The Pa500 interactive keyboard is the perfect musical companion. Like its bigger brothers, the Pa800 and Pa2XPro, the Pa500 uses our RX (Real eXperience) technology to deliver a sound unlike anything else in an arranger keyboard. Thanks to features Korg offers exclusively, such as the dual XDS sequencer, the intuitive TouchView interface, on-the-fly quarter-tone switching and the realistic articulation of the four-way joystick, the only thing this keyboard lacks is an exorbitant price tag.
Sound Is Everything
Inside the Pa500 is the EDS (Extended Definition Synthesis) engine, the same one found in the Korg M3, Pa800 and Pa2XPro, which delivers 80-voice polyphony and stunningly good sound. There are more than 880 fully editable factory sounds (including a complete General MIDI sound set and 56 drum kits) covering a full range of instruments from practically every genre. Every one of them overflows with depth, detail, fidelity and richness. User memory lets you store 128 sounds and 64 drum kits of your own.
Effects Everywhere
For many years, Korg workstations, synthesizers and digital recording studios have included effects of extraordinary, studio-grade quality. Simply impressive. Following that same tradition, the Pa500 offers four stereo processors and a final three-band semiparametric EQ, along with a real treasure trove of 124 effects, ranging from lush reverbs and eye-catching delays to the guitar-style modeling effects from Korg's acclaimed REMS line.
Designed With Style
The Pa500 comes with a deluxe set of styles, programmed by some of the world's most prominent arranger musicians, each working from his or her own musical talents. The result is a collection of more than 320 factory styles with unmatched realism and level of detail, adding nuances of every kind, from a lively guitar strum or punchy bass locked to a drum groove, to a vibrant R&B horn section. Even a full orchestra! With up to eight parts, four variations, three intros/count-offs, three fills/breaks and three endings, each style is a complete musical environment in itself. Additional parts or “riffs” can be sequenced and triggered in real time with the assignable pads. Advanced functions such as synchro start/stop, fade in/out, assignable pads, tap tempo and manual bass let you spontaneously add complex, professional touches to your sound.
Guitar Mode
Recreating convincing guitar parts on a keyboard has never been easy... until now! When you create a guitar part for your style, you can choose between a chord or a capo position and literally turn the keyboard into the strings that make up the chord, producing realistic strumming patterns, slides, hammer-ons and other guitar-specific techniques. The result is spectacular. And that's not all: the Pa500 can also enhance the guitar tracks of any standard MIDI file.
Finally, Everything Together
Need to change sounds quickly? The STS (Single Touch Settings) keys let you split and distribute up to four sounds across the keyboard and switch from one to another instantly at the push of a button. You can save your STS assignments independently for each style. Each and every one of the 256 performance settings instantly recalls the style, sound, effect, tempo, key and scale setup used to play a particular song.
Creative Sequencing
In addition to the usual “one track at a time” sequencing found on workstations, the background sequencer lets you compose songs quickly and easily by capturing sections in different styles at the same time. You don't have to be a programming expert; even beginners can create a song in minutes. In fact, you don't even have to play at all! With the step-recording/editing function, you can simply enter chord changes, style changes and fills in step time. It's a great convenience for keyboard pros and everyone else alike. This streamlined approach to programming will be just as useful in the studio, for composing high-quality professional backing music for commercials, films and multimedia or Internet applications. The sequencer offers unusually deep editing possibilities.
Keep the Fun Going
With Korg's dual XDS sequencer you can load one song while another is playing. A DJ-style cross-fader lets you blend the two for a continuous, seamless performance. The Pa500 can play SMF (Standard MIDI File), karaoke and GM (General MIDI) files, and can display song lyrics on screen for the most popular karaoke formats. There is also a handy marker function that lets you jump straight to a specific point in a song. Markers can be placed using the internal sequencer (or a computer sequencer, since the markers use a standard format), and you can then mix your favorite songs during playback for a touch of spontaneity.
SongBook: A Growing Song Library
This very useful feature was developed to make your work easier, especially when performing live. The SongBook is a programmable music database that contains all the settings needed to play a particular song. Just search for the song you want to play by title, genre, artist, tempo and so on, and press “Play.” Each SongBook entry recalls the setup you saved to play that specific song to perfection: sounds, style, performance, volumes, muted tracks, effects, Easy Edit, STS settings, master transpose and much more. This essential musical feature is only available from Korg.
Less Is More
Given the great technological potential packed into the Pa500, it was vitally important that we make it easy to understand and use. But we went further, creating an instrument that offers a fast, intuitive musical experience within everyone's reach. With our impressive TouchView display, you can control the unit simply by thinking, looking and touching the panel. So that musicians of all levels can make good music in no time, there are two different interface modes: easy and expert. Easy mode shows only the essentials, with bright, highly visible icons, which is especially helpful for users with little live-playing experience, while expert mode puts every control option at your disposal. And if you need more information, you can access the unit's built-in help system at any time, in as many as seven different languages! In addition to the 61 velocity-sensitive keys, the Pa500 has a four-way joystick, assignable switch, slider and pedal jack, and four pads, all of which make it much easier to bring your performances to life by changing effects, adding or muting parts, altering the tempo, or even adding solo riffs, arpeggios or single-sequence accompaniment. Nothing will stand between you and your professional performance.
All in One
Inside is a complete stereo sound system with two built-in speakers in a bass-reflex enclosure, everything needed to deliver the best sound in the smallest space. The Pa500 is solid, compact and easy to carry, whether you're rushing to a concert hall, squeezing in a jam with your friends or about to teach your band a new tune.