Comparison Korg EK-50 vs Korg Pa1000

- Synthesizer. In this case, we mean classic digital synthesizers - keyboard musical instruments that can reproduce the sounds of various instruments and sound effects. The functionality of such models can be very diverse - from budget devices with minimal functionality to advanced instruments suitable even for professional musicians.

- Work station. High-quality synthesizers for professional use, capable of playing the role of not only a musical instrument, but also a remote control for recording and mixing sound. Accordingly, a mandatory feature of such instruments is a sequencer (see below). In addition, workstations are distinguished by advanced equipment that corresponds to the class: among such instruments there are models with full-size hammer-action (see “Mechanics”) keyboards with 88 keys, an abundance of adjustments and connectors is available to the user, and the sound quality and reliability in inexpensive models is good , in advanced ones - almost ideal. True, synthesizers of this type are very expensive, therefore, combined with their extensive capabilities, they are indispensable assistants for composers, sound engineers and other specialists involved in both performing and recording music.

— Children's synthesizer. The features of such instruments are generally clear from the name - these are synthesizers designed for children's. Externally, such models differ from “adu...lt” ones primarily in the small number of keys (up to 49, often less) and the size of the keys themselves, which is reduced to suit a child’s hand. In addition, the performance characteristics and functionality of children's's synthesizers are also most often more modest: for example, polyphony (see below) rarely exceeds 8 voices, and the overall sound reliability is very low. But the learning opportunities in such instruments, on the contrary, can be very extensive, and in general, children's's synthesizers are considered a good choice for initial training.

— Analog synthesizer. Instruments in which sound is generated not through digital processing, but through passing through a real electrical circuit. In a very simplified way, the principle of operation of such an instrument can be described as follows: each key, when pressed, turns on its own sound generator of a certain frequency, which is responsible for the desired note, and with the help of additional settings (oscillators, envelope, filters), the musician gives color to this sound. From the user's point of view, the most noticeable difference between an analog synthesizer is the lack of built-in tones - the musician adjusts all the details of the sound manually. Analog instruments, on the one hand, are more difficult to control, but on the other hand, they allow you to achieve effects that are not available digitally. In addition, the color of the sound itself on analog synthesizers is somewhat different. Historically, instruments of this type appeared earlier than digital ones, but today they are highly specialized solutions, designed mainly for professional performers and used in specific musical areas.

The polyphony supported by a synthesizer, in other words, is the number of “voices” (tone generators) that can simultaneously sound on it.

This parameter is often described as the number of notes that can be played simultaneously on the keyboard. However, this is not entirely true due to the fact that in many timbres one note can activate several tone generators. As a result, for example, to play a chord of 3 notes in a timbre with 4 tone generators per note, polyphony of at least 3 * 4=12 voices is required. In addition, Auto Accompaniment and Preset Songs (see related sections) also use tone generators, requiring even more voices to work effectively with these features.

The minimum value for a more or less functional modern synthesizer is polyphony for 32 voices — and even then such an instrument can be used mainly for initial training and simple melodies. For a more solid application, it is desirable to have at least 50 – 60 voices, and in professional models (in particular, workstations where you have to deal with several audio tracks at once), there are models with polyphony for 150 tone generators or more.

In general, a more advanced synthesizer is likely to have more extensive polyphony, however, it is only possible to evaluate the class of an instrument by this parameter very approximately — instruments with the same number of voices can differ greatly in level. The only exception to this rule are children's synthesizers (see "T...ype"), which support up to 20 voices.

The number of built-in sounds provided in the synthesizer.

The number of timbres is often described as the number of instruments that a given model can imitate. However, this is not entirely true — rather, this parameter can be called "the number of instruments and sound effects." For example, the same instrument — an electric guitar — with different "gadgets" (distortion, overdrive) will sound differently, and in the synthesizer each such gadget will be considered a separate timbre. The “drums” timbre usually combines different types of drums and other percussion instruments — in other words, it allows you to portray both the “bass drum” and the cymbals without switching settings, just by pressing the desired keys. And some timbres may not have analogues among real instruments at all.

The more built-in timbres, the more extensive the possibilities of the synthesizer, the more diverse the sounds that can be extracted from it. At the same time, in high-end models like workstations (see "Type"), this number can reach 1000 or even more.

The number of memory slots for user tones provided in the synthesizer.

For Voices in general, see “Preset Voices” above. User timbres are sound settings that were not originally provided in the synthesizer's memory and are created by the user according to their preferences. This feature is indispensable in cases where the built-in set of timbres does not contain the necessary options. However, the capabilities of the User Voices may vary from model to model. So, one instrument only allows you to edit and supplement existing timbres (for example, add a “wah-wah” effect to a bass guitar and save such a bunch as a user setting), another makes it possible to set the sound parameters almost manually, and the third even allows you to load timbres through USB (see below).

The more user timbres in the synthesizer, the more personal “instruments” you can register in its memory.

The number of auto accompaniment styles (see above) originally provided in the synthesizer, in other words, the number of accompaniment options available to the user.

The more extensive this set, the higher the probability of finding among these melodies suitable options for a particular case. At the same time, the abundance of styles in itself is not yet a 100% guarantee that among them there will be a suitable one, especially since different synthesizer models can differ markedly in a specific set of melodies. So the list does not hurt to clarify before buying. Also note that the situation can be corrected by user styles (see below) — many synthesizers with auto accompaniment support them.

Synthesizer support for sampling.

Samples are short sound fragments used in the creation of musical compositions. Such a fragment can contain almost any sound — from a note on a musical instrument or a fragment of a drum part to a siren signal, a bird's chirp, the sound of a mechanism, etc. Specifically, the sampling function implies the ability to use the synthesizer to record samples for further use. Recording can be done either through the built-in microphone or through the audio input (from an external microphone or other audio device). At the same time, many synthesizers with this function are able not only to keep the sound not only "as is", but also to pass the incoming signal through the processing circuits, adding various effects to it — echo, "wah-wah", metallic sound coloring, etc. And ready-made samples can usually be "bound" to individual synthesizer keys and played back in real time. Other functions are possible, depending on the level of the instrument.

The presence of a mixer in the design of the synthesizer.

A mixer in this case is a device designed to control individual audio channels that make up the sound of a synthesizer as a whole. The list of these channels includes, in particular, the main voice, the layered voice (see “Dubbing voices”), several auto accompaniment channels (main, bass, drums, etc.). With a mixer, the musician can manually control these channels — turn some of them on and off, switch the timbre, tempo, key, etc. This greatly expands the possibilities for using the synthesizer.

The presence of built-in compositions in the design of the synthesizer.

This function is similar to the auto accompaniment described above — in the sense that it involves playing songs on the synthesizer itself. However, unlike Auto Accompaniment, Preset Songs play strictly by note and cannot be controlled using chords on the left half of the keyboard. In other words, with auto accompaniment, the musician has a lot of freedom, and you have to play along with melodies in strict accordance with it.

Built-in compositions can be used for a variety of purposes. One of the options is training: the musician listens to a reference recording and then tries to reproduce it, either plays along with the melodies according to the given notes, or improvises to it. In addition, in some cases (for example, at mass events), the ability to turn on the synthesizer as a player can be very useful. Also, built-in songs are used to test and demonstrate the general capabilities of the instrument: it is assumed that the recorded song can be repeated using the synthesizer itself.

The ability to overlay different timbres of the synthesizer sound on top of each other. This creates the effect of the sound of two (or even more) instruments at once — for example, piano and violin. At the same time, in advanced models, it may be possible to set different settings for different timbres so that the sameness of the extracted notes is not so noticeable — for example, the same "violin" can be set to smooth transitions between notes, while on the "piano" they will sound jerky.