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OK, so there was the legendary i3 (and it's larger siblings, the i1 and the i2). Then came the legendary i30. Well, as we
all know, the i-series consisted of more than just these two keyboards. This page is dedicated to all of the fine i-series
keyboards not mentioned so far. Every single one of these keyboards featured the same high quality Ai2 digital synthesis,
and while maybe they didn't have the full editing capabilities of the i3, each one of them could stay with you an awful long
way with deep menus for music creation...
The "i" modules...
Coupled with a midi controller of your choice, with weighted keys, etc., and you were
not excluded from your own share of i-series heaven!...
The Korg i5M...
Click here for i5M downloads...
The Korg i40M...
Click here for i40M downloads...
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The Keyboards...
The Korg i5s
I thought I would start out with the "baby" of the family. The i5s is very close to my heart. I still own one! Well...
my 13 year old son has it now. Is he lucky or what? The i5s was my first experience with the Korg i-series. I couldn't believe,
as the years went by, how this amazing keyboard stayed with me no matter how complex a task I requested of it. It's menus
were amazingly deep. I created the vast bulk of the backing sequences we still use today in our musical performances on this
very keyboard. Unfortunately, the wonderful ROM styles of the i5s were never extractable, but thanks to the efforts of Chuck
Delp, I can offer a few of them to you. Chuck exported them as midi files, and then reassembled them as styles again. A lot
of work, and for those who grew to love these styles, hearing them again on the keyboards we use now really brings back the
memories:
Click here for i5s ROM styles compiled into an i30 set by Chuck Delp
More i5s styles...
Some of the original i5s factory preload styles...
The Korg ix300
I got just plain lucky when I purchased our second Korg i-series, the ix300. After spending a thousand hours over a four-year
period creating backing sequences at home on the i5s, we decided to try the ix300, bacause of it's clean lines, metal case,
and lack of speakers for live performances. I had read reviews that, although the ix300 had anty'd up the PCM-ROM to 14 MB
from the 8 MB of the i5s, and added a powerful new Program Mode for editing sounds, and a terrific new stereo grand piano...(pause
for a breath, puff puff!), that the ix300 incorporated the same i5 engine as the i5s and i5M (module). We anxiously loaded
our backing sequence disk, selected the first sequence and held our breath... Did this terrific looking keyboard have the
capability to play the sequences created on the i5s? Relief and jubilation swept over us when we realized that they played
perfectly, and that the stereo grand piano added a special quality we hadn't heard before. To this day, even though my wife
and I, who call ourselves "The FenderBenders" (had to work that in somewhere along this site!), still rely heavily
on the ix300, even though we have for some time now been creating all of our new sequences on the i30. We love this board
and it is still at the center of our lives...
ix300 Factory Preload styles
The Korg IS-40
Here is a terrific tip created by Nibardo Cano. This is useful also for i30 users. This involves taking the Korg X-series
and N-series sounds and converting them for use on the IS40 and other i-series keyboards...
The Korg IS-50
The IS-50, and it's big brother, the IS-40, represented the evolution of the Korg i-series in more ways than one. A natural
outgrowth, and great improvement upon the basic idea of the Korg i5s, these two keyboards took a giant leap forward in capabilities.
Sharing the technology of THEIR big brother, the venerable i30, these keyboards incorporated the same move toward a new formatting
of sounds, called prg's, that involved a more complex relationship with the effects parameters associated with them. Also,
they took a step forward in memory capacity, holding most importantly 16 user styles.
Also, these two were the
first Korg i-series keyboards to be made in Italy instead of Japan. The last i-series keyboard in the line that started with
the i1, i2, i3...was the i30, that is to say, the i30 was the last i-series made in Japan. The IS boards, now incorporated
many of the new features of the i30, such as the use of "sets", wherein all parameters associated with styles, such
as global settings, effects placement, programs, arrangements, etc., now all traveled together when loading, so as to preserve
the entire environment around a style, ensuring that the style would sound and respond exactly as those who created them intended.
Supporting this new line of the i-series was the Italian-based software company, Korg.net, a division of Symedia.
Their style creation team was second to none, and created a group of styles and arrangements, and in many instances user programs
as well to accompany them, that in my opinion are some of the finest i-series styles ever made.
Now, I would like you to meet my friend Rube...
You've just gotta jump over to Rube's site, and check out some very fine latin music from the Caribbean, made on the IS-40.
You won't believe it! Click Here...
Here are a few extra styles to try out on your IS35, IS40, IS50, IS50b and i40M's...
50's...
8/16 Beat 1...
8/16 Beat 2...
Big Band...
Country... Jazz
Dance...
Latin...
Piano...
Rythym & Blues...
Rock 1...
Rock 2...
Rock 3...
Traditional...
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