KORG Pa4X 61-Key Professional Arranger

Korg’s Professional Arrangers are among some of the most popular keyboards available, and now the Korg Pa4X continues on the series with improved sound quality and expressiveness, more extensive arranger functionality, and an upgraded interface including a larger color touch screen for fast access in any live situation. The Pa4x is loaded with high-capcity PCM sounds, that’s ten times the amount found in the Pa3X, including a stereo grand piano with full-key sampling plus string and damper resonance akin to the Kronos2. There’s also a 7” TFT color display, almost 1.5” bigger than the Pa3X, with improved sensitivity and tilt ability.

Sound quality at its best
The Pa4X relies on KORG’s advanced EDS-X (Enhanced Definition Synthesis-eXpanded) sound engine, and comes complete with over 1,500* ready-to-play sounds. This realistic collection offers a vast gathering of classic and contemporary keyboards, band and orchestral instruments, plus electronic and acoustic instruments—from techno to folk. Included is a new multi-layer stereo grand piano (with damper and body resonance), plus electric pianos from the acclaimed KORG SV-1 Stage Piano. The digital drawbar organ includes key on/off noises, leakage, and Rotary Speaker emulation. In addition, the Pa4X has been equipped with new wind instruments, strings, basses—even acoustic and electric guitars. Sounds have been painstakingly captured using state-of-the-art methods that allow the finest of details to be accurately reproduced.

Three assignable switches, the four-way joystick—even a ribbon strip—allow KORG’s unique DNC (Defined Nuance Control) to reproduce the subtle nuances and articulations of acoustic instruments creating ultra-realistic performances rich in expression—all in real time and on demand. Bring any solo or melody to life with the growl of a passionately-played saxophone; the changing embouchure of a trumpet; the breath elements found in a clarinet or harmonica; and the added characteristics that give extra authenticity to the pizzicato and arco sounds of a string section. More than 90* authentic drumkits—including Ambient Drums—breathe life into any rhythmic passage; the Drum Family Easy Editing feature offers total control over volume, pitch, EQ, and more. An additional 400 MB* of user memory allows new sounds to be added quickly and easily using KORG, WAV, AIFF, and SoundFont™ formats. Conduct your own sampling session and take advantage of the complete sample recording and editing features found in the Pa4X.

Slim, powerful and easy to use
Both the Pa4X 76 and Pa4X 61 feature a naturally-responsive and semi-weighted keybed that provides both velocity and aftertouch sensitivity. The dynamic response is adjustable to accommodate any playing technique and any level of musicianship—from the hobbyist to the demanding professional. The main panel has been optimized to ensure that all controls are ergonomically positioned and intuitively located to make every performance feel smooth and natural. Big, bright, and bold, the new capacitive TouchView display hosts a redesigned graphical interface that is easier than ever to read, even under the most demanding lighting environments.

The entire screen can be tilted forward and back to provide the perfect angle for optimum viewing—on stage or off! Searching for that song, Style, or file that you were just using? The multi-function Search feature can find what you are looking for—quickly! Styles and Keyboard Sets can be read directly from a USB drive—without the need to load data in the internal memory.

For those seeking an all-in-one solution, experience the optional PaAS Speaker System. This easy-to-use add-on provides spectacular sound for home and rehearsal use—or as a personal performance monitor. The bi-amped PaAS sound system contains five loudspeakers in a sleek cabinet that attaches directly to your Pa4X. Best of all, installation takes only seconds; no tools are required; no cables are needed, and no power supply is necessary.

Do it with Style
Each Style is a fully realized musical environment dedicated to reproducing a specific musical genre, and the Pa4X is packed with over 500* of them. Play along with these styles which cover song styles from around the world, from the past right up to today. These highly-versatile Styles have been created by KORG’s international sound team to provide an extremely musical experience. New Styles have been added, and many cherished Styles have been brought up to date with new sounds, enhanced effects, and re-balanced mixing. In addition to drums, percussion, and bass, each Style can provide up to five additional instrument parts that follow your chord changes and voicings, as well as the tempo. Guitar Mode 2 makes the Style’s guitar tracks more authentic than ever before possible. In addition, each Style can be enhanced by using the four Pads. Each Pad can add a one-time or repeating riff, a percussion part, an accent sound, or even a sound effect. You can even program your own Pad riffs and phrases. And of course, each Style features an assortment of Intros, Variations, Breaks, Fill-Ins, Endings—even a count-in.

You may also create your own brand-new Styles, or customize the existing ones. The convenient Chord Sequencer function can quickly record and loop your chord progressions on the fly in Style Play mode; this can be useful not only for practice, but for freeing up your left hand while performing live. These Chord Sequences can now be also saved as Style and SongBook entries for easy recall.

The latest Styles – today!
Thanks to an all new built in SMF (Standard MIDI File to Style converter), you can quickly and easily have on board styles of the latest songs! Just obtain a new Standard MIDI File, load it into the Pa4X and the inbuilt converter will easily and quickly turn it into a full KORG style which you can save and recall any time you need it. Every function band musician will love the combination of latest styles and incredible KORG sound!
Studio quality-effects

KORG is known for studio-quality effects, and the Pa4X includes the best of the KORG library. 4 Insert and 3 Master effects can be used for the accompaniment tracks, while 1 Insert and 2 Master effects can be used for the real-time keyboard tracks. Over 140 effect types are available, including reverbs, delays, vintage stomp box simulations, amp and cabinet simulators and more. In addition, each track features an EQ with Low, Mid and High controls, and a custom track EQ can be memorized in the Song Play mode—allowing your song to sound its best in any environment. The final effects are the result of KORG’s long term cooperation with Waves Audio®, the world reference in studio mastering effects. The included Waves MAXX AUDIO™ suite delivers sound that is louder and clearer, easily adapting the sound to your musical taste or correcting a problematic live scenario.

TC Helicon® Voice Processor
KORG’s long term cooperation with the world leader in vocal harmonies, TC Helicon®, continues in the Pa4X. The TC Helicon Voice Processor ensures that your vocals have the highest possible sound quality: up to 4 realistic harmony voices are available, and all can be controlled using the keyboard or MIDI events. Available vocal effects include Double, µMod, Reverb, Delay, Filter, HardTune, Pitch Correction plus Compressor, EQ, Gate, etc. Dedicated knobs (3) and buttons (3) for controlling the most important Voice Processor functions have been added to the top panel and placed within easy reach. The Adaptive Mic Setting—another KORG exclusive— monitors the input signal and auto-adjusts parameters such as the Adaptive Gate, EQ, Compression and the De-Esser to make the vocals sound smooth and “studio produced.” Just plug your microphone into the balanced XLR connection (phantom power available) and let the Pa4X do the rest!

Player/Sequencer
KORG’s XDS Dual Player & Recorder features a crossfade slider for providing non-stop entertainment; load one as the other plays, then crossfade between them—or create a playlist for automatic playback. Two different MP3 or MIDI files can be played simultaneously. MIDI files and even MP3 files can be transposed, sped up or slowed down. There is also a Marker Function to allow direct jumps to a given position in the song, or to create loops between song sections. The “MP3+G” (also known as MP3+Graphics) format and other popular lyric formats are supported. This feature allows MP3 files to play with lyrics and graphics that can be displayed on the built-in display or on an external monitor—or both.

The Vocal Remover quickly eliminates the vocal track from MP3 songs—ideal for live karaoke! The 16-track recorder allows sophisticated levels of sequencing and editing, and also provides quick and easy song creation using the Backing Sequence and Style functions. The Pa4X can record your entire performance; you can play back a song, play the keyboard, sing along, and everything will be recorded and saved as an MP3 file. You can then play that MP3 file again to add a further keyboard track or voice using the well known “sound on sound” technique. Using the note data saved in a MIDI file, the Pa4X can display traditional musical notation with notes and/or chords, together with lyrics and chord abbreviations. This sophisticated Score Viewer can be seen on the internal TouchView™ screen, or displayed on an external video monitor. Chord names can also be seen in English or Italian.

The SongBook
Particularly helpful for live use, the SongBook is a fully programmable and easily searchable Music Database. Each entry contains all the settings required to play a particular song. The SongBook can save and access Styles, MIDI files, or MP3s and immediately recall settings such as the song title, genre, artist, tempo, volumes, sounds, muted tracks, FX settings, easy-edit parameters, 4 keyboard sets, 4 pads, TC Helicon® presets, master transpose, and much, much more. Everything needed to play your song back perfectly is in the SongBook. This incredibly useful performance feature is another KORG exclusive. A more refined Filter feature allows you to search for entries using a combination of different criteria, such as all songs containing “love” in the title AND classified as a “ballad”. The SongBook includes also a renewed Set List function, with a convenient panel-button association for fast recall, to make life easier during live gigs. With the SongBook Editor you can easily view, create, and edit your KORG Pa-Series SongBook entries and Set Lists using a Windows based computer. It can also be synchronized with iOS and Android tablets to become your handy external digital music sheet reader (third-party software required).

Connectivity, Data Storage, and Updates
In addition to the Main Left and Right outputs, the Pa4X includes two additional assignable outputs. This can be ideal for isolating a part for additional signal processing or feeding an external mixer. A headphone output is conveniently located on the front panel. The microphone input uses an XLR connector, and phantom power is available. For inputs, the Pa4X provides a pair of balanced 1/4" inputs (Line 1) and a stereo 1/8" jack (Line 2) for use with smartphones, mobile devices, etc. MIDI In, Out, and Thru connectors are provided, as well as a USB to computer (Device) port. The composite RCA video output delivers the score and lyric display (or simply mirrors the internal display) to an external monitor.