Korg Kronos Tutorial: How to Create A Full Song Explained

[@MatrixKeys]

Woooooooooooah, what a great video, well structured and well presented. I cannot wait till I own a Kronos, what a beast. Great work IMB. Clean, professional Sound.

[@IMakeBeats]

Thx 🙏🏾 bro for stopping by, appreciate your comments. It is a beast for sure so much to know. Still only scratched the surface of its total capabilities. But having this new work flow on the Kronos has for sure opened a new door 🚪 to how I make music. More videos like this on the way!👊🏾🥇

[@cryptoldya6229]

I've had this keyboard over a year and was constantly looking for a tutorial like this then finally gave up. I'm so glad I've recently got an itch to play again and found this video. Wish I'd of found 5 months ago but thanks so much for this! Time to make some music!!

[@IMakeBeats]

@Cryptoldya I’m glad that my video was helpful. I too was like you looking for someone that had Created a tutorial on sequencing a complete song 🎵 and found none! So I decided to make one! Lol 😂 I’m Sad that Korg has totally abandoned the kronos 😢 all it needs is an updated OS to simplify some Functions and it would be unstoppable. As for sounds, it’s still king among keyboards 🎹 but workflow is still lacking. Making a full song on the kronos is still by far harder than let’s say the Maschine + or Mpc one etc. So I mostly use it as a sound module not for creating full songs! But knowing how I felt was still a must! 👊🏾 thx for stopping by and commenting. Stay in Touch I’d love to hear what u come up with! 👍🏾

[@samsidique8662]

Same. I have had my for over a year. I find it impossible to get it to this what i wanted. This video is awesome. I’m gonna be watching this everyday

[@IMakeBeats]

I’m glad to see I wasn’t alone in this. It is very frustrating. Seem that no videos on KZbin even come close to explaining this process. Glad to help. Hope you consider subscribing 👊🏾

[@Dmogul]

If i ever get the ability to buy one of these and learn how to play it, i definitely know where to come to be able to learn how to work it in standalone now.

[@IMakeBeats]

Thx 🙏🏾 D appreciate the support! It’s just the beginning for this level of keyboard 🎹 workstation. I’ve really only showed a thimble size of what’s really hidden inside the maze of possibilities in the Kronos👊🏾🔥

[@DeleswaProductions]

Very professional and informative presentation. I like how you streamlined the process, while clearly showing the real estate and navigation of that large display to get things setup. Nice work on the keys as well, showing how to lay down blocks of music, while also demonstrating how you can quickly expand short musical ideas into a finished arrangement. Great job bro. Keep them tutorials coming.

[@IMakeBeats]

Appreciate you Deleswa, thx 🙏🏾 for always commenting and really being engaging in your feedback. Really means a lot. Ya so much still to learn when it comes to the Kronos. It’s a maze of tabs and windows 🪟 that takes time to explore and navigate 🧭 🗺. Colors & Shades is next 👊🏾🤣

[@DeleswaProductions]

@@IMakeBeats Yesir. Looking forward to it.

[@studiogangsta3031]

Man, if this is not a good tutorial, then I don't know what is. Thanks for sharing 💯💯

[@IMakeBeats]

Lol🤣 thx 🙏🏾 studio Gangsta, appreciate the kind words. Tried to make is simple, but mostly understandable. Thanks for watching bro!!👊🏾

[@funguy29]

i appreciate you sir

[@IMakeBeats]

🙏🏾 thx for stopping by. You are also appreciated👊🏾

[@FlashRedGo]

Well done! thank you!

[@IMakeBeats]

Im glad it was helpful! Hope you consider subscribing, if you haven’t already! 👍🏾

[@darrickkeels6387]

Ayeee! You did it! Great job!

[@IMakeBeats]

Ya, I got thru it. Kinda figured out how to create in separate patterns and then combine them into one linear song 🎧 thx 🙏🏾 for stopping by 👊🏾

[@JeffPalmer83]

Actually the “load pattern to track, too” option just lets you add drum patterns specifically (not the full demo sequencing info). And you can audition the patterns before placing them to track. A great way to get started even if you go back and change those drums later!

[@IMakeBeats]

Hey 👋🏾 thx Jeff, still learning so I appreciate the info. How do you audition them!? Sound cool 😎

[@JeffPalmer83]

@@IMakeBeats I believe you just have to press the “start/stop” button from the sequencer transport controls while browsing the drum patterns. Then, every time you press “ok” on that screen, it will add one instance of that pattern to the drum track and then advance the measure for the next pattern to the next blank measure. So if it’s an 8-measure pattern, pressing “ok” 4 times would give you 32 measures of drums. But you can always switch around and do one pattern, then another, then another, etc.

[@madness8556]

It's such a shame that Korg omitted the piano roll editor and cuelist function that are in the M3 Xpanded and Krome workstations.

[@IMakeBeats]

It’s a shame that Korg just decided to abandon the Kronos. It’s a dope workstation. Sad that we will get no more updates for it! $3600 dollar 💵 wasted to me!

[@forrestperkins6237]

Nah man not a waste. I just bought one for 2600 (61 key, kronos 2) and between the sampling capabilities and sound libraries online if you take the time to learn korgs language you'll appreciate it if you ever are in a place where all u got is ur korg and no laptop or whatever

[@michaelwalston2438]

​@@IMakeBeatsWell, I got my Kronos 2 88 for $1700 because it was a return.

[@IMakeBeats]

@michaelwalston2438 good for you, i paid full price brand new $3500+ but i only do new so it is what it is!!! Hope ur enjoying it!! 👍🏾

[@samsidique8662]

Man I had the Kronos for 2 years. Over the past 6 months I really started getting into it. Very frustrating but worth it

[@IMakeBeats]

Tell me about it! A beast of a keyboard 🎹 workstation but very complicated. I use it more now for the sounds and as a midi controller! Appreciate you stopping by. Hope you consider subscribing if you haven’t already! 👊🏾🥁🎼🎵🎶🎹

[@JethroDawnfine]

Hey, nice video. I really miss videos that could give us some workflow examples for these Korg workstations. As you said, we have so many options inside those tons of menus and tabs that it could take us more time to learn than to compose and produce. So, I really appreciate these workflow kind of videos. Thank you! Just a thought about your method and something I read on its manual that I think worth mentioning here is the Playlist function. I think we can work on each part of the song as separate songs and then reunite and rearrange the sequence of those parts into a playlist, and then generate a new entire song from that playlist. After that, we can also generate the WAV and have a SNG file with the entire song and also with its separate parts backed up for further work, improovements or corrections. ;)

[@IMakeBeats]

Hey thanks for stopping by, this video was just a guide to getting started! I hope it inspires others to take what was giving in this tutorial and add there own creative workflow to it! 👊🏾🎹🔊🎶

[@pamhebert5716]

Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!! From this perspective as a song writer I knew there was a more direct wy to get my song down. Please make more videos...

[@IMakeBeats]

You are soooo welcome! Lol 😂 the kronos is a great keyboard 🎹 workstation, however creating full songs isnt simple. Glad u liked the video. I dont use my kronos for song creation, only as a sound module. 👊🏾

[@UglyBunnyJase]

Very cool! I feel like I actually learned something! Thank you :)

[@IMakeBeats]

Im glad u enjoyed the video. Thx 🙏🏾 for stopping by the channel! 👊🏾

[@parthadx7ster]

Hi there, Your explanation is the best so far. I am a new Korg Kronos owner, and find this type of videos very useful. Please make more.

[@IMakeBeats]

Hey thx 🙏🏾 for the positive words. So far today there isn’t a keyboard 🎹 workstation on the market that can out perform the Korg Kronos. After 12yrs it is still king 👑 among keyboards. However, it’s OS In my opinion is outdated! It take too long to complete what I would consider a simple task, such as creating multiple sequences, or even creating and adding samples into a project! Where other workstations excels in these areas, the Kronos falls short. I do love it’s sound library 📚 but honestly I don’t really see myself using it to create full songs because of the lengthy process. I’m currently only using it as a sound module. I do plan on getting the mpc keys 🎹 because of the simplicity of workflow. I will continue to use the Kronos for sounds to add to my music productions. I’d Lov to hear 👂 what you come up with using my methods. Please stay In touch! 👊🏾

[@Ast3rixMusic]

@@IMakeBeats it’s no different in the nautilus it’s the same sequencer. They did clean up the menus to make it a little more bearable. It’s easier to navigate in my opinion. I haven’t used the sequencer on a keyboard in years it’s painful. I use the akai force and transfer over to Ableton to mix and finalize my projects. Sound module for me too. The one thing they excel at is sounds…

[@michaelwalston2438]

A lot of people who gravitate toward kronos are hardware oriented, but if they have been used to akai or roland hardware sequencers and their workflows, they may have trouble adapting. (Let's take a moment to acknowledge that it was always hard to get up to speed with Roland MicroComposer machines). On the other hand, if you've been on board with Korg sequencers since the M1, Triton, or whatever it won't be so hard at all.

[@IMakeBeats]

Thx 🙏🏾 for watching and for commenting! 👍🏾

[@djaffbolik]

Great video bro ! The Kronos is a beast 👍🏽

[@IMakeBeats]

Yes 👍🏾 it is! Thx 🙏🏾 for the share 👊🏾🎹

[@jukesasaurusrex]

So in depth making me want to get a Kronos 😃 thank you

[@IMakeBeats]

Hey 👋🏾 jukes, thx 🙏🏾 I’m glad I could inspire! However Korg stopped making them so if your going to get one you should do it sooner rather than later. Other wise you will have to settle for the Nautilus.. which is still a Kronos but minus the faders and buttons!🤣🎹. Always appreciate your continued support. Thx 🙏🏾 for always watching and commenting really means a lot.

[@lionelcampos9868]

Absolutely great tutorial peace ☮️

[@IMakeBeats]

Thx 🙏🏾 Lionel Campos im glad you liked it hope it was helpful. 👊🏾

[@piarno1]

Wonderful video! I usually work with Akai Force - workflow easier - but does not have all the possibilities of the Kronos, especially when you do a Rock or Pop song in linear fashion not being 4/4

[@IMakeBeats]

Hey 👋🏾 thanks for the kind words. I agree the Kronos is packed with unlimited potential. It really sucks that Korg has abandoned it. Glad you enjoyed the video, hope you consider subscribing! 👊🏾

[@jessiah9084]

Incredible work!! I’ve been looking for this for so long! I almost gave up. Question: how do I export it to a usb so I can listen on a PC for example? Much love

[@IMakeBeats]

Hey 👋🏾 thx 🙏🏾 so much for the kind words load the finished song, in sequence click on the (Audio in/Sampling tab- then click on the drop-down and the top right, select (Bounce all tracks to disk) be sure to have ur usb already plugged in so u can save the wave file to the thumb drive! Once u select the drive u want to save it too, press play and it will play the whole song and save it as a wave file! Hope this helps! Please consider subscribing 👊🏾🎹

[@Rialas]

Thanks.

[@IMakeBeats]

Your welcome 🙏🏾

[@marcusholder495]

May Yahweh bless you brother 🙏 thank you for the video

[@IMakeBeats]

blessing unto you as well my friend! And Thanks for stopping by.... It was my pleasure

[@dylanhall6136]

Hey man! Great Video. I'm between buying the new montage m8x or the Kronos 2. I like that the montage would be a new purchase vs a used Kronos 2, however here is my question. I want to create full songs on the key board without using a DAW. I know from your video its possible on the Kronos 2. I also know the montage M8x can record patterns and sequences and you can chain them together to make a song. (It's not a linear though ...) Which keyboard would you opt for?

[@IMakeBeats]

Hey thanks for stopping by! If creating full length songs is really what yourr going for, I wouldn't recommend a Kronos for several reasons. First off Korg is no longer supporting the Krono's. no more much needed firmware updates. Secondly- it really isn't a user-friendly workflow. Creating songs on the Krono's is a chore. As for Sounds, I still believe to this day that the Kronos is King. But for workflow and ease of use- Hell na. If a keyboard workstation is what your really going for, I would be looking at the following keyboards: 1. The Fantom 06-08 Series Has an amazing sound library- and a pretty cool workflow. Plus its still supported by Roland with updates etc. 2. hands down the MPC Key 61 I have both of these keyboard along with the Kronos I can tell you with no hesitation that I would create on either one of these 10 times before ever creating one full length song on the Kronos! I hope this was helpful. If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out I'm glad to help! Hope you consider subscribing if you haven't already! 👊

[@ChristianAmoah-hm9lx]

HI, nice video. KINDLY SEND ME THE LINK TO THE WAY TO SEPARATE THE DRUMS SOUNDS YOU MENTIONED, IF YOU HAVE MADE THAT VIDEO

[@IMakeBeats]

Hey 👋🏾 first off thx 🙏🏾 for stopping by. To answer your question- unfortunately i never did get around to creating that video about drum separation. There just wasn’t any requests for it at the time of this video’s creation. Its way to much to explain in a comment so im not going to even try! But i do provide one ☝️ on one ☝️ sessions so if ur interested send me an email so we can get one scheduled! 👍🏾

[@oldschoollee]

Titanium version looks nice

[@IMakeBeats]

@O S L thx 🙏🏾 for stopping by, hope you consider subscribing 👊🏾

[@zbyszekkoscielniak391]

A very helpful tutorial! Thx! You have to load all songs from the hard drive every time you run Kronos, because everything is stored in seq. disappears after turning off the kronos. What if you have 100 songs? How do you solve this problem?

[@IMakeBeats]

I’m glad it was helpful! Appreciate you stopping by 👊🏾

[@zbyszekkoscielniak391]

@@IMakeBeats What about my question? "What if you have 100 songs? How do you solve this problem?"

[@IMakeBeats]

@@zbyszekkoscielniak391 ok at first I thought u were being funny, but it sounds like ur saying that every time u load, you are loading up every song you’ve created on the Kronos? I don’t have that problem. I only load the song or sequence data I want to hear or work on! Not sure 🤔 why your loading every song if that’s what your saying. I create folder 📂 for every project and save to that file. So again i only load what I want not every song that’s stored on my Kronos! 🤔

[@beatzclinic2043]

@@zbyszekkoscielniak391 On SEQUENCER MODE, you’ll allowed up to 999 SONGS. On ANY of those SONGS, you’re able to TRANSFER the DEMOS from COMBi and/or PROGRAM with or without the effects. To save, hit the option to save all sequences/combo/programs data. The 999 songs Are now saved in one file. To load that file after power off, simply load it like any other file. It may take a few minutes if you actually had made 999 songs on this file. It’s doable. Just when you hit save, read ALL the available options. This work on my Korg Triton, So I know it’s able on the Kronos easily. Hope I’d answered your question to your understanding.

[@IMakeBeats]

Ok but again I create individual folders for each project! So I would never load every song or even create a file that’s loads every song!🤔 but thx for stopping by again not sure why u would want to load every song every time u boot 🥾 up Kronos? 🤷🏾

[@jwill9690]

Hello, does the Kronos have 808 drums? Thx for good video.

[@IMakeBeats]

No but u can always load in your own drum samples. Thx 🙏🏾 for stopping by!🤙🏾

[@EdgyNumber1]

I have a love hate with this sequencer. In my opinion its too linear, so you can't record individual blocks and manipulate them to appear wherever you want in the song - say you suddenly want to create a bridge. This MPC's strength lies. Either that or you should just use a DAW..... which then defeats the purpose of this synth, since there are VSTs than outperform all of them. I kind of regret buying the Nautilus as the sequencer comes way below expectations.

[@Ast3rixMusic]

This workflow is not idea and I wonder why Korg has not addressed this in over a decade of making workstations. It is soo weird that each keyboard released since the early 90’s has had the same bad sequencer. The funny part is everybody complains about it and they still do nothing to improve it. The reason why you don’t find tutorials on this is because nobody uses it. Most people use mpc’s for song creation when working dawless. My old Triton Studio I started with had the same bad workflow which drove me crazy. The only logical way to use it was to play in the full song by measures. The drums were always a challenge because there’s no piano roll. I moved away from this workflow to a pc. It’s funny I went back to stand-alone because it’s how I learned to create and it’s easier to fluidly transition ideas, but my experiences now are different with the tools available. I still move my projects to Ableton to complete them.

[@IMakeBeats]

I totally agree the workflow really sucks! But the sounds are 🔝 top so I only really use it as a sound module! Thx 🙏🏾 for stopping by. It’s so sad that Korg abandoned the Kronos2! All it needs is an updated OS AND IT WOULD BE UNSTOPPABLE!

[@Ast3rixMusic]

@@IMakeBeats the Nautilus is the korg kronos with no karma, after touch, and reduced buttons. Sounds are the same and they added several new banks. You can use kronos banks if you update to the latest firmware. This is normal for korg they always have an in between model before that release a new flagship. Maybe 2-3 years at most. Same cycle they have been on since the early 90’s.

[@IMakeBeats]

@@Ast3rixMusic ya it really makes no since to create a keyboard 🎹 that has less than the current flagship, but abandon, the flagship, no more updates it’s stupid but what can we do!? If I would have known Korg was going to stop update the Kronos I wouldn’t have purchased it 🥺

[@Ast3rixMusic]

@@IMakeBeats Yeah I thought on it for months before getting the nautilus. I don't like it is missing after touch and its the flag ship. I have no idea what's going on at Korg but wow it's like they are asleep at the wheel and the car has fallen off the road.

[@IMakeBeats]

@@Ast3rixMusic sad but true! 😢😩

[@jamesturley9559]

After deleting the bass drum and clap beats how did u bring them back in

[@IMakeBeats]

The drums were created then copied to the tracks multiple times- then i went to the section i wanted and removed bass and drums! Hope that helps! 👊🏾

[@eyaeyaki9590]

Hello, could you help me how I can write a rhythm but I can also change the chord on the bass or the guitar, how to write them for example at 4 meters in the pattern or in karma, thank you

[@IMakeBeats]

Well first off, your bass doesn’t really play chords. I’m not fully understanding what your trying to say or accomplish. You said how to write them at 4 meters? Did u mean on the 4th bar or measure ? Not clear what your asking🤔

[@eyaeyaki9590]

@@IMakeBeats Thank you for answering I do not know English well and I translate it on google I am from Greece what I wanted is to write my own rhythm in the patterns with bass guitar and drums and you can change the chord on the guitar and the bass

[@IMakeBeats]

Ok so there is a timbre parameter/ and a de- tune setting you can alter both or either one to get the instruments 🎸 or Samples to transpose to other keys 🎹 👍🏾

[@eyaeyaki9590]

@@IMakeBeats hello see in this video what i want to do Korg M3 Oriental KARMA Mix in the you toube he has written his own rhythm and with his left hand he changes the chord but I do not know how he writes them and where he saved them to play thank you and sorry if I tire you

[@IMakeBeats]

Sorry we have this language breakdown! You may want to check out some of the Kronos groups on Facebook, I’m sure you will be able to find someone that speak 🗣 your language to help you thru 👍🏾 sorry I can’t understand you.

[@andylee596]

Why not using a PC with ableton live?

[@IMakeBeats]

Because I choose to be DAWLESS! my channel is about DAWLESS music creation. Duh 🙄