HI gang.
After writing the easy 8 patterns, I found that the volume levels were a little light in the mix, and I could not control them enough during the night. It's very important to me to be able to control my bass & drums at all times .... After all, they are the heart of my rhythm section, and need the most attention. The piano(chord) parts need very little variation in "Live" play, because dynamics can be achieved with velocity. The bass and drums need a little more TLC to make them seem more real.

The answer?

Easy - I routed the drums and percussion to a separate output (ALL keyboards should offer this) and then, fed it through my TOA mixer BACK into the PA80 internal sound system. This gave me separate EQ and volume at the touch of a button. Donny heard the mix last night, and said the drums were really punchy and "live" sounding. I have to agree. It's better than having them come through the internal mixer. The factory settings have too much reverb on the drums, anyway. I now have the control for that on the mixer. It's a much better approach.

This goes along with my quest for simplicity without compromising individuality. I've said before that I was doing a "one man band" routine LONG before the keyboards did the playing for you, and I miss the basic, solid feel of having a drum loop, left hand bass and right hand "everything else" sound. This brings me closer to the way I began, but with the added advantage of the newer, better sounds, in a lighter package.

I encourage all of you arranger owners to "thin out" your arrangements and experiment with learning how to "fill up" the arrangement yourself. It's more fun, fresher, and less redundant. PLUS - it makes the times when you USE the auto-arranger features really stand out more. They are more "special" when used in moderation. They can get very tired if used (unaltered) too long.

Some of my favorite sounds are the smaller trio's and quartets, so that's what I am trying to pattern my sound after. I am the vocalist with a piano player, bass player, drummer and the occasional horn player on the job.(and, EVERYone sings!!)
Unless it's a loud, party/dance situation .... this is the core of my sound. For everything else ..... I use all the toys in my bag of tricks. Sequences, arrangements, MP3's, WMA's .... whatever I need.

I think having the separate outputs just may keep this Korg in my setup a while longer. The harmonizer is still useless to me, but I like having the EQ for little 1 hr jobs that I do so often without an outboard sound system. To paraphrase a great song lyric:
So, for at least .... until tomorrow, I'LL never change keyboards again.