Musicians have high expectations of synth giant Korg; Mike Collins finds out how their first foray into the desktop music market measures up.

The Korg Audio Gallery is the latest General MIDI sound module aimed at multimedia users and computer musicians. You can hook it up directly to your Mac or PC via its built-in MIDI/PC interface, and software is provided to edit the module onscreen. You can also hook up additional MIDI devices using the MIDI interface sockets provided on the back panel.

The AG10 Audio Gallery is based on Korg's 0-series sound generation system, the latest incarnation of which, the 05R/W, was reviewed in the October Issue of SOS. As with the Roland SC7 and Yamaha TG100 modules, external sound sources can be fed into the AG10 via a pair of phono jack input sockets, and a headphone jack is provided for personal listening. The front panel simply has an on/off switch and a volume control, with indicator lights for power and for MIDI input.

The software bundled with the package is particularly excellent value for money, and includes the SMF Format Converter, MIDI File Translator, QuikTunes, Trax, MIDIPlayer, and SoundEditor. Trax is a useful entry-level MIDI sequencer from Passport; MIDIPlayer lets you replay MIDI files using a 'jukebox' to list your songs, and a MIDI mixer to adjust playback; QuikTunes is a library of MIDI Files for use with Trax or MIDIPlayer, and the AG10 SoundEditor software lets you edit Audio Gallery synthesizer parameters directly on your computer screen. There is no way to edit the Audio Gallery directly from its front panel, or to store edited patches in the unit, but you can store edited data as a MIDI file and send this to the AG10 when you want to use an edited patch. The SMF Format Converter is a useful utility program which lets you convert files between Format 0 (with all the data on 1 track), and Format 1 (with the data on separate tracks). Finally, the MIDI File Translator is a file translator which works with Apple File Exchange to convert MIDI Files originated on other systems to the correct Macintosh file format.

SETTING UP

Setting the system up was fairly straightforward, but I feel it could still be a little troublesome for beginners. I wanted to hear the demo sequences first, so I decided to run MIDIPlayer. The MIDIPlayer software has to use the Apple MIDI Manager, so I had to install the Korg MIDI Driver with Apple's MIDI Manager. This was simply a matter of dragging the Korg MIDI Driver and the Apple MIDI Manager into the System folder, then restarting the Macintosh.

Eager to get started, I double-clicked on the first set of MIDIPlayer songs in the MIDIPlayer folder, and the program came up — looking pretty good on my colour screen. Unfortunately, at first I could not get any sound out of the Audio Gallery. The MIDIPlayer (and the Trax) manuals supplied were for IBM Windows software, so they did not offer much help troubleshooting the Mac versions of the software.

After bringing up the MIDI Manager's Patchbay window, I could see that the MIDIPlayer output had been automatically routed to the MIDI Output of the Korg MIDI Driver, which seemed OK, so I thought I'd better read through the Audio Gallery Setup and User manuals more carefully. I wanted to connect my DX7II to use as a master keyboard, and here I encountered some problems — which I won't baffle you by explaining! Suffice to say that once I realised that the Korg MIDI Driver has two connections, one to route data from the Macintosh application to the AG-10, and one to route data from the Macintosh application to the MIDI Out of the AG-10 and on to any external devices such as my master keyboard, everything made sense. Unfortunately, the way the manual put things, this simply was not obvious at first — and since the system is aimed at beginners, it should perhaps be clarified. Having said this, setting up the rest of the software was extremely straightforward and intuitive, and should pose few problems, even for the novice.

PASSPORT MIDIPLAYER

The MIDIPlayer lets you open standard MIDI files, then arrange these for playback in a list in the Jukebox window. There is a floating palette with tape recorder-style transport controls for Play, Rewind and so forth, but the neatest feature is the excellent Mixer, which lets you adjust the volume and panning of each of up to 16 parts playing via the Audio Gallery. Mute and 5010 switches are available on each channel, and there's also a Master Volume control. You can transpose the music at the touch of a mouse button, adjust the tempo, and loop your selection so that it plays back endlessly.

A number of demo files are provided: three with the AG10, a dozen with the MIDIPlayer, and another 30 from Passport's QuikTunes library, with a good selection of music available in categories such as New Age, Pop, Jazz, and so on.

AG10 EDITOR

The SoundEditor software supplied by Korg is quite neat, and gives you access to all the parameters of the Audio Gallery sound module. The main window is divided into sections controlling the filters, oscillators, envelopes, and so on; clicking on the section you want brings up the appropriate editing window.

The various editing windows use scrollbars with associated alphanumerical readouts to set values, radio buttons and check-boxes to select options, and both numerical and graphical representations of envelope shapes which you can edit either using scrollbars or using the mouse.

You can open up a keyboard window from within any edit window, and click on a representation of a keyboard to play the Audio Gallery sound you are editing at any time from the screen. You can also set Reverb and Chorus amounts using scrollbars in this window.

The SoundEditor saves its data as Standard MIDIfiles, with the data held as MIDI System Exclusive data. If you have a sequencer which transmits SysEx data (unfortunately, Trax doesn't handle SysEx data), you can import these MIDI files into your sequencer and send the data to the Audio Gallery as needed.

PASSPORT TRAX SEQUENCER

This is a cut-down version of the popular Mastertracks professional sequencer software, and provides all the basic facilities you need to get started with MIDI sequencing. The tracks window features 64 tracks, each with the usual Play, Record, and Solo selectors. The Instrument field lets you select the patch for each track from a pop-up list of General MIDI instruments available in the Audio Gallery, and you can set the MIDI channel for playback and turn looping on or off for each track. I liked the inclusion of a volume fader for each track, and the intuitive transport controls and conductor window.

The Song Editor window shows an overview of the music, with bars shown in black if they contain data. Here you cut and paste your music to create the arrangement you want. The Step Editor shows the note data in any corresponds to the note's length, and whose vertical position corresponds to the different note pitches. To edit a note, you double-click on it and a small window opens showing the numerical parameters for you to edit. This is not as efficient as having an event list edit window, but works well enough. A pencil tool and a palette of note values is available to allow you to write in notes directly using the mouse, and an eraser tool lets you rub them out if you make a mistake.

Once you've selected any data, you can edit it using the Change Menu, which has options for setting Durations, Transpositions, Velocities; Quantization, and Pitchbend Range. You can also strip out different types of data from any track, and write a tempo and meter map using the Conductor options. Everything is extremely intuitive to use, and beginners will find that they can learn this program more quickly than just about any other sequencer I have come across.

THE SOUNDS

In my opinion, the Roland sound module has the best sounds of the three systems aimed at this market, closely followed by the Yamaha and Korg. The basic sounds in the Audio Gallery adhere closely to the General MIDI standard; speaking subjectively, some are better than those found on the competition, while some are not so good.

There's a good selection of pianos, some more impressive than others. The Harpsichord is good, but the Clavinet lacks a little 'bite'. The Vibraphone is fine, as long as you want the vibrato which is programmed into it, and 'the Marimba and Xylophone are not bad — while the Tubular Bells are quite convincing. The five organs are among the best sounds here and the Accordion is excellent as long as you like the tremolo effect. Harmonica is pretty good, as is the Tango Accordion. Acoustic Nylon Guitar is not too hot, but the Acoustic Steel Guitar is rather better, and the Electric Guitars are pretty good when played in an authentic style. There's a good selection of bass sounds, but — as is common with low-cost GM modules — some of these are a little thin and lacking in weight. The four drum kits are similar to the drums in a Roland D110, with Power Kit substituting heavier snares and toms. Analogue Kit is a partly successful attempt to emulate a TR808, while Brush Kit aims to simulate brushes on the snare and toms.

To sum up: If you want a good range of standard sounds, including pianos, organs, guitars, basses and a standard drum kit, you shouldn't be disappointed. When it comes to brass, strings, and synth sounds, the quality is more variable, with some sounds being very good and others, in my opinion, being rather weaker.

CONCLUSION

Judged by its sounds alone, there is nothing that makes the Audio Gallery really stand out from the competition. However, when you take into consideration the software provided, the Audio Gallery package offers good value for money. Beginners are provided with a sequencer which is easy to learn and use and adequate for straightforward uses. Multimedia users are offered the excellent MIDIPlayer, which lets them play back libraries of MIDIfiles and adjust instrument levels and key transposition 'at the touch of a button'. To sum up, as a bundle of hardware and high-quality and useful software, the Audio Gallery takes some beating, but if it is to succeed as a sound module in its own right, I feel that Korg should consider improving some of its weaker sounds.

Further Information

Audio Gallery £399 inc VAT (both versions).

Korg UK, (Contact Details).