get it to the key I want it in, it's not perfect and not as good as a midi file that has a key change but acceptable.
I did research the i3 a while ago but i will have to read up on it again., is audio to midi any good? Thank you

 

[Biggles]

Yes it is the 700 that I referred to.

If you download the manual for the 600 it will have details on MIDI to style conversion if it is a feature of this model.

 

[mc303]

Not sure i would go for 600 again, I could increase the budget but then I would want the original need of onboard midi voice/instrument editing.

 

[mc303]

Ahhh, after a day of online searching I have just realised it's all on the BK-3, a little primitive in its functions but it's all there, changing instruments, adding fx etc however the 600 and 700 do look very appealing '