Hi Bill

I remember reading somewhere, possibly on this forum that someone said the KN7000's drums sounds are not very good. I personally disagree I find them very acceptable as a midi sound source.

As a drummer I was just wondering what your view is on the KN7000 drum sounds, also can you recommend any sets that are more realistic than others.

Thanks

Glen

If anyone else wants to chip in feel free

Glen

Glen Coyne,
Drums sounds are subjective. If the sound of the drums on my Korg Pa800 were to used with a song on a Kn7000 it would not sound very good. Keep in mind that the same drums sound on a different keyboard is subject to a different sound producing engine, they will sound different.

The first Kn7000 I bought did not have good drums or basses; it was bought when they first came out. The one I have now excels in both areas, the drums and basses are good as they are. I used the an edited user drum kit to build up the drum sounds, it did the job. I fine no need to do the same on the one I have now.

John C.
IMPORTANT: What type of music are you playing on the Kn7000?

Hi Glen,

I have no problem with the drum sounds on the KN7000 - I find that most of them are realistic and perfectly acceptable. Some are a little low in volume - such as the Triangle - but this can be corrected by using the User Kit.

The only problem as far as the drums are concerned, is creating realistic drum parts in a 'from scratch' style in Composer. Trying to create anything other than a fairly basic drum part, using the keys, is a little difficult to say the least This can be overcome to a certain extent by creating the drum part in 'Step Time' but the result doesn't always sound natural. I don't regard this as a shortcoming of the KN7000 - it would be exactly the same on any arranger keyboard.....

The solution I often use is to connect a small Yamaha Midi drum kit to the KN7000 Midi Input. The device comprises 6 programmable pads and 'Bass Drum' and 'Hi-Hat' pedal switches, which I can play like an acoustic kit, using sticks and feet.
I don't use the actual sounds from the Midi kit - I just use it to trigger the KN7000's selected drum kits.

It's a long time since I heard another make of keyboard, so I can't make any meaningful comment about KN7000 versus Tyros or KN7000 versus any other keyboard.

The fact that the KN7000 and some earlier KN series, have Two drum tracks, allows creation of quite complex drum parts, since you could have for example a 'Standard Kit' assigned to DR1 and an 'Orchestral Kit' assigned to DR2.

In short, I'm very happy with the KN7000 drum sounds

Hi Bill, now I know why your your patterns have that real feel, I wondered if you used a midi kit. That is how you get that real feel to the sounds of a true and real drum kit.
best regards John.

Hi John

Thanks for your comments.

Interesting you say your latter KN7000 has better drum sounds than the first, do you know if the sounds were updated in one of the software updates ? I bought my KN7000 during the first week they were released in the UK, although its now been updated to version 1.6 because of some SD Card problems I was having.

Bill

Again, many thanks for your comments

I'm currently trying to create a backing track to The Searchers "Don't Throw Your Love Away" in Cubase, its my first go at this so I'm on a big learning curve. Although Cubase 6 comes with some great drum kits I still prefer those on the KN7000, so I'm using the KN's Drum and Bass as a sound generator and recording the guitar parts myself, John McNally's rhythm and Mike Penders Lead.

In all the years I've owned my KN7000 I've never looked at the User Drum kit option, I have just use one of the default kits, currently 'Live Jazz Kit 1' for this Searchers project as it appears to have the nearest sounding Snare to the original record.

Interesting to know you use a midi drum trigger device for your drum parts, I am always scared that constantly tapping the Hi-Hat key will damage the keys !

Thanks again guys

Regards

Glen

Hi John,

Following on the discussion concerning the KN7000 drums, I am interested in your comments. You indicated that your latter KN7000 has better drum sounds than the first. I have had some misgivings about my KN7000 drums hence I seldom use it for events.

I would like to ascertain whether or not my KN7000 belongs to the latter family of KN7000s or to the 1st week release family. Could you kindly explain the steps to take in order to ascertain this. It will be very useful for me to find out.

Also, as Glen indicated in his Post - if someone has a KN7000 that is part of the very early releases, is it possible to correct the drums issue by updating it to version 1.6?

Suggestions from other members will also be useful.

Regards.

Buddy

Hi John,

I would like to ascertain whether or not my KN7000 belongs to the latter family of KN7000s or to the 1st week release family. Could you kindly explain the steps to take in order to ascertain this. It will be very useful for me to find out.

Sorry Buddy here I have no knowledge. But ----- you can send the drums and bass or just drums out a separate channel into a mixer. Then you can EQ as desired and reset the volumes.
It has been said that you can raise the volume of the drums so that they are out in front more. Yes and No! You can raise the drum volume or edit the individual drum sounds and make your own user drum kit and get nice results. But, yes one more but – Adjusting and editing the drums cannot change the personality of the drums. Their personality is given to them by Technics sound engine, the same sound engine that produces the fantastic trumpet sound; in fact the same sound engine that gives the keyboard its overall great sound.

I’m betting that if I could change the drums sounds on my Pa800 to have the same personality as my Kn7 I would have also changed many of the other instruments sounds on the Pa800.

Only my opinion, John C.

One more thought:
The drums on my Pa800 are strong and they are out in front; those same drums on my Kn7 would destroy the fantastic sounds it has for Big Band music.
I spend a lot of time editing my Pa800 so that it does not sound like a rock band playing Big Band. I come close with fair results. There is far more to drum sounds than volume.

I’m trying, John C.