hip hop sound card for korg m1?

Not sure if this is the right place to put this but if it isnt , tutor , feel free to move it to the appropriate place...

Ok , here's the deal.
My partner got the korg m1 keyboard at a price so low that he couldnt refuse it. After going through the installed sounds , he feels that he needs more drums and basses and is looking for a soundcard for the M1.
I've been looking on the net but , without hearing any samples , it's hard to tell what might actually be worth buying.
Does anyone out there have any recommendations as to which soundcard he should buy and from where?
Like I said , the big thing is mainly the drums and bass.
He doesnt really know much about soundfonts and he doesnt own a computer. Just background info that you may need to know.
He's new to the M1 but he's been making beats with me for a while and he's kinda nice with the basslines and his beats are tight. He's used my mpc and he's also played basslines for me on the triton.
Of course , I could midi the M1 up to the M1 , sample a bass and get busy but , he lives a pretty big distance from me and he wants something that he can use at home. I know there are soundcard sets available but , as I've said , I'm not sure which one he should pick up. Any advice would be greatly appreciated , thanks.

I have a Korg T3 and I don't use the cards. I use Midi System Exclusive files. It's cheaper and easier.You'll need a system exclusive librarian, computer and midi interface to load them into your M1. But that's pretty much it. If you use I Mac, I can help you in detail. PC stuff, you'll have to do a search.

By the way, there are very few "Hiphop" sounds available for the M1 or T3. (Although some T3 models can load samples.) I just recently found some across some downloadable M1 patches online for $7.99. I was surprised at how good they sound. Phat synth and electric basses. The drums are ok. You can salvage some of the drums.

I also got some M1/T3 patches from a cat who used to design sounds for Korg. He doesn't sell stuff anymore though, but his stuff is very high quality. Finally, you can find some freebies, if you do a search of the Korg pages on www.synthzone.com.

Peace and good luck.

Only problem is , he doesnt have a computer.
I have a p.c. and a mac g-3.
I dont know much about soundfonts or how to use patches so I would need some knowledge on that.
As I've stated before , there's a lot about midi that I dont know.
I aint ashamed to admit it either.
I would like to learn about the things you're saying but me doing that will only help my partner if he is here with the m1 because , as I said , he doesnt have a computer.
Any help with soundcards or something he can do without a computer?
I appreciate it.
Also , please hit me with that info you spoke of , it wouldnt hurt me to learn that stuff anyway.
Thanks homie.

OK. Gimme a hot minute. There is a place that makes blank ram cards or memory cards that will work for you. I can't remember it, but I came across it a while ago. I'll try to find it. And get back to you.

Peace.

I will be patient.
However , remember that I am no expert.
I have been making beats for a while though.
That said , can I load sounds from say , my mpc onto that blank ram card?
If not , what is the method for getting sounds on it?
I have no desire to front like I know everything so , in the words of a great actor , "Explain it to me as if I were a 6 year old."

I tried to track it down, but I can't remember the company nor the link. They had blank memory cards for either $9.95 or $19.95. A lot cheaper than anybody else. Anyway, this is what I was thinking... (If you actually have the M1 and a computer in your possession now.)

You could cop a few of those cards and download as many M1 sysex files as you can. Check them out and edit to taste. Save the good ones to the cards and set it up for your boy, so that he'll just need to use the memory cards that you've created.

But, without cheap memory cards, it's not a wise thing to do. Those things can cost $75.00 each. As for buying them with sounds on them already, that's hit or miss. I just don't trust most of the companies to give you something so different from the factory sounds. Plus, they are very expensive. I got over for $7.95. Most are close to $100.00.

And, remember, the patches are just software tweaks of the original sounds. They are not new sounds! All of the sounds on every memory card patch kit comes from the same samples. Each programmer tweaks them differently and that's how you get different flavors. But, basically they all come from the same thing. That's why the drums will only change so much.

That said, the cheapest thing to do is to just tweak them yourself. If you don't know much about synthesis do a little digging here:

http://web.archive.org/web/200302161600 ... overs.com/

Also download an M1 manual if you don't have one.

There is one other solution, now that I think of it. Without a computer, your friend can buy a used Midi Data Filer disk drive. It's basically a disk drive with a midi connector that serves as an instrument's data back up. Back in the day, folks with lots of sound and sequence files using M1s and other old school instruments that didn't have disk drives, bought these things. Look on ebay. There was one today at $99.00. If it goes much higher, you friend should probably just get an old laptop and midi interface. As a Mac user I'd push you that way, but it doesn't really matter what you get.

Good luck.

If you need more help email me directly.

Peace.

"You could cop a few of those cards and download as many M1 sysex files as you can. Check them out and edit to taste. Save the good ones to the cards and set it up for your boy, so that he'll just need to use the memory cards that you've created."

Thanks for all your help but , as I said , neither one of us know much about sysex or patches and I mean we REALLY dont know.
I'd have to have an understanding of how they work and stuff like that.
I mean , I imagine it's something located in the computer , once downloaded , and triggered by midi but , I really dont know JACK about it.
I understand that you may not be able to write all that info for me , so , in that case , do you know of any site that will walk a novice through this?
To tell you the truth , that's kinda what kept me from going further with my music a while back. It seems like a lot of sites , manuals , etc
( not YOU ) automatically assume that everyone looking for the info is some kind of expert when , if we were , we wouldnt NEED their help.
Anyway , I really should try to get it done without involving a computer because , as I stated before , my friend doesnt have one so whatever I do on my mac or pc with the M1 probably wont help him when he brings the M1 home.
Any more word on soundcards?
Also , you never really answered my question , maybe you dont know BUT , if you DO know , please tell me more regarding these "blank" cards.
Can I , for example , load the sounds that I have on my mpc onto those cards and then my partner can use those in his M1?
Or do they work another way?
I do appreciate all your help.
Thanks.

"...please tell me more regarding these "blank" cards. Can I, for example , load the sounds that I have on my mpc onto those cards and then my partner can use those in his M1? Or do they work another way?"

If you mean the MPC's samples, no. The M1 can't deal with them. It's memory is too small anyway. The ram cards can save sounds the M1's internal sounds only. Including those that you have edited from your M1 sessions, as well as sounds that you, for example download from the internet or buy and load into your M1.

Since the M1 is an older synth, you'll have to do a little more work to use it. But, because it was the industry standard there is a whole lot of info available about it and supporting it. Since the my synth, the T3 is similar, I did a little digging yesterday and found a little info for you. This site was an Korg M1/T3 online forum They still have a few years worth of posts. You can learn a whole lot of stuff.

The archive is about 6 small text files to download. Probably about 200 to 300 messages. But there is a wealth of info there if you really wanna know.

http://www.thenoise.ca/noisepage/KorgM1/index.html

I do think that the midi data filer is your best solution. You can do all of the downloads from the internet yourself and actually save them to floppy disk. Send him disks and he can store dozens of sound sets. The ram/memory cards are still more expensive than the floppies and the midi data filer. Either way, you need to understand SYSEX to deal with such a powerful synth with no floppy drive.

To explain SYSEX better download this file:

http://members.cox.net/sgrace9/sysex/

It's a program, but forget that, the manual explains SYSEX very well.

Also, if you don't have a manual, you gotta get one and then there are articles and tips and so on that were written for the M1. The good things is that the "finding" you have to do is not in creating the info. The info is already there.

Good luck. And if you need more info contact me.

Peace.

i found it!!

http://www.dinsync.com/


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Thanks homie.
You sure came with a lot.
I will start reading as soon as possible.