Korg Kaossilator Pro

A touch-sensitive XY pad makes sound movements playable directly: on the Korg Kaossilator Pro, you control pitch and sound parameters with horizontal and vertical finger movements. The phrase synthesiser and loop recorder is suitable for spontaneously developing sounds and building layered loops – including with external audio material. Real-time control via the XY pad is at its heart.

200 internal programmes are available for creating your own phrases, including synthesiser sounds, PCM drums and vocoder programmes. The drum section comprises 20 individual sounds and 25 rhythm patterns. With Scale and Key, you can choose one of 31 scales and the corresponding key; the Note-Range parameter limits the playable range of the pad. This lets you align melodies to a musical grid.

The gate arpeggiator repeats played notes in sync with the tempo. You can use the slider to adjust the gate time or speed, while Tap Tempo lets you set the tempo manually. For voices and other sound sources, there is a microphone input and 15 vocoder programme types, which let you shape the sound of the input signal.

Recordings can be distributed across four loop banks, each with up to four bars or 16 beats. Each bank can be muted separately, have its volume adjusted or have its length changed. You can record internal sounds and signals from the line or microphone inputs, layer additional passes over them, and delete or replace loops during playback. The banks can be used simultaneously, with playback synchronised to the tempo.

SD card and USB provide storage and computer connectivity: you can save loop phrases, settings and programme memory to SD cards; the stated card capacity ranges from 16 MB to 2 GB. The device can send and receive MIDI data, transmit MIDI Clock and control external MIDI devices or software via USB or the MIDI IN/OUT sockets. The Editor/Librarian software manages loop data and MIDI assignments on a computer.

The Kaossilator Pro is suited to live performances and loop development when you want to shape sounds directly via the touchpad, incorporate external signals and layer several phrases. Four independently controllable loop banks and MIDI connectivity are key considerations when integrating it into an existing setup.