One of the perks of being a moderately respected underground artist in the city of Atlanta, is the experience of networking with other aspiring artists. In doing so, the occasional barters are made. Sometimes such barters yield the use of studios, instruments, or other goodies. In my case, I have been lent the technological services of the Triton KORG Studio 88-Key Workstation.
Upon seeing the machine set up in my home studio, I realized that this is ONE intimidating piece of equipment. Costing around nearly $3500.00, I am surprised that the keyboard itself does not come with someone to play it. At any rate, one evening I decided to sit down with board and try to decipher what I could from all the knobs and buttons.
WHAT CAN THE MACHINE DO?
First and foremost, let the record show that the Triton KORG is used primarily for studio recording. Its 429 multisamples and 417 drum samples allow for the kind of creative experimentation that can only be dreamed about on smaller keyboards like the Yamaha, or CASIO. Additionally, in skimming through the manual, I realized that there are actually sequencing and editing capabilities. But since I am a novice where it comes to studio recording, I read through the particulars briefly.
Similar to other keyboards, however, the KORG has a ribbon controller, realtime knobs, and dual arpeggiators. In recording, I have found that these little tweaking effects are terrific for experimental music. In actuality, the Triton KORG is the ultimate machine for recording all sorts of sounds.
THE SOUND OF A TRITON
If you have never been in the company of a Triton KORG workstation, you are simply missing out. The first time I tinkered with it, I found the controls nerve-racking. The panel itself does not look that user-friendly to a beginner musician. But after a while of fidgeting, I figured out the gist of running through the sounds in the board.
The Workstation itself contains a 32Mbyte PC ROM. That is where the 425 samples are stored. In perusing them, I was surprised and delighted by the colorful names of the pre-set sounds and drum samples. I selected a general piano sound to start with, and was amazed at how deep the resonance once after playing each note. Furthermore the 88-keys are heavy and firm, very similar to the girth of an actual piano key. What I really enjoyed about this keyboard, was the authentic sounding drum kits. There are at least three sets of hand drum kits (that I was able to find) which sound crisp and amazingly clear.
The main panel is a touch-screen, which I found rather convenient. I didn’t like the constant beep each time an option is selected. That gets a little redundant. There might be a way to turn this little noise off. But the machine is so complicated, that I didn’t feel like trying to figure out something that minute. However, in flipping through the pre-programmed samples, I enjoyed seeing the many ethnic sounds and effects. There is one in particular which encompasses several Japanese sounding instruments. Combined with some artfully placed bell sequences, or other ethnic instrumentation, one could create some pretty convincing new age music.
Other highlights on the keyboard that I’ve enjoyed thus far are the really intense theatrical effects. Out of the hundreds of string samples, I found at least four that really do mimic the orchestral effects of studio film scores. Just perusing the board left me with tons of ideas about future songs. I can see why musicians and artists literally go crazy when you tell them that you have a KORG at your house.
SHOULD YOU BUY THE Triton KORG Workstation?
Creating drum loops, and recording real-time sequences with the Triton is really as deep as I’ve gotten with the machine. I will admit that I find navigating through the selections very confusing. The Triton simply has so many settings that one really should sit down and read the manual cover to cover (or at least skim it) —in order to understand the full scope of the machine’s capabilities.
In all honesty, I would not recommend purchasing a piece of equipment such as this unless:
a) you are especially skilled in the area of sound recording or engineering
b) you are a very experienced musician
c) you have money to blow, and don’t mind splurging a couple thousand
I would not suggest plunking down the cash for this board if you’re someone like me, who has very little knowledge of certain technical aspects of recording.
The Triton KORG is a sophisticated workstation designed to accompany other digital recording devices. To fully appreciate the full spectrum of this machine’s capabilities, one would more than likely need to understand the fundamentals of sampling, looping, and inter-device connectivity.
This is a wonderful machine for the price. It is quite possible to record entire albums with no one being the wiser for it. Hit records have been produced with much less instrumentation. The Triton KORG is a top of the line piece of equipment which requires personal diligence to really glean all the benefits of its sophistication.
