In this video, I describe how to play through the song Africa (Toto) using the 80's/90's sound pack which can be found at www.audora.ca for the Korg Kronos
you actually played the intro riff correctly holy shit!!! there are soooooooo many bad attempts at it it's great to see someone finally get it right with the repeating five-note pattern.
This is a fantastic tutorial. I was kind of dreading having to transcribe this. My elementary school chorus is going to do this song and my kids are going to cover all the parts. It’s going to be awesome.
Thanks man. You helped me a lot some doubts about how to play some parts, and the sounds he used on the original play. I have only a korg kross, have some limitations, but, guess I can find a nice way to play. Thanks so much for your video, you are amazing !! 🔥
You Sir, are one sick southern trucker. Annoying how you play and explain things so much better than any of us mortals would ever dream of being able to, and yet apologizing for nothing. Oh, thank you for showing how music can be done. Thoroughly enjoyed. All aspects of it. Musically, technically and the way technology can help us interpret old forgotten words, and ancient memories..... Hurry boys, she's waiting there for you..........................
This is brilliant. Not only do you teach the actual (rhythm keyboard I guess?) accompaniment but also the synth effects. I am truly grateful for this lesson, thank you
Hi David. I've just bought the Kronos 2 88-key after securing a new job. Play keys in tribute band in Genesisn't (we're on RU-vid). Time, setup and ability meant that I lost touch with just playing music. Many thanks for your videos; I'm looking forward to getting lost in some old classics with your help. David
Dr. Kennedy,---Maybe this gentleman made this video "off the cuff" and has better things to do than rehearse a song he played 30 years ago. This IS a FREE video after all. If YOU are the one who wants to learn it maybe YOU should take the times to fill in the blanks. Just sayin'.........
GREAT JOB!! I agree with you; the flexibility in programming and raw sound power of the Korg Kronos sets it heads & shoulders above its competitors. It's been out since 2011 and no other manufacturer has come close yet (...particularly because of Korg's product commitment with OS updates). I've had mine since 2012 and haven't come close to outgrowing it yet. A very DEEP synth. Thanks for posting this video and please post more. Again; GREAT JOB!! BTW, if i may ask, what state do you live in? If you are close to NC, maybe you would be interested in hooking up to help start a local KUG (Kronos User's Group).
Darryll Corpening Thanks man! I appreciate and agree with you entirely! I've been to NC and SC, but I actually live in Canada just north of Maine. I'd be a massive advocate of getting a group together, regardless of where we are. With technology today, there's nothing stopping a streaming session of some kind too... Something to think about perhaps?
the sounds themselves, are simply incredible... a good tutorial for someone needing info about the various parts, however, I was hoping you put it all together in a sequence at the end.
DrGargani Thanks for that. Originally I did have it all set up with a sequence of the entire song but every time it got flagged for copyright. I guess there is such a thing as having sounds that are too close.
@@neilmonisit8781 Neil: when the Kronos was upgraded the last time by Korg, they added a sound called Africa, and I have used that myself to record a version of the song and it is very very close to the original....
Since I just have a basic keyboard, I'm having to do this the hard way and actually play both notes on the Kalimba and solo parts. I kinda have the kalimba part down (takes two hands, kinda like the synth part on Workin for the Weekend) but that solo is gonna be rough
Just another advice: I personally don't like switching combis during a song because I like to use the Setlist Mode as it's meant: One patch for each song! If you have enough slots in one Combi which you probably have, you can use the vector stick. The chords are on the bottom keys. For the top keys, you can assign that Kalimba to the left (pre chorus), and the flute to the right (1st half solo). In the middle, you have both (2nd half) and that's everything you need. With an additional USB master keyboard, it's even better! They're not too expensive ;)
I've actually just started looking into using the vector joystick per sound. The problem in this instance is that there's not enough timbres in the combi to accommodate such a style of sound switching. It's simply not possible. Also, I'd assert that there's an argument to be said that Setlist Mode isn't only meant to play one song per patch. It's meant to display notes about the program/combi/song being played. However any songs that contain a variety of combis with independent sounds per section of the song, (Thinking Dream Theater as an example, but even some songs like Take On Me have a complete keyboard change between sections of the song) is simply not possible.
Hey Dave, Great job on the Africa tutorial. Watching it saved me tons of time. Almost done with it, but you mentioned using the 80-90’s sound pack. Well, I don’t have that sound pack in my K2. The Combi that I had to build from scratch took a long time to build. For the first part of the synth solo I think I used 12 MIDI tracks to create the secondary harmonies. Sounds good now but if all the Combis are in the sound pack, that’s great! Thanks again!
Terry Wiegand Thanks Terry! If you had over to www.audora.ca, that's where you'll find the sound pack with the exact combi that I showed in the video as well as a bunch of others!
So the solo is one note each or two each (!) ? (Clearly sounds two... and some people play all the solo by playing two keys for each note.) (Grat tuto thanks for the video)
Sounds Awesome. What instrument voicing and harmonies are you using in the bells section. Also are you just overlaying another instrument voicing to create the harmony...if so what is the setting on it. I have been trying to overlay a kalimba with another mallet which is shifted up or down a 5th to create the harmony but not getting that great sound you are getting. Brilliant.
Thanks @Guitarislife1977 - The harmonization isn't a static interval, sometimes it's a 3rd, sometimes a 4th, and that's only for the first half. The middle section of the solo is a Major 6th, so the intervals vary. To do that however, I had to create multiple zones for those specific intervals. For example, part of the scale will be 4 semi-tones between notes so you have a zone for that. When you need the 5 semitones however, you create a new zone that applies ONLY to that interval span. Then create a new zone that goes back to 4 semi-tones. It's more complicated than just layering a detuned marimba on top of another sound. :)
@@AudoraAudio wow. I may have to try to go back to the drawing board. I got a yamaha modx8 and there should be a way to do that. How do you switch between the zones...? Are you pushing a button as you play the song to switch the zones? One last question. Was there a site where you bought the sheet music that showed the notes for the harmonized parts?
@@Guitarislife1977 The ModX I would expect is more than capable of making multiple layering options. I have a foot pedal however that jumps from one combi (Patch, Multi, Setup, whatever you want to call it. Basically the multi-mode with multiple programs) to the next. It just steps to the next sound in the queue or setlist mode. There was no sheet music - I just transcribed it by ear real-time while I was programming it, and listened to the intervals. That combined with a little music theory, I was able to figure out exactly what was going on easily enough.
Thank you. Playing it on acoustic the best I can in a lower key (A). I can fake the intro riff by playing a Bm w/an open E. I see you are using a Korg nano pad 2 but What keyboard is that?
Yes - exactly! I've got a global setting that assigns the footswitch to "Program +", so whether you're in Program, Combi or Setlist mode on the Kronos, you can move to the next sound without lifting your hands off of the keys.
Dave, did you programming the pitches on the solos? Two of those notes on the pentatonic scale's are 4th's and the rest 5th's. I can tune a layered patch to either a 4th or 5th but not both. Make sense?
I did. I actually created various zones to include the notes that need to be 3rd's or 4th's. Because they change, I think I made about 4-5 different zones that make it work.
@@AudoraAudio probably because of how close it sounds to the original recorded version in some ways a bit more dynamic than the original. I have the Korg OASYS, Korg M3 with the Radias and triton sitting for a couple of years will have to try this on It. Have you found anyone who has played this in Omnisphere? Are these pcm sound packs layered with the different engines or actually sampled sound packs. Actually I remember now the Korg M3 has these sounds patches built in by default for the Korg M3
@@imun1ty Yeah, it's definitely due to being close to the original. There aren't any samples whatsoever; I manually programmed every sound to match the original. The down side is that it'll only work in the Kronos and nothing else!
Not quite. Yes, it is a midi device, but it plugs in via USB. In theory, you should be able to configure it in the Nanopad software (when you plug into a PC) but you'll need to know which channels it uses in the Montage depending on what you're trying to control
No son sonidos que tengan un nombre específico. Es más como pan: hay ingredientes que componen el sonido, pero hay más de una forma de hacer pan. ¡Perdón por el mal español!
Hello David, thanks for this tutorial, it's very impressive indeed! :) I've just spent a full three hours tearing my hair out trying to figure out exactly what the harmony interval is that's happening during the solo. Am I right in thinking that it actually changes depending on what chord is playing? Or is it a fixed interval that stays the same all the way through? I'm trying to learn it on a guitar using a harmony pedal - the Boss PS6 - which has a few harmony options, but is essentally fixed at whatever setting I choose (unless I bend down and fiddle during the solo) If I can figure out what the relationship between each note is, I can just follow your right hand and learn the melody, which I'm guessing is the high flute part. Does this make sense? I hope you can help - It's killing me!
Niv Mike David It's harmonized to those chord changes and only for a small range in the keyboard. I guess you could use it, but out might need some tweaking to fit into what you want to use it for.
Niv Mike David There's no simple answer. The complication arises in the fact that this was a custom built part for a specific song. There were a variety of layers and splits used to get this result. It's too complicated to explain in the comments of a youtube video
From what I remember, in one of David's previous videos he showed a BOSS foot switch (most likely the same as I have, the FS-5U) and set the Global - Foot Switch Assign to "Program Up."
Thanks David, I'm a HUGE fan. There are obviously things that I'm not as much a fan of (Things like how combis will reference programs, but you can't choose to load a combi and have it automatically load the related programs automatically, how it handles samples, and so on) but from a music-production perspective... It's a beast. I bought two - one for my business and another for my live shows.
David Retherford I have played the Montage and while it does sound good (which alone is very subjective) hard facts show that the Kronos simply has more engines, more programming depth, and generally a larger user community. I would choose the Kronos every time if it is for flexibility in programming and raw sound power.
Hi Dave, I just brought the Africa's patch, but I just realized that there's no smooth transition between the 2nd and 3rd and 3rd & 4th slots, what can I do with this situation? Or does exist some reason it can't work with the smooth transition?... I mean the sound just cut when I press the foot switch.
Hello! I've already did that and still the same. May be does I must to configure the SST? But I really don't know where, because the 1st and 2nd works well, I mean, the transition between those two sounds it's smooth, and the sustain still sounding the 1st effect when I press the foot switch when I go to the flutes solo, buth when I do the next part is there when it just cut the sound, and again when I press the footswitch, to the 3rd part of the solo it just cut again the 3rd soun, I mean the keyboard doesn't allow to the sustain still working the 3rd sound in the 4th slot when I press the sustain.
@@abrahamibanez3580 Maybe I'm not understanding? Are you able to take a video? SST only works from one sound to another, but if you try and jump two sounds it won't work. I'll try and help!
@@AudoraAudio I am uploading a video right now to my RU-vid channel. I'll let you know whent it upload complete. And thank you so much you're very kind.
None of those actually. I simply made program layers specific to certain keys/zones and alternated between a 3ct or 4ct as necessary to keep the scales in the right pitch
Well done, sir! Great work with the layering and the patches and the swell thingi before the chorus Tiny critique; 1:24-1:28 not the correct notes of the reef but hey, it works! :-)
Good rendering, most accurate posting I have seen. The mallet kalimba part is three layers and you selected the most relevant line to play. There is an interesting Toto interview in (out of print, unfortunately) Contemporary Keyboard magazine where they describe how they put this tune together.
Yes, I read that interview when the magazine got out. So long ago... If my memory serves me right, when recording Rosanna, Paich and Steve P. hauled one of the 24-track recorders from the studio (possibly Sunset Sound?) to either one´s home, and spent the whole weekend honing the solo. But I really can´t remember if they did Africa at the same time. Someone should dig that Keyboard magazine out of somewhere and put a link here. :-)
