Korg Pa500 61-Key Professional Arranger Keyboard

The Baby Blue, the Professional Arranger at an entry level price. For the musician, composer, performer and entertainer, the interactive PA500 is the perfect musical partner. Like its big brothers the PA800 and the PA2XPro the PA500 uses our RX (Real eXperience) technology to deliver a sound unprecedented in an arranger keyboard. With exclusive Korg features such as the XDS Dual Sequencer, intuitive TouchView interface, quarter-tone on-the-fly and a four way joystick for realistic articulation, the only thing really missing is a big price tag.

Stunning Sound
It all begins with sound. Based on the EDS (Extended Definition Synthesis) engine found in the Korg M3, PA800 and PA2XPro, the PA500 provides 80 voices of polyphony and a breathtaking quality of sound. Over 880 fully editable sounds are preloaded (including a full GM soundset and 56 drumkits), representing a full range of musical instruments from almost every genre - each exploding with depth, nuance, subtlety, accuracy and richness. The User area has space for up to 128 user sounds and 64 drum kits.

Effects Everywhere
For many years, Korg workstations, synthesizers and digital recording studios have included outstanding studio quality effects that are simply breathtaking. In that same tradition, the PA500 offers four stereo processors plus a Final semi-parametric three band EQ containing a treasure trove of effects, from rich reverbs and dazzling delays to guitar-type modeling effects from Korg?s renowned REMS series 124 different effects in all. And you?ll appreciate the separate three-band EQ on each track so you can shape the tone for that perfect sound.

Done with Style
No doubt: Korg's Style programming is world class. The PA500 delivers a deluxe set of styles, programmed by some of the leading arrangers in the world; each of whom worked according to their musical strengths. The result is over 320 preloaded Styles that provide unparalleled realism and detail, adding anything from tasteful guitar picking, a tight bass and drum groove, a powerhouse R & B rhythm section all the way up to a full orchestra! Styles follow your timing, voice leading and chord changes to create an amazingly defined musical performance in real-time. With up to eight parts, four variations, three intros/count-in, three fills/break and three endings, each Style is a complete musical environment. Additional parts or riffs can be sequenced and triggered in real time using the assignable pads. Advanced features such as Syncro Start/Stop, Fade In/Out, Assignable PAds, Tap Tempo and Manual Bass allow you to spontaneously add complex and professional touches to your performances.

Guitar mode
Creating convincing guitar parts from a keyboard has never been easy until now! When creating a guitar part for your Style, you can chose a chord, capo position, and literally transform the keyboard into the fretted strings of the chord to allow realistic picking patterns, strums, chokes, slides, hammer-ons and other guitar-specific artifacts. The result is stunning. Best of all, the PA500 can automatically enhance the guitar tracks of existing Standard Midi Files.

All together now
Need to switch sounds fast Four STS (Single Touch Settings) buttons allow you to have up to four sounds split and layered across the keyboard and switch them all instantly with a single button press. The STS assignments can be saved independently for each Style. Each of the 256 Performance settings can instantly recall the Style, Sounds, effects, tempo, key and scale used to perform a particular song.

Creative sequencing scenarios
In addition to traditional track at a time workstation sequencing, the Backing Sequencer allows you to create songs quickly and easily by capturing multiple Style driven parts at once. You don't need to be a master programmer even beginners can write their own song in minutes. In fact, you don?t even need to play at all! Using the Step Edit/Entry feature, you can simply type in the chord changes, fills and style changes in step-time a big boost for arrangers and non-keyboardists. This quick approach to programming is also useful in the studio for creating professional, great-sounding backing music for commercial, film, video, multimedia or internet applications. The sequencer provides massive editing power you can even edit the tone parameters of each track.

Non-stop entertainment
With Korg's XDS Dual Sequencer, one can load as the other plays, and a DJ-style cross fader can blend between them, providing a seamless, continuous musical performance. The PA500 can playback SMF (Standard Midi File), Karaoke files, and GM (General MIDI) files - and is able to display lyrics in most popular karaoke formats. There is also a practical Marker function to allow you to jump directly to a given position in the song: you can fix the markers using the internal sequencer (or using a computer based one - the marker format is standard) and then remix your favorite songs during a live performance for added spontaneity.

Expanding SongBook
The exciting SongBook feature was developed to make your life easier while playing live. The SongBook is a Musical Database, completely user programmable, containing all the settings needed to play a particular song. You have only to search for the song you would like to play by Song Title, Genre, Artist, Tempo, etc. and press play. Each SongBook entry will instantly recall every setting you?ve saved in order to play that song perfectly Sounds, Style, Performance, Volumes, Muted Tracks, FX settings, Easy Edit, STS settings, Master Transpose and more. This indispensable musical feature is unique to Korg.

Less is more
With all the technological power packed inside, it was vital that Korg also made the PA500 easy to understand and easy to use. But Korg went even further, creating an instrument that provides an intuitive, musical, fast, foolproof experience. With our amazing TouchView display you can simply think, see and touch the panel for easy and intuitive control. So that musicians of all levels can make great music quickly, there are two interface modes: Easy and Expert. The Easy mode shows only the essential elements with bright, bold icons - useful for beginners or playing live while Expert mode provides full editing control. And when you need more information, check out the on-board contextual Help System in any of seven languages! In addition to 61-velocity sensing keys, the PA500 provides a four-way joystick, assignable switch, assignable slider, assignable pedal jack and four pads provide the tools to spice up your performance by changing effect settings, adding or muting parts, slowing the tempo, or even adding mini-sequenced solo, arpeggio, or backing riffs. Nothing stands between you and your professional performance.

Save it for later
In addition to providing a USB/MIDI computer connection for moving and saving data, the PA500 can also save and read data from SD / MMC memory cards for instant access to your custom data, MIDI files and songs. The back panel also features MIDI (In, Out), Audio Ins (1, 2) and Outs (L, R), headphone jack, plus a damper pedal and an assignable pedal connection.

All-in-one
Hiding inside is a full stereo sound system with two double cone speakers in a bass reflex enclosure for the best sound in a small box. The PA500 is completely self-contained and easily transportable whether rushing to perform live in front of any size audience, jamming with friends, or teaching a new tune to the other players. Korg couldn't fit any more fun in here if Korg tried.

Technical Info

Keyboard: 61 keys with Velocity

System: OPOS (Objective Portable Operating System) and RX (Real eXperience) Technology Multitasking, Load while play feature Upgradable Operative System - SSD Solid State Disk

Tone Generator: EDS (Extended Definition Synthesis) 80 Voices, 80 Oscillators ? Filters with Resonance - Three band EQ for each track

Effects: 4 Stereo Digital Multi-Effect systems ? 124 Effects types ? Final semi-parametric three band EQ

Sounds-Drum Kits: 880 Sounds, including a Stereo Piano and GM Level 2 compatible Sounds, 56 Drum Kits - User area: 128 Sounds, 64 Drum Kits - Realtime control: Assignable Slider, Switch - Full editing of Sounds and Drum Kits

Styles: More than 320 preloaded Styles, SSD-resident, freely reconfigurable - Up to 448 available Style locations- 64 User Styles - Eight Style tracks, 4 Single Touch Settings and one Style Performance per Style - Guitar Track, Parallel and Fixed NTT - Compatible with old "i-Series" and Pa series Style format - Style Record with Step Record, Track and Event Edit functions - Style controls: 4 Variations, 3 Fills, 3 Intros, 3 Endings, Synchro Start/Stop, Tap Tempo/Reset, Fade In/Out, Bass Inversion, Manual Bass, Tempo Lock, Memory, Accompaniment/Real Time Track Balance Volume, Accompaniment Mute, Drum Mapping, Snare & Kick Designation, Single Touch

Performance/STS: 256 Realtime Performance locations - STS: Memorize Realtime tracks settings, up to 4 x 512 Styles, up to 4 x SongBook entries ? All programmable

Realtime Tracks: Four Keyboard tracks (Upper 1, 2, 3, Lower) - 4 Pad tracks

Song Play: Patented XDS Crossfade Dual Sequencer player - 2 Sequencers with separate Select, Start/Stop, Home, Rewind and Fast Forward controls - Balance control - Lyrics data can be displayed on-screen - Markers - Jukebox function - Compatible with SMF (formats 0 and 1)

Sequencer: Quick Record (Backing Sequence), Multitrack and Step Record functions - Full-featured sequencer - 16 tracks - Up to 200,000 events - SMF native format

SongBook: Fully programmable music database, based on Styles, SMF, Karaoke, with automatic selection of Style Play and Song Play modes - User-definable custom lists - Filtering options

Compatibility: "i-Series" models: Styles - Pa series: Style, Performance, Program/Sound, Song, SongBook, Pad

Multi Pad: 4 Assignable Pads + Stop Button. Pad Record function

Help System: Hypertextual, Contextual, Multilingual

General Controls: Master Volume, Real Time-Acc/Seq Balance Volume, Ensemble, Octave Transpose, Master Transpose, Style Change, Split, Quarter Tone Arabic Scale , User Scale memorized inside Performance/STS - Realtime controllers:
Joystick (pitch + modulation), 1 Assignable Slider, 1 Assignable Switch, Dial, Up/+, Down/-

Control Inputs: Damper Pedal, Assignable Pedal/Footswitch

Analog Output: Unbalanced Jack Left/Mono, Right, Headphones

Analog Input: 2 Unbalanced Line In Jacks

MIDI: In, Out standard Midi connectors- USB to Midi using the USB Device port - Individual track assignment - 8 user definable MIDI Setups

USB: 1 USB Device connection (1.1 Full Speed)

Card Slot: SD (Secure Digital) Card and MultiMedia Card (MMC) Memory Devices

Display: 320 x 240 pixels, Monochrome TouchView Graphic Touch Screen

Amplification: 2 x 15 W - Fixed EQ

Speakers: 2 Dual Cone Speakers in Bass Reflex Box

Power Supply: DC 12V external power supply (supplied)

Consumption: 15 Watt

Dimensions: (W x D x H) 42.2 x 15.9 x 7.5 Inches ( 1074 x 404 x 183 mm) without music rest

Weight: 21.8 lbs (9,9 kg)

Accessories: Manual, AC adapter, Music Stand, CD-ROM

Options: Expression/Volume Pedal (KORG EXP-2, KORG XVP-10), Damper Pedal (KORG DS-1H), Switch Pedal (KORG PS-1)

Rebates Audio Samples

Fully loaded arranger workstation! Offers 80-voice polyphony with over 880 preloaded sounds. Space for 128 user sounds and 64 drum kits. Four onboard stereo effects processors with 124 effects, plus three-band EQ per track. Arranger includes over 320 preloaded styles that follow your timing, voice leading, and chord changes in real-time! Large TouchView screen for intuitive, expressive control. Contains 61 velocity-sensitive keys.