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Style Players

Listen to styles with their real sounds. The KORG Style Player plays KORG styles with their samplers (and on your KORG keyboard over MIDI); the universal Style Player plays KORG, PA5X, Yamaha, Medeli and Ketron styles and lets you change samplers, volumes, octaves, chord rules and notes.

5 min read · 7 sections · Intermediate
In this chapter you will learn
  • Opening the KORG Style Player and using fills, mixer, loop and MIDI out
  • Opening the universal Style Player from Resources or an AKX set
  • Sections, tracks, chords and Chord Variations
  • Editing samplers, volume, octave, chord rules and notes
  • Saving an edited style

Two players — which one is which#

KORG Style Player
  • For styles inside your KORG SET (SetManager).
  • Plays with the style’s real KORG samplers and drum kits.
  • Fills and Break on the next bar, mixer with Solo / Mute, loop.
  • MIDI out — play the style on a KORG keyboard.
Universal Style Player
  • For style files (Resources, Community, Style Database) and AKX styles.
  • KORG .STY, PA5X .stg, Yamaha, Medeli and Ketron.
  • Choose chord and Chord Variation, play sections live.
  • Edit: samplers, volume, octave, chord rules, notes — and save.

The KORG Style Player#

  1. 1
    Open it

    In SetManager, right-click a style → Play ▸ → choose the section (Intro, Variation, Fill, Break, Ending) and its number. You can also press Play in Style Properties.

    PA SET Explorer
    sm-play-menu
    1. 1Play ▸
    2. 2The section types…
    3. 3…Variation…
    4. 4…number 1.
    The first time, the program prepares the style’s samples (“Loading style…”); then it plays by itself.
  2. 2
    Play
    PA SET Explorer
    KORG Style Player — “Guitar Pop”, Var 1.
    1. 1Style Player — Full Variation, element, CV and number of tracks.
    2. 2BPM — tempo (− / + or type it).
    3. 3Loop: ON / OFF.
    4. 4MIDI: ON / OFF — send the style to a MIDI port.
    5. 5Play / Stop.
    6. 6Fill 1–4 and Break — click while playing: it enters on the next bar and returns to the variation.
    7. 7How fills work.
    8. 8A mixer row: track and its sampler / drum kit.
    9. 9S solo · M mute · Midi = play this track with a GM sound.
    10. 10The notes of every track, with a moving playhead.
    11. 11Shown when a Guitar Mode track is playing (experimental).
    KORG Style Player — “Guitar Pop”, Var 1.
Pro tips
  • Click a fill while the player is stopped to arm it: it plays first when you press Play.
  • Solo and Mute work live, without restarting.
  • The player plays one section at a time — to hear another, choose it from the Play ▸ menu.

The universal Style Player#

Open it by double-clicking a style in Resources (or right-click → ▶ Open in the Style Player), double-clicking a Community download, a Style Database style, or a style in a Medeli AKX Styles pack.

Step 1 — Sections#

PA SET Explorer
Style Player → Sections (a KORG .STY from Resources).
  1. 1The format: KORG STY, PA5X STG, YAMAHA, KETRON or STYLE (Medeli).
  2. 2Tempo, time signature, number of sections and Chord Variations.
  3. 3Bar counter (blinks in tempo while playing).
  4. 4The steps: 1 Sections, 2 Tracks (and 3 Quick Settings for Medeli styles).
  5. 5The selected section.
  6. 6All sections grouped as Intro, Variation, Fill, Break and Ending. Missing ones are greyed out.
  7. 7Next ▶ — go to the tracks (or double-click a section).
Style Player → Sections (a KORG .STY from Resources).

Step 2 — Tracks#

PA SET Explorer
Style Player → Tracks.
  1. 1Output: 🎹 PC MIDI (your computer’s MIDI synth) or 🔊 Internal GS / AKX samples.
  2. 2▶ PLAY / ■ STOP (Space). Choosing another section while playing switches on the next bar.
  3. 3CHORD — root (C…B) and type (Maj, m, 7, m7, M7, 6, m6, sus4, 7sus4, dim, dim7, aug, m7b5, mM7, add9, 1+5, 1+8).
  4. 4AUTO or a fixed Chord Variation (KORG CV1–CV6, Yamaha Main/Minor/7th, Ketron MAJ/MIN/SEV, Medeli CV1–3).
  5. 5⇉ Apply settings to… — copy this section’s samplers / volume / octave to other sections.
  6. 6Tracks grouped by Chord Variation; “playing now” shows which group you hear.
  7. 7S — solo a track (preview only).
  8. 8The part (Drum, Bass, Acc1…).
  9. 9SAMPLER — double-click to change it.
  10. 10VOL — click for a 0–127 slider.
  11. 11OCT — −3…+3 (not for drums).
  12. 12How many notes the track has.
  13. 13Another Chord Variation (not playing with the current chord).
  14. 14Section bar — jump to any section.
  15. 15💾 Save Style.
Style Player → Tracks.
PA SET Explorer
Track menu.
  1. 1Right-click a track…
  2. 2…for Edit notes, Change sampler, Move / swap with, Chord rule (when the format allows), Solo, Delete track and Delete in all sections.
Track menu.

Chord rules — how a track follows your chords#

Right-click a track → 🎼 Chord rule…. Available for Yamaha styles (with chord tables) and Medeli styles. A Yamaha example:

PA SET Explorer
A Yamaha style in the Style Player.
  1. 1Yamaha CVs: Main, Minor, 7th.
  2. 2Tracks grouped by CV…
  3. 3…and ALL CVs for tracks shared by every chord.
  4. 4Right-click a track…
  5. 5…→ 🎼 Chord rule…
A Yamaha style in the Style Player.
PA SET Explorer
Chord rule of a Yamaha track.
  1. 1Where the change applies (this section, or all sections sharing the same chord table).
  2. 2NTR — Root Trans, Root Fixed or Guitar.
  3. 3NTT — Bypass, Melody, Chord, Melodic / Harmonic / Natural Minor (5th), Dorian (5th). With Guitar NTR: All-Purpose, Stroke, Arpeggio.
  4. 4Bass (NTT bass on).
  5. 5High Key — where notes fold down an octave.
  6. 6Note Limit Low / High.
  7. 7Retrigger Rule — Stop, Pitch Shift, Pitch Shift to Root, Retrigger, Retrigger to Root, Note Generator.
  8. 8Source Chord — the chord the phrase was recorded in.
  9. 9Plays on these chords — blue = the track plays on that chord type, grey = muted.
  10. 10All / None.
  11. 11Heard at once · saved with Save Style · Ctrl+Z to undo.
  12. 12⟲ File values, Cancel or Apply.
Chord rule of a Yamaha track.

Edit notes of a track#

PA SET Explorer
NOTES editor of the Bass track.
  1. 1The track, CV, channel, section and sound.
  2. 2▶ Play track (Space).
  3. 3Click = hear · Ctrl+drag = select · Double-click = add · Del · ↑↓ move · drag velocity.
  4. 4Snap (1/4 … 1/32), Vel, ▼ Key / ▲ Key and 🗑 Delete.
  5. 5The notes on a piano roll.
  6. 6Velocity — drag the bars.
  7. 7↶ Undo, ⟲ Original, ✓ Apply and 💾 Save style.
NOTES editor of the Bass track.

Apply settings to other sections#

PA SET Explorer
Apply settings to…
  1. 1What to copy: Samplers, Volume, Octave, and whether to include All CVs of each part.
  2. 2The section you are copying from (Main A).
  3. 3Blue sections receive the settings…
  4. 4…grey ones stay as they are. Click to toggle.
  5. 5Auto — selects the Intros and Endings.
  6. 6OK.
Apply settings to…

Saving an edited style#

Style💾 Save Style does…
A style file (KORG .STY, PA5X .stg, Yamaha, Ketron)Saves the file in place, in the same format, and keeps a backup copy.
A style in a Medeli AKX setRebuilds the style in the AKX set (with a backup).
Other formatsThe button is greyed: “Saving this format is not available yet”.
Pro tips
  • The status line counts your unsaved changes; Ctrl+Z undoes them one by one.
  • Closing with ✕ asks “Discard N unsaved change(s)?”.
  • A section must keep at least one track — the last track of a section or of a CV cannot be deleted.
Still stuck? Ask in the forum, send a message from your profile, or use Bug Report inside the program. We read everything.